Doc #55426 [NEW]: pow() claims to return FALSE but actually does not

From: Operating system: -/- PHP version: Irrelevant Package: Documentation problem Bug Type: Documentation Problem Bug description:pow() claims to return FALSE but actually does not Description: ------------ --- From manual page: http://www.php.net/function.pow%23Changelog --- The manual says that pow() returns FALSE on error. Furthermore, it states that "PHP stops to emit a warning if the value can't be computed, it will now silently return FALSE only." since PHP 4.2.0. I checked the source code of PHP 4.2.0, PHP 5.2 and PHP 5.3 and I simply cannot find a case where FALSE is returned. I even tried values like INF, NAN, -INF, 0, 1.5, -1.5, array(), new stdClass(), TRUE, FALSE, NULL for the arguments $base and $exp, but FALSE is never returned. The result can be an integer, a float, or a pseudo-float like INF, NAN or -INF, but just never FALSE. a) Is the documentation still right when stating that pow() can return FALSE? EDIT: I just checked the the source code of PHP 4.0.7 and there, FALSE can be returned. Conclusion: Since PHP 4.2.0, no warning is emitted anymore, but neither can a FALSE be returned. It simply will return NAN on error. Expected result: ---------------- Remove the line "If the power cannot be computed FALSE will be returned instead." and instead add "Be aware that non-finite values can be returned like INF, -INF or NAN in case of an error like overflow or underflow." "Since 4.2.0 - PHP stops to emit a warning if the value can't be computed, it will now silently return FALSE only." should be changed to "Since 4.2.0 - PHP stops to emit a warning and return FALSE if the value can't be computer, it will return INF, -INF or NAN in case of an error." -- Edit bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=55426&edit=1 -- Try a snapshot (PHP 5.4): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=trysnapshot54 Try a snapshot (PHP 5.3): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=trysnapshot53 Try a snapshot (trunk): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=trysnapshottrunk Fixed in SVN: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=fixed Fixed in SVN and need be documented: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=needdocs Fixed in release: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=needscript Try newer version: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=oldversion Not developer issue: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=support Expected behavior: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=notwrong Not enough info: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=submittedtwice register_globals: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=globals PHP 4 support discontinued: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=php4 Daylight Savings: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=dst IIS Stability: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=gnused Floating point limitations: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=float No Zend Extensions: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=55426&r=mysqlcfg