Doc #55426 [Opn->Csd]: pow() claims to return FALSE but actually does not

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=55426&edit=1 ID: 55426 Updated by: bjori@php.net Reported by: alex dot schuch at gmx dot de Summary: pow() claims to return FALSE but actually does not -Status: Open +Status: Closed Type: Documentation Problem Package: Documentation problem Operating System: -/- PHP Version: Irrelevant -Assigned To: +Assigned To: bjori Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: This bug has been fixed in the documentation's XML sources. Since the online and downloadable versions of the documentation need some time to get updated, we would like to ask you to be a bit patient. Thank you for the report, and for helping us make our documentation better. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2011-08-17 10:50:24] bjori@php.net Automatic comment from SVN on behalf of bjori Revision: http://svn.php.net/viewvc/?view=revision&revision=315057 Log: Sort the changelog properly, kill bogus warning and wrong error return value. fixes bug#55426 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2011-08-15 19:10:08] alex dot schuch at gmx dot de 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 this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=55426&edit=1