Re: [RFC] __exists(), a magic method for distinguishing "missing" from "set to null"

Dear internals, Le ven. 1 mai 2026 à 11:37, Nicolas Grekas <nicolas.grekas+php@gmail.com> a écrit : > Dear internals, > > It's my pleasure to submit this new RFC to yours. > Please have a look and let me know: > https://wiki.php.net/rfc/exists-magic-method > > TL;DR: I'm proposing a new opt-in magic method: > > public function __exists(string $name): bool; > > It'd let userland tell "set to null" apart from "missing" on objects, > it'd > restore > isset() <=> ?? equivalence on magic properties, and it'd fixe GH-12695 as a > corollary. It's forward-compatible as a regular method on PHP <= 8.5 > (probeable > via method_exists()), and would be magic on 8.6+. > Following the feedback received so far, you might have seen that I've split the materialized property check into a separate PR/thread, see https://externals.io/message/131068 I therefore updated the text of the RFC, now at v0.2, to account for that materialization issue being addressed separately. I also updated the wording to mention the points that have been discussed and simplify the wording a bit (less repetitions, less C-side stuff). I didn't update the implementation yet, but technically the TL;DR of this new iteration is that it brings nothing new: it's only a refacto of the presentation. This message starts a new discussion period. Cheers, Nicolas