return references branch merged into the main repository

Andi and I finished working on the return references support in Zend. We tested it a bit, and merged it into the main branch. To return a reference from a function, you must tag the function as a function that returns a reference: function &foo($a, $b, $c) { ... } However, $a = foo(...) will still not cause $a to be a reference to the returned value (much like $a = $b, when $b is a reference, copies the value of $b onto $a, and doesn't make $a to be a reference to $b). In order to make $a be a reference to the returned value, you must use the notation: $a = &foo(); Please play around with the new code, see if it works (test it with all of your code, the code of the standard return by value was also modified as a result of this patch). Let us know if there are any problems. Zeev -- Zeev Suraski <zeev@zend.com> http://www.zend.com/