Thanks for the information, Philip.

I hereby summon the BDFL ... erm, no pressure. :-)

I really think ASP/JSP tags could be the answer.

Glen.

Philip Olson wrote:
>
> Today this topic may be the cloudiest and most heated in all of PHP.
> Here's the factual history of our poor little short_open_tag directive:
>
> ------------------------------------------------
> php.ini values : short_open_tag
> ------------------------------------------------
>
> PHP 4, 5_0
>  * Default behaviour   : on
>  * php.ini-dist        : on
>  * php.ini-recommended : on
>
> PHP 5_1, 5_2:
>  * Default behaviour   : on
>  * php.ini-dist        : on
>  * php.ini-recommended : off
>
> PHP 5_3:
>  * Default behaviour   : on
>  * php.ini-development : off
>  * php.ini-production  : off
>
> ------------------------------------------------
> php.ini descriptions : short_open_tag
> ------------------------------------------------
>
> In 5_2 our reason for discouraging it is:
>
> ; - short_open_tag = Off           [Portability]
> ;     Using short tags is discouraged when developing code meant for
> redistribution
> ;     since short tags may not be supported on the target server.
> ; Allow the <? tag. Otherwise, only <?php and <script> tags are
> recognized.
> ; NOTE: Using short tags should be avoided when developing
> applications or
> ; libraries that are meant for redistribution, or deployment on PHP
> ; servers which are not under your control, because short tags may not
> ; be supported on the target server. For portable, redistributable code,
> ; be sure not to use short tags.
>
> In 5_3 it's:
>
> ; This directive determines whether or not PHP will recognize code
> between
> ; <? and ?> tags as PHP source which should be processed as such. It's
> been
> ; recommended for several years that you not use the short tag "short
> cut" and
> ; instead to use the full <?php and ?> tag combination. With the wide
> spread use
> ; of XML and use of these tags by other languages, the server can
> become easily
> ; confused and end up parsing the wrong code in the wrong context. But
> because
> ; this short cut has been a feature for such a long time, it's
> currently still
> ; supported for backwards compatibility, but we recommend you don't
> use them.
>
> ------------------------------------------------
>
> This history strongly suggests PHP is hoping and subtly forcing the
> world to stop using this directive, and although it's not deprecated
> the wording and treatment makes it feel it could be any day now. This
> situation must be clarified before 5_3 is released, and will likely
> require our BDFL to do it.
>
> In related news, what came of this RFC? It still says "Under Discussion":
>
>   - http://wiki.php.net/rfc/shortags
>
> Regards,
> Philip
>
>
>

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