From: greg at mtechsolutions dot ca
Operating system: all
PHP version: 5.2.0
PHP Bug Type: Feature/Change Request
Bug description: Add coalesce() and coalesce_strict() functions
Description:
------------
I see value in adding two functions to php: coalesce() and
coalesce_strict().
Both of these would take an arbitrary number of arguments, and use the
first non-empty() or non-null value (respectively).
For example:
$username = coalesce($_POST['username'], $_COOKIE['username'], 'guest');
Parameters passed would not have to be defined (eg, the above script
should not generate notices if E_STRICT is on and $_POST['username'] is
undefined), and undefined variables would be treated as null.
Reproduce code:
---------------
// The PHP (close) equivalents:
function coalesce() {
$max = func_num_args();
for ($i = 0; $i < $max-1; $i++) {
$value = func_get_arg($i);
if (!empty($value)) {
return $value;
}
}
return func_get_arg($max-1);
}
function coalesce_strict() {
$max = func_num_args();
for ($i = 0; $i < $max-1; $i++) {
$value = func_get_arg($i);
if ($value !== null) {
return $value;
}
}
return func_get_arg($max-1);
}
Expected result:
----------------
coalesce('',0,1); // returns 1
coalesce(0,null,false,''); // returns '' (last value)
coalesce_strict(0,null,false,''); // returns 0
--
Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=39553&edit=1
--
Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 4.4):
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=trysnapshot44
Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 5.2):
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=trysnapshot52
Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 6.0):
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=trysnapshot60
Fixed in CVS: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=fixedcvs
Fixed in release:
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=alreadyfixed
Need backtrace: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=needtrace
Need Reproduce Script: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=needscript
Try newer version: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=oldversion
Not developer issue: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=support
Expected behavior: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=notwrong
Not enough info:
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=notenoughinfo
Submitted twice:
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=submittedtwice
register_globals: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=globals
PHP 3 support discontinued: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=php3
Daylight Savings: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=dst
IIS Stability: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=isapi
Install GNU Sed: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=gnused
Floating point limitations: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=float
No Zend Extensions: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=nozend
MySQL Configuration Error: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=39553&r=mysqlcfg
