I spoke briefly with Jan about the following (imho) mis-feature, who recommended bringing it up on the dev-list.
http://bugs.php.net/?id=14952 I ran into the problem (as an end-user) while trying to muck with what the user had passed in (ie: spoof GET data from session-ized defaults if the user did not select anything). Why isn't it: $_GET =& $HTTP_GET_VARS? Attached is my understanding of the problem. As it stands right now, I do not want to use $_GET constructs in my code because $_GET is not a drop-in replacement for: $GLOBALS['HTTP_GET_VARS'][...] ...which I assumed it was. No matter where I set a value for $GLOBALS['HTTP_GET_VARS'], it will be the same throughout script execution. With the addition of the $_GET class of variables, there are suddenly two copies of data, two areas to manage in your code. IMHO, it is a bad move for the data to be separated in the long run, especially when there is not a good reason for it. If the world were a perfect place (which it isn't, and I know it ;^) ... I would say that: $_GET =& $GLOBALS['HTTP_GET_VARS']; $_POST =& $GLOBALS['HTTP_POST_VARS']; $_COOKIE =& $GLOBALS['HTTP_COOKIE_VARS']; $_REQUEST =& array_merge( $_GET, $_POST, $_COOKIE ); I know that the last request (reference request to the results of a function) isn't really possible or feasible, but the first three definitely are. Another possible solution would be to throw an E_WARNING if $_GET or $GLOBALS['HTTP_GET_VARS'] is used as the left- hand side of an expression. This would make changing information within $_GET or $GLOBALS['HTTP_GET_VARS'] officially frowned upon, which would have alerted me to the fact that now in 4.1.1 there are two places where a GET/POST variable can be named and changed. Or, if $_GET/$HTTP_GET_VARS is detected as a left-hand side expression, call _internal_UPDATE_REQUEST( $key, $value ), to keep all arrays in sync. I wrote up some documentation about the $_* variables, which I would appreciate it if someone more knowledgeable about the inner workings of the $_GET stuff could look over it and let me know if there are any mistakes. I release that documentation to the PHP group under the same terms of license as the rest of PHP's documentation, so please feel free to integrate it if it is a welcome addition. I am not subscribed to this list (am using it through the news gateway now), so I might not receive any responses. I would appreciate being CC'd any relevant discussion. Thanks for everything so far, PHP rocks! :^) --Robert ([EMAIL PROTECTED] / [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Thank you for your response. I understand what the $_* arrays are for, but I still disagree. :^) echo $_GET['blah']; echo $HTTP_GET_VARS['blah']; $HTTP_GET_VARS['blah'] = 'test'; function test() { echo $_GET['blah']; } test(); Why is the array data separate? There is no good reason, and several bad reasons. Good reasons to be separate: 1) You might want $_GET and $H_G_V to be different 2) [some random reason about internal PHP code] 3) does $_REQUEST get updated if $_GET/$_POST is updated too? Bad reasons to be separate: 1) takes twice as much memory 2) $_GET != $HTTP_GET_VARS after script execution begins 3) does $_REQUEST get updated if $_GET/$_POST is updated too? At the very least, this is a documentation bug because $_GET != $HTTP_GET_VARS should be mentioned at http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.variables.predefined.php Here is my stab at documentation for $_* vars. """ With the introduction of PHP 4.1.1 there are several variables introduced which are guaranteed to be available in every function, no matter what the ini settings are. These variables are: $_GET, $_POST, and $_COOKIE, and contain the same information as their corresponding $HTTP_*_VARS arrays. The other variable introduced is $_REQUEST, which is a merged array of all GET/POST/COOKIE data. SPECIAL NOTE: Although the information contained in $_GET, $_POST, $_COOKIE, and $_REQUEST is initially the same as that found in $HTTP_GET_VARS, $HTTP_POST_VARS, and $HTTP_COOKIE_VARS, changes in one array do not impact changes in any other array. It is considered a bug, hack, or workaround to *set* any value in any of these arrays. (do not use them as a left-hand-side in any expression). This will make your code more readable, more maintainable, and more useful to other script authors. Converting from older styles... =============================== Assume that you have a script which takes a single parameter, 'blah'. In global scope: echo $blah; => echo $_REQUEST['blah']; echo $GLOBALS['blah']; => echo $_REQUEST['blah']; echo $HTTP_GET_VARS['blah'] => echo $_GET['blah']; echo $GLOBALS['HTTP_GET_VARS']['blah'] => echo $_GET['blah']; In function scope: function demonstration() { global $blah, $HTTP_GET_VARS; // 1: using global operator from above echo $blah; // 2: using array HTTP_GET_VARS from global scope echo $HTTP_GET_VARS['blah']; // 3: using no special functions echo $GLOBALS['HTTP_GET_VARS']['blah']; } function demonstration() { // 1: no need to global the variable name echo $_REQUEST['blah']; // 1: also valid is: global $blah; echo $blah; // 2: no need to global _GET, it is automatically available echo $_GET['blah']; // 3: same as #1, no need to change echo $_REQUEST['blah']; } """ -- PHP Development Mailing List <http://www.php.net/> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To contact the list administrators, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
