On Fri, 2002-04-19 at 15:08, Zeev Suraski wrote:
> At 21:18 19/04/2002, Lux wrote:
> >One other quick question: Can you make references to the superglobals,
> >then call these as "variable variables"?
>
> Yes.
>
> Can you explain when you need to use these global structures indirectly?
Sure!
In an effort to be compatible with PHP 4.0.6 and under as well as
4.1.0+, I found myself using the following code more than once:
if (PHP_VERSION < '4.1.0') {
// use $HTTP_*_VARS
} else {
// use $_* vars
}
While I know I can still use the $HTTP_*_VARS in all new versions of
PHP, the docs on php.net stated that these were deprecated, so I am
preparing for versions that didn't have them by starting to move towards
the new variables now. But I can't ditch the $HTTP_*_VARS way
completely for a while still, because there are a lot of PHP users still
running 4.0.6. So I thought of a method of only having to code this if
statement once, which was:
if (PHP_VERSION < '4.1.0') {
define ('_GET', 'HTTP_GET_VARS');
define ('_POST', 'HTTP_POST_VARS');
// etc.
} else {
define ('_GET', '_GET');
define ('_POST', '_POST');
// etc.
}
Now I can refer to the appropriate values automatically by saying
${_GET} or ${_POST}, which is only two characters off from using the new
syntax, so it's nice and simple. The only catch here is that in any
block that I use these, I have to call global $HTTP_*_VARS first to
whichever I use, otherwise it keeps my code nice and clean.
Reasons aside though, we are talking about an inconsistency in the way
PHP handles these new "superglobals", one that makes them look and feel
and act (for the most part) just like ordinary variables, but makes them
differ in small but potentially problematic ways. Using my method works
in the global namespace, but once you enter another it fails. This
sounds like a pretty clear bug to me, not something to be excused as "we
meant for it to be that way". Nobody plans to add tiny inconsistencies;
those only make peoples' lives more difficult.
Lux
>
> Zeev
>
>
>
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