PHP :: Bug #29500 :: Accessing object elements returns object

Bug #29500

Accessing object elements returns object

Submitted:

2004年08月03日 05:15 UTC

Modified:

2004年08月03日 15:39 UTC

Votes:	65
Avg. Score:	3.7 ± 1.4
Reproduced:	41 of 46 (89.1%)
Same Version:	13 (31.7%)
Same OS:	10 (24.4%)

From:

lists at cyberlot dot net

Assigned:

Status:

Wont fix

Package:

SimpleXML related

PHP Version:

5.0.0

OS:

Fedora Core 2

Private report:

CVE-ID:

None

View Developer Edit

[2004年08月03日 05:15 UTC] lists at cyberlot dot net

Description:
------------
When using simplexml to access a element the returned object it returns a object instead of a string
Have to type cast it as a (string) to get the information back, Should not have to typecast.
If a typecast is required it should be specificed in the docs.
Reproduce code:
---------------
$string = <<<XML
<?xml version='1.0'?>
<document>
 <cmd>login</cmd>
 <login>Richard</login>
</document>
XML;
 
$xml = simplexml_load_string($string);
print_r($xml);
$login = $xml->login;
print_r($login);
$login = (string) $xml->login;
print_r($login);
Expected result:
----------------
SimpleXMLElement Object
(
 [cmd] => login
 [login] => Richard
)
Richard
Richard
Actual result:
--------------
SimpleXMLElement Object
(
 [cmd] => login
 [login] => Richard
)
SimpleXMLElement Object
(
 [0] => Richard
)
Richard

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[2004年08月03日 05:23 UTC] lists at cyberlot dot net

http://us3.php.net/manual/en/ref.simplexml.php
In trying to get this working I played with the examples from this page.
Example 7 returns the following error
Fatal error: Objects used as arrays in post/pre increment/decrement must return values by reference in /root/test.php on line 29

[2004年08月03日 12:01 UTC] chregu@php.net

That's by design and was discussed on 
internals@lists.php.net

[2004年08月03日 15:29 UTC] lists at cyberlot dot net

Im not signed up for that list...
The online docs badly need updating then.
1. To express the need to use typecasting depending on how you access the variable.
2. That you can no longer "change" the simplexml object like explained in example 7

[2004年08月03日 15:39 UTC] lists at cyberlot dot net

Ok it is impossible to modify the simpleobject once creating which means you can't add anything to the xml.
Is this a desired affect as well?

[2011年05月31日 11:22 UTC] stu at dyndev dot co dot nz

This intentional bug is still there, I cannot for the life of me see why it would be that way or why it's still not documented all these years later.

[2015年03月22日 02:07 UTC] perske at uni-muenster dot de

This behaviour *is* documented, but at a very hidden place:
On the lengthy page http://php.net/manual/en/simplexml.examples-basic.php
in the introduction to example #6.
The bug is not the need for a cast; this need is technically well-founded, see the internal discussions. The bug is using the word "simple" in the name of a class with an interface that looks so absurd to the eyes of the usual programmer. But it is to late to fix this bug.
If you dislike casts, you can access elements and attributes without using them:
$login = $xml->login->__toString();
But (string)$xml->login and "{$xml->login}" are shorter.