Podio Workflow Automation: PHP Upgrade Changes

What did PHP change?

String to number comparison.

• Empty strings will no longer match 0.
  
  • Comparing an empty string to 0 would before return True, but now returns False.
• 0 will no longer match a non-numeric string.
• Strings containing characters and numbers will no longer match an integer value.

No error message.

Example Problem:

Example 1

0 == "";
// or
substr_count("the dog", "cat") == "";
PHP 7 calculations will return True.

PHP 8 calculations will return False.

Example Solution:

Example 1

Always compare an integer return value to an integer.

substr_count("the dog", "cat") == 0; // True

Reference:

https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration80.incompatible.php#migration80.incompatible.core.string-number-comparision 

What did PHP change?

Functions requiring arguments will no longer fail silently when missing or empty arguments are passed, or too many arguments are passed.

Error message:

Uncaught ArgumentCountError: substr_count() expects at least 2 arguments, 1 given

Example Problem:

Example 1

substr_count("the dog");
PHP 7 calculations will return NULL

PHP 8 calculations will return False (due to error)

Example 2

substr_count("the dog", "");
PHP 7 calculations will return NULL

PHP 8 calculations will return False (due to error)

Example 3

rand(1, 10, 100);
PHP 7 calculations will return a value between 1 and 10 (ignoring the 3rd argument).

PHP 8 calculations will return False (due to error)

Example Solution:

Example 1

Always pass required arguments

substr_count("the dog", "dog"); // 1
Example 2

If an argument can be potentially empty (as is common with field token values) you can check for an empty value.

$val == "" ? 0 : substr_count("the dog", $val);
Example 3

Only use the exact number of arguments required.

rand(1, 10);

Reference:

Visit https://www.php.net/ and use the search bar to lookup the manual for the function you are calling. 

What did PHP change?

Nested ternary operator requires explicit parentheses in PHP 8.1.

Error message:

Fatal error: Unparenthesized `a ? b : c ? d : e` is not supported. Use either `(a ? b : c) ? d : e` or `a ? b : (c ? d : e)

Example Problem:

Example 1

($val==11 ? "hello" : ($val == 7 ? "test" : $val==11 ? "Foo" : "Bar"));
PHP 7 calculations will evaluate successfully.

PHP 8 calculations will return False (due to error)

Example Solution:

Example 1

Nested ternary should always be wrapped with parentheses.

($val == 11 ? "hello" : ($val == 7 ? "test" : ($val == 11 ? "Foo" : "Bar")));

Reference:

https://lindevs.com/nested-ternary-operators-requires-explicit-parentheses-in-php-8-0 

What did PHP change?

Functions will no longer coerce or fail silently if passed an argument of unexpected type.

Error Message:

Uncaught TypeError: date(): Argument #2 ($timestamp) must be of type ?int, string given

Uncaught TypeError: in_array(): Argument #2 ($haystack) must be of type array, string

Uncaught TypeError: number_format(): Argument #1 ($num) must be of type float, string given

Example Problem:

Example 1

date($format, "1234567890");
PHP 7 calculations will return a date string.

PHP 8 calculations will return False (due to error)

Example 2

date('i', '');
PHP 7 calculations will return NULL

PHP 8 calculations will return NULL

Example 3

date('Y-m-d H:i:s', '1234567890 -1 hour');
PHP 7 calculations will return a date string with the timestamp, ignoring everything after the timestamp (this is already incorrect usage)

PHP 8 will return False (due to error)

Example 4

date('Y-m-d', '2022-02-18');
PHP 7 calculations will return incorrect date string of 1969-12-31 (incorrect usage)

PHP 8 calculations return False (due to error)

Example 5

number_format("1.23");
PHP 7 will return 1

PHP 8 will return False (due to error)

Example Solution:

Example 1

The optional timestamp parameter should be an integer. If the second parameter is passed through as a string (as it it may be with a field token) you can cast to an integer as shown below.

date($format, 1234567890);
// or
date($format, intval("1234567890"));

Example 2

Always provide a non-empty arguments. If a variable is used and can be potentially empty, you can check ahead.

$val == "" ? "N/A" : date('i', $val);

Example 3

Use strtotime() to generate a relative timestamp.

date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('now -1 hour'));

Example 4

Again use strtotime() to generate the timestamp value.

date('Y-m-d', strtotime('2022-02-18'))

Example 5

In older PHP versions, float values surrounded by quotes (stringified), could be used as an argument. But in PHP 8 and above we have strict type requirements.

As a solution, you may make use of floatval() function to convert stringified float value to pure float.

number_format(floatval("1.23")); // 1

Reference:

https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.date.php 

https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.in-array 

What did PHP change?

Support for deprecated curly braces for offset access has been removed.

Error Message:

Fatal error: Array and string offset access syntax with curly braces is no longer supported

Example Problem:

Example 1

$myArray = ["one", "two"];
$myArray{0};
PHP 7 will return "one".

PHP 8 will return FALSE (due to error)

Example Solution:

Example 1

Never use curly braces for string or array offset, only use square brackets.

$myArray = ["one", "two"];
$myArray[0]; // one

Reference:

https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration80.incompatible.php#:~:text=Support%20for%20deprecated%20curly%20braces%20for%20offset%20access%20has%20been%20removed. 

What did PHP change?

preg_replace() needs 3 compulsory arguments.

Error Message:

Uncaught ArgumentCountError: preg_replace() expects at least 3 arguments

Example Problem:

Example 1:

preg_replace('/foo/', 'bar');
PHP 7 will return NULL (incorrect usage)

PHP 8 will return False (due to error)

Example Solution:

Example 1

Providing less than 3 arguments will throw error. Make sure to provide first 3 compulsory arguments.

preg_replace('/foo/', 'bar', 'foobar'); // barbar

Reference:

https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.preg-replace.php 

What did PHP change?

implode() expects its arguments to be array if only 1 argument is provided.

or

implode() expects its arguments to be string and array if 2 arguments are provided.

Error Message:

Uncaught TypeError: implode(): Argument #1 ($pieces) must be of type array, string given

Example Problem:

Example 1

implode(['foo', 'bar'], ':')
PHP 7 will return foo:bar

PHP 8 will return False (due to error)

Example 2

implode('foo');
PHP 7 will return NULL

PHP 8 will return False (due to error)

Example Solution: 

Example 1

implode() has changed its signature in PHP 8. If you have a separator, then the first argument must be a string, and the second argument an array.

implode(':', ['foo', 'bar']); // foo:bar
Example 2

The first argument must be an array if you specify no separator.

implode(['foo', 'bar']); // foobar

Reference:

https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.implode 

What did PHP change?

The math functions abs(), ceil(), floor() and round() now properly heed the strict_types directive. Previously, they coerced the first argument even in strict type mode.

Error Message:

Uncaught TypeError: floor(): Argument #1 ($num) must be of type int|float, string given.

Example Problem:

Example 1

floor("3.14")
PHP 7 will return 3

PHP 8 will return False (due to error)

Example Solution:

Example 1

Pass only an integer or float to floor(), abs(), ceil(), and round(). You can cast a string using intval() or floatval().

floor(floatval("3.14")) // 3

Reference:

php.net/manual/en/function.floor 

What did PHP change?

You can not use a string offset on a string.

Error Message:

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot access offset of type string on string

Example Problem:

Example 1

'mystring'['a'];
PHP 7 calculations will return m.

PHP 8 calculations will return FALSE

Example Solution:

Example 1

Use only integer offsets on strings.

'mystring'[0]; // m

What did PHP change?

Division by zero will now result in an error.

Error Message:

Uncaught DivisionByZeroError: Division by zero

Example Problem:

Example 1

10/0;
PHP 7 calculations will return INF (infinite)

PHP 8 calculations will return False (due to error)

Example Solution: 

Example 1

You can check if your divisor is 0.

$var == 0 ? 0 : 10/$var;

What did PHP change?

Arithmetic with empty strings.

Error Message:

Uncaught TypeError: Unsupported operand types

Example Problem:

"" + 1;
PHP 7 calcs will return 1.

PHP 8 calcs will return False (due to error).

Example Solution:

For arithmetic operations, ensure you cast any unknown variable types to an integer. This means you typically want to cast values from field tokens.

Note: PWA will attempt to automatically convert empty strings used in arithmetic operations to 0 in your calc at runtime to help avoid this issue.

intval("") + 1; // 1

Reference:

https://www.php.net/manual/en/migration80.incompatible.php#:~:text=Arithmetic%20operations