zend_parse_parameters should return zval from inside PHP_FUNCTION

Question

I noticed that in 95% of cases there is always just return; after evaluating zend_parse_parameters to FAILURE inside PHP_FUNCTION. It did not make sense because PHP_FUNCTION are expected to return ZVAL. I am not sure what default value of return_value is when it is not explicitly set.

I searched through all php sources and all extension sources that came bundled with php. In 95% of cases they simply used return. In few extensions - date and intl they do RETURN_FALSE. In an article written by Sara Colemon she used RETURN_NULL().

I feel strongly that I should be using RETURN_FALSE for most cases which make more sense for PHP_FUNCTIONs. Am I missing something somewhere?

cmb · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-09 23:01:44Z

If zend_parse_parameters() fails, it is customary to simply return. That is documented in the PHP manual:

If zend_parse_parameters does not recieve what is specified by the Hacker as the correct arguments, and the arguments recieved cannot be converted to conform with type_spec an error will be raised, and by convention, the Hacker should return immediately.

According to the PHP manual, the type of return_value defaults to IS_NULL:

Pointer to a PHP variable that can be filled with the return value passed to the user. The default type is IS_NULL.

Furthermore, the PHP manual notes:

If the parameters given to a function are not what it expects, such as passing an array where a string is expected, the return value of the function is undefined. In this case it will likely return NULL but this is just a convention, and cannot be relied upon.

So the actual return value in case of failing zend_parse_parameters() has to be regarded as implementation detail, and consequently, simply returning appears to be most appropriate – just let the Zend engine decide about the default.

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