xref: /PHP-7.3/README.PARAMETER_PARSING_API (revision 3362620b)
1New parameter parsing functions
2===============================
3
4It should be easier to parse input parameters to an extension function.
5Hence, borrowing from Python's example, there are now a set of functions
6that given the string of type specifiers, can parse the input parameters
7and store the results in the user specified variables. This avoids most
8of the IS_* checks and convert_to_* conversions. The functions also
9check for the appropriate number of parameters, and try to output
10meaningful error messages.
11
12
13Prototypes
14----------
15/* Implemented. */
16int zend_parse_parameters(int num_args, char *type_spec, ...);
17int zend_parse_parameters_ex(int flags, int num_args, char *type_spec, ...);
18
19The zend_parse_parameters() function takes the number of parameters
20passed to the extension function, the type specifier string, and the
21list of pointers to variables to store the results in. The _ex() version
22also takes 'flags' argument -- current only ZEND_PARSE_PARAMS_QUIET can
23be used as 'flags' to specify that the function should operate quietly
24and not output any error messages.
25
26Both functions return SUCCESS or FAILURE depending on the result.
27
28The auto-conversions are performed as necessary. Arrays, objects, and
29resources cannot be auto-converted.
30
31PHP 5.3 includes a new function (actually implemented as macro):
32
33int zend_parse_parameters_none();
34
35This returns SUCCESS if no argument has been passed to the function,
36FAILURE otherwise.
37
38PHP 5.5 includes a new function:
39
40int zend_parse_parameter(int flags, int arg_num, zval **arg, const char *spec, ...);
41
42This function behaves like zend_parse_parameters_ex() except that instead of
43reading the arguments from the stack, it receives a single zval to convert
44(passed with double indirection). The passed zval may be changed in place as
45part of the conversion process.
46
47See also https://wiki.php.net/rfc/zpp_improv#expose_zend_parse_arg_as_zend_parse_parameter
48
49
50Type specifiers
51---------------
52 The following list shows the type specifier, its meaning and the parameter
53 types that need to be passed by address. All passed parameters are set
54 if the PHP parameter is non optional and untouched if optional and the
55 parameter is not present. The only exception is O where the zend_class_entry*
56 has to be provided on input and is used to verify the PHP parameter is an
57 instance of that class.
58
59 a  - array (zval*)
60 A  - array or object (zval*)
61 b  - boolean (zend_bool)
62 C  - class (zend_class_entry*)
63 d  - double (double)
64 f  - function or array containing php method call info (returned as
65      zend_fcall_info and zend_fcall_info_cache)
66 h  - array (returned as HashTable*)
67 H  - array or HASH_OF(object) (returned as HashTable*)
68 l  - long (zend_long)
69 L  - long, limits out-of-range numbers to LONG_MAX/LONG_MIN (zend_long, ZEND_LONG_MAX/ZEND_LONG_MIN)
70 o  - object of any type (zval*)
71 O  - object of specific type given by class entry (zval*, zend_class_entry)
72 p  - valid path (string without null bytes in the middle) and its length (char*, size_t)
73 P  - valid path (string without null bytes in the middle) as zend_string (zend_string*)
74 r  - resource (zval*)
75 s  - string (with possible null bytes) and its length (char*, size_t)
76 S  - string (with possible null bytes) as zend_string (zend_string*)
77 z  - the actual zval (zval*)
78 *  - variable arguments list (0 or more)
79 +  - variable arguments list (1 or more)
80
81 The following characters also have a meaning in the specifier string:
82    | - indicates that the remaining parameters are optional, they
83        should be initialized to default values by the extension since they
84        will not be touched by the parsing function if they are not
85        passed to it.
86    / - use SEPARATE_ZVAL_IF_NOT_REF() on the parameter it follows
87    ! - the parameter it follows can be of specified type or NULL. If NULL is
88		passed and the output for such type is a pointer, then the output
89		pointer is set to a native NULL pointer.
90		For 'b', 'l' and 'd', an extra argument of type zend_bool* must be
91		passed after the corresponding bool*, zend_long* or double* arguments,
92		respectively. A non-zero value will be written to the zend_bool if a
93		PHP NULL is passed.
94
95
96Note on 64bit compatibility
97---------------------------
98Please note that since version 7 PHP uses zend_long as integer type and
99zend_string with size_t as length, so make sure you pass zend_longs to "l"
100and size_t to strings length (i.e. for "s" you need to pass char * and size_t),
101not the other way round!
102
103Both mistakes might cause memory corruptions and segfaults:
1041)
105  char *str;
106  long str_len; /* XXX THIS IS WRONG!! Use size_t instead. */
107  zend_parse_parameters(ZEND_NUM_ARGS(), "s", &str, &str_len)
108
1092)
110  int num; /* XXX THIS IS WRONG!! Use zend_long instead. */
111  zend_parse_parameters(ZEND_NUM_ARGS(), "l", &num)
112
113If you're in doubt, use check_parameters.php script to the parameters
114and their types (it can be found in ./scripts/dev/ directory of PHP sources):
115
116# php ./scripts/dev/check_parameters.php /path/to/your/sources/
117
118
119Examples
120--------
121/* Gets a long, a string and its length, and a zval */
122zend_long l;
123char *s;
124size_t s_len;
125zval *param;
126if (zend_parse_parameters(ZEND_NUM_ARGS(), "lsz",
127                          &l, &s, &s_len, &param) == FAILURE) {
128    return;
129}
130
131
132/* Gets an object of class specified by my_ce, and an optional double. */
133zval *obj;
134double d = 0.5;
135zend_class_entry *my_ce;
136if (zend_parse_parameters(ZEND_NUM_ARGS(), "O|d",
137                          &obj, my_ce, &d) == FAILURE) {
138    return;
139}
140
141
142/* Gets an object or null, and an array.
143   If null is passed for object, obj will be set to NULL. */
144zval *obj;
145zval *arr;
146if (zend_parse_parameters(ZEND_NUM_ARGS(), "o!a",
147                          &obj, &arr) == FAILURE) {
148    return;
149}
150
151
152/* Gets a separated array which can also be null. */
153zval *arr;
154if (zend_parse_parameters(ZEND_NUM_ARGS(), "a/!",
155                          &arr) == FAILURE) {
156    return;
157}
158
159/* Get either a set of 3 longs or a string. */
160zend_long l1, l2, l3;
161char *s;
162/*
163 * The function expects a pointer to a size_t in this case, not a long
164 * or any other type.  If you specify a type which is larger
165 * than a 'size_t', the upper bits might not be initialized
166 * properly, leading to random crashes on platforms like
167 * Tru64 or Linux/Alpha.
168 */
169size_t length;
170
171if (zend_parse_parameters_ex(ZEND_PARSE_PARAMS_QUIET, ZEND_NUM_ARGS(),
172                             "lll", &l1, &l2, &l3) == SUCCESS) {
173    /* manipulate longs */
174} else if (zend_parse_parameters_ex(ZEND_PARSE_PARAMS_QUIET, ZEND_NUM_ARGS(),
175                                    "s", &s, &length) == SUCCESS) {
176    /* manipulate string */
177} else {
178    /* output error */
179
180    return;
181}
182
183
184/* Function that accepts only varargs (0 or more) */
185
186int i, num_varargs;
187zval *varargs = NULL;
188
189
190if (zend_parse_parameters(ZEND_NUM_ARGS(), "*", &varargs, &num_varargs) == FAILURE) {
191    return;
192}
193
194for (i = 0; i < num_varargs; i++) {
195    /* do something with varargs[i] */
196}
197
198if (varargs) {
199    efree(varargs);
200}
201
202
203/* Function that accepts a string, followed by varargs (1 or more) */
204
205char *str;
206size_t str_len;
207int i, num_varargs;
208zval *varargs = NULL;
209
210if (zend_parse_parameters(ZEND_NUM_ARGS(), "s+", &str, &str_len, &varargs, &num_varargs) == FAILURE) {
211    return;
212}
213
214for (i = 0; i < num_varargs; i++) {
215    /* do something with varargs[i] */
216}
217
218/* Function that takes an array, followed by varargs, and ending with a long */
219zend_long num;
220zval *array;
221int i, num_varargs;
222zval *varargs = NULL;
223
224if (zend_parse_parameters(ZEND_NUM_ARGS(), "a*l", &array, &varargs, &num_varargs, &num) == FAILURE) {
225    return;
226}
227
228for (i = 0; i < num_varargs; i++) {
229    /* do something with varargs[i] */
230}
231
232/* Function that doesn't accept any arguments */
233if (zend_parse_parameters_none() == FAILURE) {
234    return;
235}
236