php-in-php: CGI superglobal refresh — delete superglobals_refresh.c (~2623 lines), populate in lib/Web/

[PurHur]

Category

php-in-php | runtime

Problem

AOT/CGI binaries link lib/AOT/runtime/superglobals_refresh.c (~2623 lines) to repopulate $_GET, $_POST, $_SERVER, $_ENV, $_COOKIE, $_FILES, and $_REQUEST from environment variables and stdin. The same logic belongs in lib/Web/ + compiled PHP (or thin ABI calling PHP helpers), not a hand-written C parser duplicating multipart/CGI rules.

php-src reference

• php/php-src main/php_variables.c — php_register_variable, SAPI input
• php/php-src main/rfc1867.c — multipart $_FILES / $_POST
• php/php-src main/SAPI.c — superglobal registration

Repro (C runtime today)

./script/docker-exec.sh -- bash -lc 'wc -l lib/AOT/runtime/superglobals_refresh.c
grep superglobals_refresh lib/AOT/Linker.php
'

Web north-star regressions surface via existing gates when refresh semantics drift:

./script/docker-exec.sh -- bash -lc 'source script/php-env.sh
vendor/bin/phpunit test/unit/Web/CgiDriverTest.php --filter multipart
'

Scope (this repo)

Area	Files
PHP implementation	lib/Web/SuperglobalRefresh.php (or extend existing web runtime)
VM/CGI entry	bin/cgi.php, lib/Web/CgiDriver.php
Delete	lib/AOT/runtime/superglobals_refresh.c
Linker	lib/AOT/Linker.php — drop C TU; native bridge calls PHP refresh
Tests	CgiDriverTest, examples/006-FileUploadWeb multipart smoke

Default: port behavior into PHP this repo owns; keep C as thin getenv/trampoline only if unavoidable.

Done when

• superglobals_refresh.c removed from link set
• PR notes ~2623 lines removed from runtime/
• CGI multipart + nested $_FILES smoke green (no PHP_COMPILER_SKIP_SERVE_TESTS)
• $_REQUEST merge order matches Zend (GET+POST+COOKIE)

Related

• AOT: Per-request superglobal refresh in native binary (not compile-time bake) #201 original CGI superglobals
• Runtime: superglobal — initialization + aliasing semantics parity #4423 superglobal aliasing semantics
• Web: $_FILES population and move_uploaded_file subset #87 nested $_FILES
• Epic: Self-host critical path — compiler compiles itself (M3→M5) #1492 self-host / web-capable subset