Input: considering nested array keys in get_post and post_get

[tianhe1986]

With URL such as http://ci.mine.cn/test/test_get?a[b]=test and the following code

$something = $this->input->get('a[b]');
$something2 = $this->input->get_post('a[b]');
var_dump($something, $something2);

$something gets 'test', and $something2 turns out to be NULL. However, they are expected to be the same.

So I try to fix it using null comparison instead of isset check.

[narfbg]

An isset check is a null comparison (that's not where the difference in results come from), and I insist that isset() still be used.

[tianhe1986]

@narfbg No, it is just isset causing the difference, because in get() it doing more check than just null comparison.
With the URL I showed above, isset($_GET['a[b]']) would return false, resulting in get_post fallback to post() and get NULL at last.
It should fallback to array notation check with $_GET first, and then fallback to post() when still getting NULL.

[narfbg]

No ... You don't get it.

isset() is literally a "defined and not null" check; effectively a fast @$var !== NULL check - that's not the issue at all. The reason why isset($_GET['a[b]']) will return false is because that should be isset($_GET['a']['b']), but of course you can't do that dynamically.

The difference, both visible in your patch and as you said it, is that get() (well, _fetch_from_array()) does more work, in that it matches the string, pseudo-key input against the actual array keys.

When I say I insist on isset() being used, I mean isset($output) as the ternary condition. Although, now I take that back ... we don't need that variable at all, the following should work just fine:

return $this->get($index, $xss_clean) ?: $this->post($index, $xss_clean);

[tianhe1986]

I see. I'm sorry for misunderstanding what you said.
However, ?: is not right for variables such as 0, '0' and empty string for that it is a TRUE check， so isset() should also be used.

$output = $this->post($index, $xss_clean);
return isset($output) ? $output : $this->get($index, $xss_clean);

Is this OK?

[narfbg]

You're right, I always mix up short ternary with null coalesce. :)

Yes, that'd be exactly what I wanted.