Array conversion rewrite, expanded test coverage, and a tested cookbook#13
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Both directions of array conversion had 20-year-old FIXMEs:
- plphp_convert_to_pg_array emitted string elements with no escaping
(an embedded quote corrupted the literal) and errored out on PHP
null elements. Now strings are quoted/escaped per array-literal
rules and null becomes a SQL NULL element.
- plphp_convert_from_pg_array rewrote braces to "array(" and fed the
data to zend_eval_string. Unquoted text elements crashed as
undefined PHP constants, quoted elements were never dequoted, and
table data flowed through eval(). Replace it with a recursive
descent parser over the array output form that handles quoting,
escapes, NULLs, and nested arrays, preserving the numeric element
types (int/float) the eval-based code produced.
- Argument arrays were detected by "output text starts with {"; a
text argument whose value starts with a brace was misparsed as an
array. Detect from the declared argument type instead
(arg_is_array in plphp_proc_desc).
New "arrays" regression test covers NULL elements both directions,
quote/backslash/comma/brace/space escaping round trips, unquoted text
arrays, numeric type preservation, empty and multi-dimensional
arrays, and bytea round trips.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
New "coverage" regression test pins: start_proc failure and recovery, DML/utility statement status and row counts through spi_exec (and that fetching/rewinding a non-SELECT result is refused politely), trigger arguments via $_TD['args'], cursor death across spi_commit and across a rolled-back subtransaction() (both return false rather than crashing), multibyte UTF-8 round trips, TOAST-sized values, PHP try/catch in ordinary function code, and DO block runtime errors. sql/prepare.sql was never in REGRESS, is misnamed (it contains no prepared statements; compat.sql owns those), collides with objects from other tests, and its one unique case -- the pre-return_next "return the whole result array" SRF style -- silently returns zero rows on the current code, so there is nothing left worth keeping. Known limitation surfaced while writing this (not pinned because the error text varies): procedures with INOUT parameters fail with "function returning record called in context that cannot accept type record". Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
doc/cookbook.md shows where PL/php earns its keep over plpgsql: the PHP standard library. Recipes: filter_var CHECK constraints, bcrypt via password_hash (no pgcrypto), HMAC-signed tokens, recursive JSON reshaping, regex set-returning functions, a generic JSON-diff audit trigger with its plan cached in $_SHARED, batch processing with periodic commits, streaming scans that stop early via spi_query, CSV and XML shredding, and zlib compression. Every recipe in the "Tested recipes" section is exercised verbatim by the new "cookbook" regression test, so the page cannot silently rot. Side-effecting recipes (HTTP webhooks via stream wrappers, mail(), locale-dependent slugify) are documented separately with caveats about running inside the backend's transaction. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This was referenced Jul 5, 2026
This was referenced Jul 5, 2026
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Three related quality improvements, each validated with the full regression suite on PostgreSQL 11 through 18 (21/21 tests on every version).
1. Array conversion rewritten (fixes three 20-year-old FIXMEs)
"used to corrupt the literal), and a PHPnullelement becomes a SQLNULLinstead ofERROR: unrecognized element type.zend_eval_stringhack with a real recursive-descent parser. Unquoted text elements ({foo,bar}) used to crash as undefined PHP constants; quoted elements were never dequoted; and table data flowed througheval(). Numeric elements still arrive as PHP int/float, matching the old semantics.arg_is_arrayin the proc descriptor) instead of "output text starts with{" — atextargument whose value starts with a brace is no longer misparsed.The
sharedtest's'fourth'case had this bug baked in (it passed a text value written in PHP array syntax, relying on the eval); it now pins the corrected semantics, with a new case sharing a realtext[]through$_SHARED.New
arraystest: NULL elements both directions, quote/backslash/comma/brace/space round trips (base64-verified), unquoted text arrays, numeric type preservation, empty and multi-dimensional arrays, and bytea round trips.2. Coverage for previously-untested paths
New
coveragetest pins:plphp.start_procfailure + recovery, DML/utility status and row counts throughspi_exec, trigger arguments via$_TD['args'], cursor death acrossspi_commitand across rolled-backsubtransaction()s (both returnfalse, no crash), multibyte UTF-8, TOAST-sized values, PHPtry/catch, and DO-block runtime errors.Also removes
sql/prepare.sql: never inREGRESS, misnamed (no prepared statements —compat.sqlowns those), collides with other tests' objects, and its one unique pattern (pre-return_nextwhole-array SRFs) silently returns zero rows on current code.Known limitation surfaced (not fixed here): procedures with INOUT parameters fail with "function returning record called in context that cannot accept type record".
3. A tested cookbook
doc/cookbook.md— recipes that showcase the PHP stdlib:filter_varCHECK constraints, bcrypt viapassword_hash, HMAC tokens, recursive JSON reshaping, regex SRFs, a generic JSON-diff audit trigger (plan cached in$_SHARED), batch processing with periodic commits, streaming scans that stop early, CSV/XML shredding, zlib compression. Every recipe in the "Tested recipes" section runs verbatim in the newcookbookregression test, so the docs can't rot. Side-effecting recipes (webhooks,mail(), slugify) are doc-only with caveats.🤖 Generated with Claude Code