The string '<?php ?>' is being mistakenly removed

[shaal]

Bug Report

Subject	Details
Rector version	v0.7.25 (prefixed)
Installed as	prefixed Rector PHAR

Minimal PHP Code Causing Issue

https://getrector.org/demo/f1bc0f86-1bfa-4527-80de-3ab3839347f0#result

Expected Behaviour

Rector should leave that string '<?php ?>' as is and not remove it.

[TomasVotruba]

This is part of php-parser empty print cleanup.

rector/src/PhpParser/Printer/BetterStandardPrinter.php

Lines 85 to 88 in bc1d391

	// remove dead <?php structures
	$clearContent = Strings::replace($content, '#\<\?php(\s)\?\>\n?#');
	$clearContent = Strings::replace($clearContent, '#\<\?php(\s+)\?\>#');

It's dead code, that doesn't do any behavior and should not be in your code.

What troubles it causes you?

[shaal]

The assumption is that Rector will not change anything in the code, unless it was specifically instructed to do so through rector.yml

`' is used in various Drupal projects, when a string is sent to Drupal multilingual system (the t() function), like this:

$description .= ' ' . $this->t('If the PHP option is chosen, enter PHP code between %php. Note that executing incorrect PHP code can break your Drupal site.', ['%php' => '<?php ?>']);

List of projects using it:
http://grep.xnddx.ru/search?text=%3C%3Fphp+%3F%3E&filename=

[TomasVotruba]

Rector depends on many external tools, like php-parser. These tools have their own limit and design choices, that lead to results that conflicts with others.

I see. I'm not sure how to solve this in the printer though.

[shaal]

PR #3395 resolved this issue.