ErrorException: Notice: ob_end_clean(): failed to delete buffer.

[sebastianblum]

Hello!

I'am using symfony 2.0.4 and the example was working with phpunit 3.5.15.

Since the upgrade to phpunit 3.6 i get the following output:

phpunit -c app

!/usr/local/Cellar/php/5.3.6/bin/php

PHPUnit 3.6.0 by Sebastian Bergmann.

Configuration read from /Users/sebiprivat/Downloads/Symfony/app/phpunit.xml.dist

.E

Time: 1 second, Memory: 25.50Mb

There was 1 error:

1. Acme\DemoBundle\Tests\Controller\DemoControllerTest::testInvalidName
   ErrorException: Notice: ob_end_clean(): failed to delete buffer. No buffer to delete in /usr/local/Cellar/php/5.3.6/lib/php/PHPUnit/Framework/TestCase.php line 833

/Users/sebiprivat/Downloads/Symfony/vendor/symfony/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/Debug/ErrorHandler.php:65
/usr/local/Cellar/php/5.3.6/bin/phpunit:46

FAILURES!
Tests: 2, Assertions: 2, Errors: 1.
MacPro:Symfony sebiprivat$

---

Steps to reproduce the error:

1. Download Symfony v2.0.4 with vendors
   http://symfony.com/download?v=Symfony_Standard_Vendors_2.0.4.tgz
2. Go into the directory and run phpunit -c app
   There should be one test in the Acme Demo Bundle
3. Now I want to test, that symphony throws a NotFoundException (will display a 404 error page) if no name was given

I edited in src/Acme/DemoBundle/Controller/DemoController.php to

public function helloAction($name)
{
if (!$name) {
throw new NotFoundHttpException("No Name!");
}
return array('name' => $name);
}

and added a new test in src/Acme/DemoBundle/Tests/Controller/DemoControllerTest.php

public function testInvalidName()
{
$client = $this->createClient();
$crawler = $client->request('GET', '/demo/hello/');
$this->assertTrue($client->getResponse()->isNotFound());
}

Now running phpunit -c app will get the following output:

phpunit -c app

!/usr/local/Cellar/php/5.3.6/bin/php

PHPUnit 3.6.0 by Sebastian Bergmann.

Configuration read from /Users/sebiprivat/Downloads/Symfony/app/phpunit.xml.dist

.E

Time: 1 second, Memory: 25.50Mb

There was 1 error:

1. Acme\DemoBundle\Tests\Controller\DemoControllerTest::testInvalidName
   ErrorException: Notice: ob_end_clean(): failed to delete buffer. No buffer to delete in /usr/local/Cellar/php/5.3.6/lib/php/PHPUnit/Framework/TestCase.php line 833

/Users/sebiprivat/Downloads/Symfony/vendor/symfony/src/Symfony/Component/HttpKernel/Debug/ErrorHandler.php:65
/usr/local/Cellar/php/5.3.6/bin/phpunit:46

FAILURES!
Tests: 2, Assertions: 2, Errors: 1.
MacPro:Symfony sebiprivat$

[sebastianbergmann]

Are you (or Symfony 2) using Output Buffering in some way?

[Baachi]

The PhpEngine and Twig use output buffering.

[sebastianblum]

Yes, symfony and twig are using Output Buffering

I don't know how symfony generates the 404 page from the NotFoundException.
On my other PC with phpunit 3.5 the example is still working.

[Baachi]

I think the problem is in the ExceptionController from the TwigBundle.

$count = 100;
$currentContent = '';
while (ob_get_level() && --$count) {
    $currentContent .= ob_get_clean();
}

[sebastianbergmann]

Fabien told me that he is investigating the issue. There may be a new Twig / Symfony 2 release soon to address it.

[tarjei]

A quick workaround: in TestCase.php:
if (ob_get_length() > 0 ) {
ob_end_clean();
}

[justjkk]

After upgrading I could not successfully revert to 3.5.15. After a bit of trial and error, figured out the exact versions that works:

sudo pear install -f \
    phpunit/PHPUnit-3.5.15 \
    phpunit/DbUnit-1.0.3 \
    phpunit/PHPUnit_Selenium-1.0.3 \
    phpunit/PHP_CodeCoverage-1.0.5 \
    phpunit/File_Iterator-1.2.6

Edit: s/5.3.15/3.5.15/

[sebastianblum]

Thank you very much

[roderik]

Symfony 2.0.5 did not solve this

[wenslayer]

We too have experienced hundreds of these "ob_end_clean(): failed to delete buffer" messages since moving from PHPUnit 3.5.15 to 3.6.0. We use the Zend Framework (v1.11.11) -- anybody else experiencing this? We have guarded our own few uses of ob_end_clean() like @tarjei mentions.

Using process isolation helps, but not completely (and the "RuntimeException" errors reported when using process isolation don't exactly help either).

Curious to know how pervasive this, and what, if anything, can be done about it (apart from staying on PHPUnit 3.5.15).

[puppe0]

I'm having the same issue. Reverting to 3.5.15 was a pain so I'm using the workaround for now.

[sebastianbergmann]

So the problem seems to be that code outside of PHPUnit stops the output buffering that was started by PHPUnit. There is nothing I can do about that in PHPUnit.

[rfanjul]

This error is solved? i don't understand this:

A quick workaround: in TestCase.php:
if (ob_get_length() > 0 ) {
ob_end_clean();
}

Cheers!

[rfanjul]

ok, if the buffer is empty this file in the line 833, will broken

/usr/share/pear/PHPUnit/Framework/TestCase.php

then we need put this lines and check before remove it

if (ob_get_length() > 0 ) {
ob_end_clean();
}

with this, works for me

Cheers!

[iammichiel]

https://gist.github.com/1339109

[sebastianbergmann]

I will not make a workaround in PHPUnit for an issue that is not a PHPUnit issue.

[iammichiel]

I can understand your point of view when saying you will not patch an issue that is not a PHPUnit issue. But still, using a buffered output without checking if the buffer really exists and needs to be cleaned can be an issue in other cases.

Plus, the issue has been confirmed using Zend/Symfony2. Two of the most used php frameworks. It might be a small concession for better integration with those frameworks.

Anyway, as long as this issue will be "open" as "not resolved", I'll use the patched version locally.

[sebastianbergmann]

This is an issue in Zend Framework and Symfony. Why should that issue be worked around in PHPUnit?

[wenslayer]

My earlier stated problem looks like it has nothing to do with Zend Framework, but is in fact a problem within our codebase, where we have a few unbalanced ob_*() calls (ZF's use of ob_*() calls looks balanced). Try grepping through your code for ob_ and it should be obvious where those calls are unmatched. PHPUnit is merely exposing the problem in your own code (or Symfony's possibly), so by using @tarjei's workaround, you're simply masking the problem.

[igorw]

Issue in symfony tracker (for those looking for it): symfony/symfony#2531

[igorw]

And for those wondering, the issue in symfony has now been fixed: symfony/symfony#2617.

[georgiana-gligor]

thanks @justjkk ! your solution did the trick for me

[u007]

are you saying that i cannot have ob_start within my code?

[makasim]

FYI (not a problem of Phpunit):

you could get this error if you use newrelic:

<?php

ob_start();
var_dump(ob_get_level());
//1

newrelic_set_appname('foo')

var_dump(ob_get_level());
//0

[ghost]

Hi

I have tried test my laravel app by using phpunit.

Phpunit returns this error:

" phpunit --colors app/tests/
PHPUnit 3.7.28 by Sebastian Bergmann.

Time: 431 ms, Memory: 14.75Mb

There was 1 error:

1. CorpControllerTest::testindex
   ErrorException: ob_end_clean(): failed to delete buffer. No buffer to delete

FAILURES!
Tests: 6, Assertions: 8, Errors: 1."

My Test file:
"class CorpControllerTest extends TestCase {

public function testindex() {

    $this->client->request('GET', '/panel/corps'); 
  }

}"

This line is causing the error:
"$this->client->request('GET', '/panel/corps');"

If I change this line such as:
"$this->client->request('POST', '/panel/corps');"

This line works on no errors

If the path that requests has'nt need to login, Phpunit test works with no errors.. Such as:

public function testindex() {

    $this->client->request('GET', '/');

}

Ubuntu 14.04 is getting with PHPUnit 3.7.28 and This version includes this bug.
File: /usr/share/php/PHPUnit/Framework/TestCase.php
Solution: Changing line 891:
if (ob_get_length() > 0 ) { ob_end_clean(); }

[christoferd]

For what it's worth I fixed it in my case. Laravel 4.2, PHPUnit 3.7.28

Issue: One of my blade view files had an extra useless @Stop at the end.

PS: Like sebastianbergmann said, it's something the framework is doing that's causing that error.