Use "property" instead of "attribute" for configuring the backup of static fields

[sebastianbergmann]

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on the concept of "objects", which can contain data and code: data in the form of fields (often known as attributes or properties), and code, in the form of procedures (often known as methods).

— Wikipedia

PHPUnit currently refers to "fields" (see above) as "attributes". This is (or will become) confusing considering the introduction of attributes in PHP 8 and their support in PHPUnit.

PHPUnit will be changed to use the term "property" instead of "attribute" where "field" is meant.

PHPUnit can optionally create a backup of static fields before each test and restore these fields from that backup after each test. This functionality is controlled by

• the backupStaticAttributes attribute on the <phpunit> root element of PHPUnit's XML configuration file
• the --static-backup CLI option
• the @backupStaticAttributes annotation
• the BackupStaticProperties attribute (as of PHP 8 and PHPUnit 10)

The backupStaticAttributes attribute will be deprecated in PHPUnit 10. It will be removed in PHPUnit 11. A new backupStaticProperties attribute will implemented to replace it. The XML configuration file migrator will be expanded to handle this change.

The --static-backup CLI option does not need to be renamed, only its help text will be updated to use "properties" instead of "attributes".

Support for metadata in comments (using the the @backupStaticAttributes annotation, for example) will be deprecated in PHPUnit 11 (February 2022) and removed in PHPUnit 12 (February 2023). Therefore, I do not think it's sensible to deprecate @backupStaticAttributes now and introduce a @backupStaticProperties replacement that will itself be deprecated within a year.

[lolli42]

backupStaticAttributes is still mentioned on https://phpunit.readthedocs.io/en/10.0/configuration.html and backupStaticProperties is missing.

[MichaelRushton]

After upgrading to 10.0.3, using either @backupStaticProperties or @backupStaticAttributes at the class level triggers this error:

An error occurred inside PHPUnit.

Message:  assert($metadata instanceof BackupStaticProperties)
Location: /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Framework/TestBuilder.php:189

#0 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Framework/TestBuilder.php(189): assert(false, 'assert($metadat...')
#1 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Framework/TestBuilder.php(63): PHPUnit\Framework\TestBuilder->backupSettings('ConfigTest', 'testCanSet')
#2 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Framework/TestSuite.php(491): PHPUnit\Framework\TestBuilder->build(Object(ReflectionClass), 'testCanSet')
#3 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Framework/TestSuite.php(132): PHPUnit\Framework\TestSuite->addTestMethod(Object(ReflectionClass), Object(ReflectionMethod))
#4 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Framework/TestSuite.php(229): PHPUnit\Framework\TestSuite::fromClassReflector(Object(ReflectionClass))
#5 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Framework/TestSuite.php(257): PHPUnit\Framework\TestSuite->addTestSuite(Object(ReflectionClass))
#6 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Framework/TestSuite.php(275): PHPUnit\Framework\TestSuite->addTestFile('/var/www/html/f...')
#7 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/TextUI/Configuration/TestSuiteBuilder.php(76): PHPUnit\Framework\TestSuite->addTestFiles(Array)
#8 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/TextUI/Configuration/TestSuiteBuilder.php(46): PHPUnit\TextUI\Configuration\TestSuiteBuilder->testSuiteFromPath('/var/www/html/f...', Array)
#9 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/TextUI/Application.php(285): PHPUnit\TextUI\Configuration\TestSuiteBuilder->build(Object(PHPUnit\TextUI\Configuration\Configuration))
#10 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/TextUI/Application.php(97): PHPUnit\TextUI\Application->buildTestSuite(Object(PHPUnit\TextUI\Configuration\Configuration))
#11 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/phpunit(90): PHPUnit\TextUI\Application->run(Array)
#12 /var/www/html/framework/vendor/bin/phpunit(123): include('/var/www/html/f...')
#13 {main}

It works as expected when added at the method level.

Also, #[BackupStaticProperties] does nothing.

[sebastianbergmann]

backupStaticAttributes is still mentioned on https://phpunit.readthedocs.io/en/10.0/configuration.html and backupStaticProperties is missing.

Yes, the documentation still needs to be updated.

[sebastianbergmann]

Also, #[BackupStaticProperties] does nothing.

I cannot reproduce this. If you still experience this issue after 1bd8f24 then please open a new ticket.