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Bugfix Issue 1608 tree get_subtree rspec doc_id Undefined Array Key

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github-actions[bot] edited this page Sep 28, 2026 · 1 revision

Bugfix — Issue #1608: tree::get_subtree() warned once per row whenever output=rspec met a non-rspec order_cfg

Issue: #1608 — tree::get_subtree(): output=rspec with default order_cfg raises one "Undefined array key doc_id" per row (tree.class.php:995) Commits: 4f5d18874, 74da4e208, cd681dd7a, 853bc603b on fix/issue-1608 Affected code: lib/functions/tree.class.php (_get_subtree() output switch, createHierarchyMap()), lib/functions/testproject.class.php (_createHierarchyMap()) Regression suite: tmp/TLU_Test_Cases.md → Regression — Issue #1608 (16 cases, 16 PASS) Follow-up filed, deliberately not fixed here: #1693 — tree::_get_subtree()'s static $my is process-wide

1. Symptom

tree::get_subtree() raised one PHP 8 E_WARNING "Undefined array key \"doc_id\"" per returned row whenever a caller asked for output => 'rspec' without also overriding order_cfg to ['type' => 'rspec']. Through the application's own error handler (watchPHPErrors(), lib/functions/logger.class.php:1407) every one of those warnings became a row in the events table — Event Viewer WARNING noise.

Honest scoping: the offending option combination is legal but not used by any in-tree caller (see §6). No 2.0.1 screen triggered this before the fix. This was a hardening change, not the repair of a screen-visible defect, and the reproduction below is therefore intentionally synthetic.

2. Reproduction (pre-fix)

php tmp/fixtures_1607.php          # project TQ1607 (prefix TQ1): S1=2, TC1=5, RS1=11
php tmp/repro_1608.php mismatch    # custom set_error_handler
php tmp/ev1608.php                 # the SAME call under the app's own watchPHPErrors()
$ php tmp/repro_1608.php mismatch
case=mismatch
  rows=3  warnings=3
  keys[0]=id,parent_id,doc_id,node_type_id,node_order,node_table,name
  doc_id[0]=NULL
  names: TQ1607-RS1, TQ1607-RS1-CHILD, TQ1607-RS1-CHILD
  ! Undefined array key "doc_id" in tree.class.php - Line 999
  ! Undefined array key "doc_id" in tree.class.php - Line 999
  ! Undefined array key "doc_id" in tree.class.php - Line 999

$ php tmp/ev1608.php
rows=3
events before=1 after=4 (delta=3)
4  2  GUI  E_WARNING\nUndefined array key "doc_id" - in .../lib/functions/tree.class.php - Line 999
3  2  GUI  E_WARNING\nUndefined array key "doc_id" - in .../lib/functions/tree.class.php - Line 999
2  2  GUI  E_WARNING\nUndefined array key "doc_id" - in .../lib/functions/tree.class.php - Line 999

One get_subtree() call ⇒ 3 returned rows ⇒ 3 events rows at log_level = 2.

3. Root cause

Hop 1 — the default order_cfg does not project doc_id

lib/functions/tree.class.php:842 sets the default 'order_cfg' => array("type" => 'spec_order').

Hop 2 — the SQL is chosen by the first switch

lib/functions/tree.class.php:888 switches on $my['options']['order_cfg']['type']:

branch projects doc_id?
case 'spec_order' (:889) no — id,name,parent_id,node_type_id,node_order
case 'rspec' (:902) yes — INNER JOIN req_specs … RSPEC.doc_id
case 'exec_order' (:914) no
case 'req_order' (:941) no

Hop 3 — the row shape is chosen by a second, independent switch

lib/functions/tree.class.php:981 switches on $my['options']['output'], and its case 'rspec' read $row['doc_id'] unconditionally (:999).

Hop 4 — nothing validates that the two agree

get_subtree() accepts output and order_cfg as two free knobs, so output=rspec + default order_cfg is a valid call whose rows have no doc_id. The dependency is documented nowhere and enforced nowhere.

Hop 5 — PHP 8 made the silent NULL loud

On PHP 5.x/7.x the same expression was a silent NULL; on PHP 8 it is an E_WARNING, which watchPHPErrors converts into an events row. No code change introduced the defect — the runtime did, and 2.0.1 only made it visible.

Hop 6 — the NULL then corrupted the combo label (the half of the bug the report missed)

PHP 8 materialises the missing key as NULL instead of leaving it absent, so line 999 no longer warned downstream — it just produced a silently wrong requirement-spec combo:

$ php tmp/repro_1608.php downstream          # -> tree::createHierarchyMap(field doc_id)
  hierarchy: {"12":".:TQ1607-RS1","13":".:TQ1607-RS1-CHILD","14":"..:TQ1607-RS1-CHILD"}

sprintf('%s:', NULL) → ":", so every entry lost its TQ1-REQ-1-1: prefix. The legacy twin testproject::_createHierarchyMap() was worse: "[] - TQ1607-RS1".

4. The fix

4.1 tree::_get_subtree() — resolve the optional field once per row

lib/functions/tree.class.php, case 'rspec' of the output switch:

$doc_id = isset($row['doc_id']) ? $row['doc_id'] : null;
$node_list[] = array('id' => $row['id'],
                     'parent_id' => $row['parent_id'],
                     'doc_id' => $doc_id,
                     …);

The same defensive-resolver idiom #1606 landed for node_table three lines above, so the file now has one way of reading an optional SQL projection. The key is always emitted, so callers can isset()-check it instead of tripping on their own.

Rejected alternative — auto-upgrade order_cfg to rspec when output=rspec. Rejected: the case 'rspec' SQL INNER JOINs req_specs, so it returns a different set of nodes, not merely a different projection — measured 1 row vs 3 rows on the same node (repro_1608.php matched vs mismatch). It would have silently changed which nodes a caller receives.

Rejected alternative — the report's option (b), "fall back to essential". Rejected: both hierarchy-map builders index $current['doc_id'] unconditionally, so it would only have moved the E_WARNING one stack frame down.

4.2 tree::createHierarchyMap() — guard the optional prefix

if( isset($current[$field2add['field']]) && !is_null($current[$field2add['field']]) )
{
  $hmap[$current['id']] .= sprintf($field2add['format'],$current[$field2add['field']]);
}

4.3 testproject::_createHierarchyMap() — same guard, legacy twin

$dm = ($addprefix && isset($current[$addfield]) && !is_null($current[$addfield]))
       ? "[{$current[$addfield]}] - " : '';

The two copies of this algorithm had already drifted (one used sprintf($format, …), the other string interpolation) — exactly the recurrence pattern #1606 was filed for, so both were brought in step.

4.4 Deliberately left alone

  • testproject.class.php / testplan.class.php _get_subtree_rec() copies — grep -n "'rspec'" lib/functions/testproject.class.php is 1 hit (the caller, :1663, which pairs correctly), and neither copy has an rspec output branch. The report's "check the twins" worry is resolved: no change needed.
  • createHierarchyMap()'s 'array' mode (tree.class.php:1636, $current[$field2add], where $field2add is itself an array) is a latent Illegal offset type warning, but an exhaustive grep over all file types found only 6 call sites and none passes mode='array' with a 3rd argument. Dead code, unrelated to #1608.
  • The SQL switch has no default:, so an unknown order_cfg['type'] would leave $sql undefined — pre-existing, different trigger, untouched.

Event Viewer after the #1608 fix: WARNING 0 (0%), ERROR 0 (0%), only the 2 AUDIT rows from the fixture and the login

5. Verification

check before after
repro_1608.php mismatch 3 rows / 3 E_WARNING 3 rows / 0
repro_1608.php matched (control) 1 row, doc_id='TQ1-REQ-1-1' identical
repro_1608.php downstream ".:TQ1607-RS1", 3 warnings ".TQ1607-RS1", 0 warnings
repro_1608.php id (control) 3 rows / 0 identical
testproject::genComboReqSpec(11) [TQ1-REQ-1-1] - TQ1607-RS1-CHILD identical
ev1608.php (app's own handler) events delta 3 events delta 0
repro_1607.php mismatch 3 rows / 3 warnings 3 rows / 0
repro_1607.php flat-leak / flat-b 3 rows each identical, 0 warnings
repro_1607.php rec-leak / rec-b 13 nodes each identical, 0 warnings
live BFF api/reqspec/index.php?action=copy_options&id=11 — 200, {"11":".TQ1-REQ-1:TQ1607-RS1","13":"..TQ1-REQ-1-1:TQ1607-RS1-CHILD"}
Event Viewer screen — WARNING: 0 (0%), ERROR: 0 (0%), 0 console errors
php -l both files — no syntax errors

Full 16-case matrix in tmp/TLU_Test_Cases.md → Regression — Issue #1608.

6. Reachability audit (why this was latent)

All output => 'rspec' / order_cfg.type => 'rspec' call sites:

call site order_cfg output pairing
lib/functions/testproject.class.php:1663 (genComboReqSpec) rspec rspec correct
api/reqspec/index.php:1250 rspec rspec correct
lib/requirements/reqCommands.class.php:552 rspec rspec correct
lib/requirements/reqSpecCommands.class.php:438 rspec rspec correct
lib/functions/specview.php:683 $type (can be rspec) unset ⇒ full never rspec
lib/search/searchCommands.class.php:123 default id n/a

Every caller pairs correctly, so the fix makes the invariant hold for the next caller rather than repairing a live screen.

7. Related defect found by the code review — filed as #1693

The review surfaced a larger, different bug in the same function, verified before filing and deliberately not fixed here (different root cause; fixing it would have expanded this run's scope): tree::_get_subtree()'s static $my (tree.class.php:873) is a function-static, hence shared by every tree instance in the request, and array_merge($my['options'], (array)$options) is additive — a key the next caller omits keeps the previous caller's value. Measured, two separate processes, same code, new tree instance for the second call:

$ php tmp/verify_static1608.php pristine
case=pristine call2 (bare opts) rows=3 names=TQ1607-TC1, ,

$ php tmp/verify_static1608.php leak
call1 (order_cfg=rspec, output=rspec) rows=1 doc_id='TQ1-REQ-1-1'
case=leak call2 (bare opts) rows=0 names=

3 rows → 0 rows, silently. That is a silent wrong-subtree defect — materially worse than the warning #1608 reported — and it is the static twin of #1607, which removed static from _get_subtree_rec() and left this one in place. Two in-tree direct callers are exposed (testproject::getTestSpec() :3225→:3258, testplan::getSkeleton() :4226→:4260), both currently latent. Tracked as #1693.

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