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To: Nikita Popov <nikita.ppv@gmail.com>
CC: "internals@lists.php.net" <internals@lists.php.net>
Thread-Topic: [PHP-DEV] Proposal: short_var_export($value, bool $return=false,
 int $flags=0)
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Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2021 15:12:23 +0000
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Proposal: short_var_export($value, bool $return=false,
 int $flags=0)
From: tysonandre775@hotmail.com (tyson andre)

Hi=A0Nikita,=0A=
=0A=
> The formatting of var_export is certainly a recurring complaint, and prev=
ious discussions were not particularly open to changing current var_export =
behavior, so adding a new function seems to be the way to address the issue=
 (the alternative would be to add a flag to var_export).=0A=
> =0A=
> I like the idea of the "one line" flag. Actually, this is the main part I=
'm interested in :) With the one line flag, this produces the ideal formatt=
ing for PHPT tests that want to print something like "$v1 + $v2 =3D $v3". N=
one of our current dumping functions are suitable for this purpose (json_en=
code comes closest, but has edge cases like lack of NAN support.)=0A=
> =0A=
> Some note:=0A=
>=A0* You should drop the $return parameter and make it always return. As t=
his is primarily an export and not a dumping function, printing to stdout d=
oesn't make sense to me.=0A=
=0A=
It seems inconsistent and prone to bugs when refactoring (e.g. converting t=
o string and not using the result)=0A=
to have two functions named var_export where one prints by default and the =
other doesn't, but otherwise .=0A=
Changing to a different name entirely would solve that, such as var_repr(),=
 var_representation(), serialize_[value_]as_php_snippet(), etc.=0A=
=0A=
>=A0* For strings, have you considered printing them as double-quoted and e=
scaping more characters? This would avoid newlines in oneline mode. And wou=
ld allow you to escape more control characters. I also find the current '' =
. "\0" . '' format for encoding null bytes quite awkward.=0A=
=0A=
I'd considered that but wasn't sure if anyone else would want that - I also=
 found it annoying for `\0` and `\n`, as well as other control characters (=
0x00-0x1f, e.g. `\r\t`)=0A=
=0A=
>=A0* I don't like the short_var_export() name. Is "short" really the prima=
ry characteristic of this function? Both var_export_pretty and var_export_c=
anonical seem better to me, though I can't say they're great either. I will=
 refrain from proposing real_var_export() ... oops :P=0A=
=0A=
Potentially not shorter with the extra backslash and the potential for swit=
ching to "\$var\0\ntest\\" for string encoding.=0A=
=0A=
var_representation($var, int $flags=3D0) seems clearer=0A=
=0A=
Thanks,=0A=
Tyson=