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Thread-Topic: [RFC] var_representation() : readable alternative to
 var_export()
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Date: Sat, 23 Jan 2021 00:50:07 +0000
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Subject: [RFC] var_representation() : readable alternative to var_export()
From: tysonandre775@hotmail.com (tyson andre)

Hi internals,=0A=
=0A=
I've created=A0https://wiki.php.net/rfc/readable_var_representation=A0based=
 on=0A=
my original proposal in https://externals.io/message/112924=0A=
=0A=
This RFC proposes adding a new function `var_representation(mixed $value, i=
nt $flags=3D0): string`=0A=
with the following differences from var_export:=0A=
=0A=
1. var_representation() unconditionally returns a string=0A=
2. Use `null` instead of `NULL` - lowercase is recommended by more coding=
=0A=
   guidelines (https://www.php-fig.org/psr/psr-2/).=0A=
3. Change the way indentation is done for arrays/objects.=0A=
   See ext/standard/tests/general_functions/short_var_export1.phpt=0A=
   (e.g. always add 2 spaces, never 3 in objects, and put the array start o=
n the=0A=
   same line as the key)=0A=
4. Render lists as `"['item1']"` rather than `"array(\n  0 =3D> 'item1',\n)=
"`=0A=
=0A=
   Always render empty lists on a single line, render multiline by default =
when there are 1 or more elements=0A=
5. Prepend `\` to class names so that generated code snippets can be used i=
n=0A=
   namespaces without any issues.=0A=
6. Support `VAR_REPRESENTATION_SINGLE_LINE` in `$flags`.=0A=
   This will use a single-line representation for arrays/objects, though=0A=
   strings with embedded newlines will still cause newlines in the output.=
=0A=
7. If a string contains control characters("\x00"-"\x1f" and "\x7f"(backspa=
ce)),=0A=
   then represent the entire string as a double quoted string=0A=
   escaping `\r`, `\n`, `\t`, `\$`, `\\`, and `\"`, in addition to escaping=
 remaining control characters=0A=
   with hexadecimal encoding (\x00, \x7f, etc)=0A=
=0A=
This is different from my original proposal in two ways:=0A=
1. The function signature and name changed from my previous proposal.=0A=
    It now always returns a string.=0A=
2. Backspace control characters (\x7f) are now also escaped.=0A=
=0A=
Thanks,=0A=
- Tyson=