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Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2026 13:48:14 -0500
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] [RFC] Remove \0 from default trim() character mask
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From: larry@garfieldtech.com ("Larry Garfield")

On Tue, Mar 24, 2026, at 1:29 PM, Levi Morrison wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 24, 2026 at 11:14=E2=80=AFAM LamentXU <lamentxu@163.com> w=
rote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I believe the RFC =E2=80=9CDon't trim NUL bytes by default=E2=80=9D i=
s ready to move to the voting phase. I intend to open the voting period =
soon (typically 7 days).
>>
>> RFC page: https://wiki.php.net/rfc/dont_trim_nul
>>
>> This RFC proposes to remove \0 (NUL byte) from the default character =
mask of trim(), ltrim(), and rtrim(), to align with common expectations =
and avoid unintended trimming of legitimate NUL-containing strings. Plea=
se tell me if there are any final comments or concerns. Thanks.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Weilin Du
>>
>> p.s. Not that sure if this email is going be be sent in the correct t=
hread, so I would post the thread link here if it doesn't https://extern=
als.io/message/130318
>
> I agree that \0 is a control byte and not whitespace, so it probably
> shouldn't be included in any of the trim functions. However, at this
> stage in PHP's lifecycle I am not sure if we should fix it.
>
> There hasn't been much discussion, so dear internals: are simply busy,
> un-opinionated, or what?

No strong feeling on the matter, will probably Abstain.  I don't think i=
t's something that I've ever run into, since I tend to know very well if=
 my strings are bytes or characters and use them appropriately.

--Larry Garfield