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To: "Antony Dovgal" <tony@daylessday.org>,
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Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 10:22:44 +0200
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Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Scary note for gettype() in docs
From: sv_forums@fmethod.com ("Stan Vassilev")

> On 03/01/2010 11:35 PM, Stan Vassilev wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> The gettype() documentation warns people that the returned string is 
>> "subject to change".
>> Why is there a function that's subject to change in the API?
>
> Because life is complicated.
> Because gettype("test") returns "string" in 5.x and "unicode" in 6.0.
>
> What exactly are you trying to fix? And what exactly are you proposing?

If I have to propose anything, that'd be for 6.0 unicode strings to return 
"string" and binary strings to return "binary", as that is more apt for the 
real-world use cases people will find themselves in (and migrating code will 
be easier).

A PHP user stumbled onto the "subject to change" note and asked if it's safe 
to use. If differentiating both types of strings in 6.0 is what was 
intended, then it's perfectly safe to use, and I'll probably file an issue 
with docs to be more clear about the actual situation.

Regards,
Stan Vassilev