Hi all,
I would like to propose two new magic constants to PHP: HOME and
USER
These would allow us easy ways to get the following information in our
scripts:
Constant Results
USER username
HOME /home/username
To get that info now we have to resort to things like:
define('HOME_PATH', implode('/', array_slice(explode('/', DIR), 0,
3)));
define('USER_NAME', explode('/', HOME_PATH)[2]);
Personally, I use these a lot and it would be nice to call a simple
constant instead of a line of code. I think others could benefit from
them, as well, hence my proposal.
So, I'd like to hear what others think before presenting an RFC. Do
they sound beneficial to anyone else?
Thanks,
Marc
P.S. Hopefully I'm posting this to the correct list. If not, please
point me to where I need to be.
I would like to propose two new magic constants to PHP: HOME and
USER
I strongly oppose this idea.
This kind of information is environment-specific and does not really
belong as a language-level magic constant. Existing magic constants
describe source context (__FILE__, __DIR__, etc.), not host or user
environment details.
For CLI usage, this information is usually already available through
environment variables such as HOME and USER, which is the more
appropriate place for this kind of information.
In isolated environments such as containers or chroots, exposing user or
home-directory information is also something we generally should avoid.
More importantly, I think we should discourage PHP web applications from
reaching into other parts of the system and instead encourage them to
stay within their application/web directories.
P.S. Hopefully I'm posting this to the correct list. If not, please
point me to where I need to be.
This is the correct list. Often before starting an official RFC an
e-mail is sent to this mailing list to see if a certain topic/idea has
interest.
--
Regards,
Jordi Kroon
Hi,
This kind of information is environment-specific and does not really
belong as a language-level magic constant. Existing magic constants
describe source context (__FILE__,__DIR__, etc.), not host or user
environment details.For CLI usage, this information is usually already available through
environment variables such asHOMEandUSER, which is the more
appropriate place for this kind of information.
I concur, and that settles the argument for me. However ...
In isolated environments such as containers or chroots, exposing user or
home-directory information is also something we generally should avoid.More importantly, I think we should discourage PHP web applications from
reaching into other parts of the system and instead encourage them to
stay within their application/web directories.
This default mindset of "PHP is for web and everything must conform to
that" is my biggest pet peeve on this list. It would serve PHP better to
not impede more general purpose use cases.
Cheers,
Andrey.
I would like to propose two new magic constants to PHP: HOME and
USERI strongly oppose this idea.
This kind of information is environment-specific and does not really
belong as a language-level magic constant. Existing magic constants
describe source context (__FILE__,__DIR__, etc.), not host or user
environment details.For CLI usage, this information is usually already available through
environment variables such asHOMEandUSER, which is the more
appropriate place for this kind of information.In isolated environments such as containers or chroots, exposing user or
home-directory information is also something we generally should avoid.More importantly, I think we should discourage PHP web applications from
reaching into other parts of the system and instead encourage them to
stay within their application/web directories.P.S. Hopefully I'm posting this to the correct list. If not, please
point me to where I need to be.This is the correct list. Often before starting an official RFC an
e-mail is sent to this mailing list to see if a certain topic/idea has
interest.--
Regards,Jordi Kroon
I am also -1 here, for the reasons Jordi lists. In cases where quick access to that information is relevant or useful, there are better alternatives to magic constants.
--Larry Garfield
In cases where quick access to that information is relevant or useful,
there are better alternatives to magic constants.
Larry,
What did you have in mind? If it's better than the workaround that I
posted in my original email, I'd love to hear it. I'm just looking for
a simple way to grab that information directly from PHP.
Thanks,
Marc
Hi Marc,
getenv('HOME') and getenv('USER') are probably what you're looking for,
although HOME might be a non-Windows thing.
Both variables should also be available in $_SERVER.
Cheers,
Andrey.