Class constants of type array hold directly inaccessible keys/values

Bug #25816	Class constants of type array hold directly inaccessible keys/values
Submitted:	2003-10-10 00:24 UTC	Modified:	2004-01-09 08:58 UTC
From:	dan at wep dot net	Assigned:
Status:	Closed	Package:	Scripting Engine problem
PHP Version:	5CVS-2003-11-29	OS:	*
Private report:	No	CVE-ID:	None

[2003-10-10 00:24 UTC] dan at wep dot net

Description:
------------
Constants defined inside classes can be defined as an array prepopulated with key, value pairs; however this data is not directly accessible.

It is possible to create a local variable copy of the constant at runtime and use it to access the data.

If class constants are not meant to be able to hold array data, then a parse error should of been thrown on the 'const' declaration.

Reproduce code:
---------------
class test {
  const someData = array('foo' => 'bar');

  function __construct() {
    $dataCopy = someData;
    print($dataCopy['foo']);  // This works
    print(var_dump(someData));  // This works (shows all array information)
    print(someData['foo']);  // This throws a parse error
  }

}

$obj = new test();

Expected result:
----------------
bar
bar
bar

.. Jackpot! :)

Actual result:
--------------
Parse error: parse error, unexpected '['

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[2003-10-10 00:29 UTC] dan at wep dot net

The parse error thrown complains about the print(someData['foo']) line. Sorry if this wasn't clear. Also expected output would probably be more like "bar ..var_dump output.. bar.

[2003-10-10 12:24 UTC] helly@php.net

This is an easier verification:
php -r 'class t{const c=array(1=>"Hello\n");} echo t::c[1];'

[2003-12-01 20:37 UTC] a at b dot c dot de

This isn't restricted to associative arrays in which keys are explicitly specified:

class f { const t = array(7,6,5); }
echo f::t[1];

[2004-01-09 08:58 UTC] stas@php.net

This bug has been fixed in CVS.

Snapshots of the sources are packaged every three hours; this change
will be in the next snapshot. You can grab the snapshot at
http://snaps.php.net/.
 
Thank you for the report, and for helping us make PHP better.

Arrays in class constants aren't allowed anymore.

[2004-03-09 07:26 UTC] seva-php at zend dot com

Const arrays is very useful thing! For example when storing error codes etc.

Why isn't it possible just to fix the behavior?