[2005-06-09 15:33 UTC] devik at cdi dot cz

Description:
------------
This is variation on #15025. But I accept the bug is feature and I show other bug it triggers.

Basic problem is that when you take ref of array item then the item will turn into reference (which will survive even array copy). I don't see it as too big problem as long as I can get rid of the reference.
"unset" does the trick as expected:
$r =& $A[0]; 
unset($r); - $A[0] is not reference any more

But something like:
$r =& $othervar;

doesn't kill reference - you see zval with is_ref=1 and refcount=1.

It prevents you from writing handy code:
$c = &$c[$i] when traversing complex structures.

Reproduce code:
---------------
<?
$a = array(1,2);
$b =& $a[0];
echo "Now a[0] is reference, no problem\n";
debug_zval_dump($a);

$b =& $a[1];
echo "Now a[0] has no reason to be reference any longer, but a[1] is\n";
debug_zval_dump($a);

unset($b);
echo "Now a[1] reference is gone too BUT WAIT, a[0] is still a ref !\n";
debug_zval_dump($a);
?>


Expected result:
----------------
I expect $a without references.

Actual result:
--------------
$a[0] is reference with refcount(1).