* * * * *
Reason #13 I hate PHP
I'm making sure that the various branches of “Project: Leaflet [1]” are
consistent when I notice that configuration.php, which allows one to change
various settings, is not displaying at all. There are no errors, just a blank
webpage. Usually, I just run the page at the command line to see what might
be up:
> [spc]XXXXXXXXX:~/projects/nlm/htdocs/nlm>php configuration.php
> Content-type: text/html
> X-Powered-By: PHP/4.3.9
>
> [spc]XXXXXXXXX:~/projects/nlm/htdocs/nlm>
>
Okay, nothing there. Let's see if there's an option to PHP to tell me more:
> [spc]XXXXXXXXX:~/projects/nlm/htdocs/nlm>php -h
> Usage: php [-q] [-h] [-s] [-v] [-i] [-f <file>]
> php <file> [args...]
> -a Run interactively
> -C Do not chdir to the script's directory
> -c <path>|<file> Look for php.ini file in this directory
> -n No php.ini file will be used
> -d foo[=bar] Define INI entry foo with value 'bar'
> -e Generate extended information for debugger/profiler
> -f <file> Parse <file>. Implies '-q'
> -h This help
> -i PHP information
> -l Syntax check only (lint)
> -m Show compiled in modules
> -q Quiet-mode. Suppress HTTP Header output.
> -s Display colour syntax highlighted source.
> -v Version number
> -w Display source with stripped comments and whitespace.
> -z <file> Load Zend extension <file>.
>
Hmm … that “lint [2]” option seems promising. Let's try that.
> [spc]XXXXXXXXX:~/projects/nlm/htdocs/nlm>php -l configuration.php
> Errors parsing configuration.php
> [spc]XXXXXXXXX:~/projects/nlm/htdocs/nlm>
>
Well, that was spectacularly informative. Why even bother with the option if
you aren't going to give any useful information [3]?
Sigh.
[1]
gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2008/08/07.1
[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lint_programming_tool
[3]
http://www.anvari.org/fortune/Quotations_-_Random/977_quote-96-ken-thompson-has-an-automobile-which-he-helped-design.html
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