php / php/php-src

Explicilty passing default value for escape in SplFileObject::fgetcsv changes outcome

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Bug Extension: spl Status: Verified
Dominant language
C
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Description

The following code:

<?php

$file = new SplFileObject('php://memory', 'rw+');

$file->fwrite("foo;bar;baz");
$file->seek(0);

$file->setCsvControl(';', "\n");

while (!$file->eof()) {
    $line = $file->fgetcsv(escape: '\\');
    var_dump($line);
}

Resulted in this output:

array(1) {
  [0]=>
  string(11) "foo;bar;baz"
}

But I expected this output instead:

array(3) {
  [0]=>
  string(3) "foo"
  [1]=>
  string(3) "bar"
  [2]=>
  string(3) "baz"
}

For context, I am currently working on migrating a codebase from 8.2 to 8.4, and thought the safest option to keep existing behavior for fgetcsv calls would be to explicitly provide the current value of the default parameter, considering it will change in the next major version. I understand WHY it was implemented like this, but it is still a weird outcome. Ideally, the paramters for the method fgetcsv should be nullable, and default to null instead, so that the behavior is consistent with the way user land PHP functions and methods with default values for parameters work.

PHP Version
PHP 8.4.16 (cli) (built: Jan 13 2026 01:36:09) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Built by https://github.com/docker-library/php
Zend Engine v4.4.16, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v8.4.16, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies
Operating System

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Research direction

Start at the SplFileObject::fgetcsv entry point and reproduce the example using setCsvControl(';', "\n") with an explicitly passed escape value. Investigate whether nullable parameters can make omitted and explicit defaults consistent, then verify that the CSV is parsed into the requested three fields.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c, php
Domain
api, backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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