[Bug 302786] [NEW] PHP5 Realpath function

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Package: php5
version: 5.2.4-2ubuntu5.3
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 8.04.1
Release:        8.04
Codename:       hardy

PHP function "realpath()" does not function according to spec.

According to PHP.net's documentation:

==================
realpath — Returns canonicalized absolute pathname

Returns the canonicalized absolute pathname on success. The resulting
path will have no symbolic link, '/./' or '/../' components.

realpath() returns FALSE on failure, e.g. if the file does not exist. 
==================
http://uk2.php.net/realpath


The problem is that in this version of PHP (5.2.4-2ubuntu5.3), realpath fails to return FALSE if the file does not exist.
ie.

Code:
$a = "/this/file/does/not/exist";
var_dump ( realpath ( $a ) );

Result:
string(25) "/this/file/does/not/exist"

Result should be:
bool(false)

Work around is to check if file exists:
$a = "/this/file/does/not/exist";
var_dump ( realpath ( $a ) );
if ( true === file_exists ( $a ) ) {
   $result = realpath ( $a );
} else {
   $result = false;
}
var_dump ( $result );


But this is obviously a bug, which may cause many hard-to-trace bugs in many frameworks, as they assume realpath works as it should according to PHP.net's documentation. Therefore, I would probably escalate it as a serious bug.

** Affects: php5 (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: 8.04 hardy php5 realpath
-- 
PHP5 Realpath function 
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/302786
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