PHP 5.3.10 vs PHP 5.5.3 syntax error unexpected '['

Question

Is it possible that this PHP code line

if ($this->greatestId()["num_rows"] > 0)

works in PHP 5.5 and returns an error in 5.3??

PHP Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '[' in /var/www/app/AppDAO.php on line 43

How can I change it to work under PHP 5.3?

John Conde · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-09 13:37:04Z

15

Array dereferencing became available in PHP 5.4 That's why this doesn't work in PHP 5.3. So you have an extra step where you need to get the array value from your function call and then you can use it:

$variable = $this->greatestId(); if ($variable["num_rows"] > 0){ // do stuff }

answered May 9, 2014 at 13:37

John Conde

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2 Comments

dendini Over a year ago

found the link: php.net/manual/en/migration54.new-features.php inside new features they say: Function array dereferencing has been added, e.g. foo()[0].

Petro Popelyshko Over a year ago

I ran into this error yesterday, on my local env i have php5.5 and on testing 5.3 :/ thanks for answer.

Manibharathi · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-09 13:34:28Z

You cant use like this if ($this->greatestId()["num_rows"] > 0) in PHP 5.3 ver use below code.

$var = $this->greatestId(); if ($var["num_rows"] > 0){ // your code }

Ozmah · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-09 13:39:24Z

As mentioned in the PHP 5.4 notes:

As of PHP 5.4 it is possible to array dereference the result of a function or method call directly. Before it was only possible using a temporary variable.

It's not possible to do that in PHP 5.3, you need to use a variable.

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