Using a keyword as variable name in an INI file - php

Question

I have the following in an INI file:
[country]
SE = Sweden
NO = Norway
FI = Finland
However, when var_dump()ing PHP's parse_ini_file() function, I get the following output:
PHP Warning: syntax error, unexpected BOOL_FALSE in test.ini on line 2
in /Users/andrew/sandbox/test.php on line 1
bool(false)
It appears that "NO" is reserved. Is there any other way I can set a variable named "NO"?

Answer 1

Another hack would be to reverse your ini keys with their values and use array_flip:
<?php
$ini =
"
[country]
Sweden = 'SE'
Norway = 'NO'
Finland = 'FI'
";
$countries = parse_ini_string($ini, true);
$countries = array_flip($countries["country"]);
echo $countries["NO"];
Still you will need to use quotes around NO (at least), if you do
Norway = NO
you don't get an error but value for $countries["NO"] will be an empty string.

Answer 2

This propably comes a little late but the way PHPs parse_ini_file works bothered me so much that I wrote my own little parser.
Feel free to use it, but use with care it has only been shallowly tested!
// the exception used by the parser
class IniParserException extends \Exception {
public function __construct($message, $code = 0, \Exception $previous = null) {
parent::__construct($message, $code, $previous);
}
public function __toString() {
return __CLASS__ . ": [{$this->code}]: {$this->message}\n";
}
}
// the parser
function my_parse_ini_file($filename, $processSections = false) {
$initext = file_get_contents($filename);
$ret = [];
$section = null;
$lineNum = 0;
$lines = explode("\n", str_replace("\r\n", "\n", $initext));
foreach($lines as $line) {
++$lineNum;
$line = trim(preg_replace('/[;#].*/', '', $line));
if(strlen($line) === 0) {
continue;
}
if($processSections && $line{0} === '[' && $line{strlen($line)-1} === ']') {
// section header
$section = trim(substr($line, 1, -1));
} else {
$eqIndex = strpos($line, '=');
if($eqIndex !== false) {
$key = trim(substr($line, 0, $eqIndex));
$matches = [];
preg_match('/(?<name>\w+)(?<index>\[\w*\])?/', $key, $matches);
if(!array_key_exists('name', $matches)) {
throw new IniParserException("Variable name must not be empty! In file \"$filename\" in line $lineNum.");
}
$keyName = $matches['name'];
if(array_key_exists('index', $matches)) {
$isArray = true;
$arrayIndex = trim($matches['index']);
if(strlen($arrayIndex) == 0) {
$arrayIndex = null;
}
} else {
$isArray = false;
$arrayIndex = null;
}
$value = trim(substr($line, $eqIndex+1));
if($value{0} === '"' && $value{strlen($value)-1} === '"') {
// too lazy to check for multiple closing " let's assume it's fine
$value = str_replace('\\"', '"', substr($value, 1, -1));
} else {
// special value
switch(strtolower($value)) {
case 'yes':
case 'true':
case 'on':
$value = true;
break;
case 'no':
case 'false':
case 'off':
$value = false;
break;
case 'null':
case 'none':
$value = null;
break;
default:
if(is_numeric($value)) {
$value = $value + 0; // make it an int/float
} else {
throw new IniParserException("\"$value\" is not a valid value! In file \"$filename\" in line $lineNum.");
}
}
}
if($section !== null) {
if($isArray) {
if(!array_key_exists($keyName, $ret[$section])) {
$ret[$section][$keyName] = [];
}
if($arrayIndex === null) {
$ret[$section][$keyName][] = $value;
} else {
$ret[$section][$keyName][$arrayIndex] = $value;
}
} else {
$ret[$section][$keyName] = $value;
}
} else {
if($isArray) {
if(!array_key_exists($keyName, $ret)) {
$ret[$keyName] = [];
}
if($arrayIndex === null) {
$ret[$keyName][] = $value;
} else {
$ret[$keyName][$arrayIndex] = $value;
}
} else {
$ret[$keyName] = $value;
}
}
}
}
}
return $ret;
}
What does it differently? Variable names may only consist of alphanumerical characters but other than that no restrictions to them. Strings must be encapsulated with " everything else has to be a special value like no, yes, true, false, on, off, null or none. For mapping see code.

Answer 3

Kind of a hack but you can add backticks around the key names:
[country]
`SE` = Sweden
`NO` = Norway
`FI` = Finland
Then access them like so:
$result = parse_ini_file('test.ini');
echo "{$result['`NO`']}\n";
Output:
$ php test.php
Norway

Answer 4

I was getting this error when there were single quote combinations in the string such as 't or 's. To get rid of the problem, I wrapped the string in double quotes:
Before:
You have selected 'Yes' but you haven't entered the date's flexibility
After:
"You have selected 'Yes' but you haven't entered the date's flexibility"

Answer 5

I ran into the same problem and tried to escape the name in every possible way.
Then I remembered that because of the INI syntax both names and values will be trimmed, so the following workaround MAYBE should do the trick:
NL = Netherlands
; A whitespace before the name
NO = Norway
PL = Poland
And it works ;) As long as your co-workers read the comments (which is not always the case) and don't delete it accidentally. So, yes, the array flipping solution is a safe bet.

Answer 6

From the manual page for parse_ini_file:
There are reserved words which must not be used as keys for ini files. These include: null, yes, no, true, false, on, off, none.
So no, you can't set a variable NO.