Hi,
I’m working through this book and I’m getting a weird error in the Apache error logs. I’m at Chapter 9, when we switch over to creating a framework EntryPoint class at CMS-EntryPoint-Interface. Anyway at this point, the website runs just fine but I get a (so-called) Fatal Error in the Apache error log:
PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Method name must be a string in /var/www/classes/Ninja/EntryPoint.php:105\nStack trace:\n#0 /var/www/html/index.php(37): Ninja\EntryPoint->run()\n#1 {main}\n thrown in /var/www/classes/Ninja/EntryPoint.php on line 105, referer: http://mywebsite/
Note: it happens on every route in the website not just the one shown. Also the domain name of the website has been subbed out
Here’s a code excerpt around the failing line, with a few extra debugging lines added n which weren’t in the book:
if (isset($routes[$this->route]['login']) &&
($routes[$this->route]['login'] == true) &&
!$authentication->isLoggedIn()) {
header('location: /login/error');
}
//otherwise if the user is logged in, then the action can be called
else {
echo('$this->route: '. $this->route);
echo('<br />');
echo('$this->method: '. $this->method);
echo('<br />');
echo('var_dump($routes): ');
var_dump($routes);
echo('<br />');
//Define $controller dependent on $routes
$controller = $routes[$this->route][$this->method]['controller'];
echo('var_dump($controller): ');
var_dump($controller);
echo('<br />');
//Define $action dependent on $routes
$action = $routes[$this->route][$this->method]['action'];
echo('$action: '. $action);
echo('<br />');
echo('var_dump($action): ');
var_dump($action);
//Define $page dependent on the method and URL
//die();
$page = $controller->$action();
//die();
//Define $title as whatever is output by $page
$title = $page['title'];
N.B. code is actually from a couple of chapters further on but I think the principle applies.
Specifically the failing line is:
$page = $controller->$action();
which I’m pretty certain about not only because of the error message & line number but by selectively killing code execution before and after the questioned line, with die() I can make the error message stop appearing only when I kill the code before the above line; obviously both die() calls cripple the functionality of the actual website.
So the thing I’m struggling with is that $action is a string. The outputs from my debugging are verbose as the the $routes array contains multiple Controllers but here’s an edited highlight (from the empty route):
$this->route:
$this->method: GET
var_dump($routes): array(10) { [“”]=> array(1) { [“GET”]=> array(2) { [“controller”]=> object(Ijdb\Controllers\Joke)#7 (3) {…} [“action”]=> string(4) “home” } … }
var_dump($controller): object(Ijdb\Controllers\Joke)#7 (3) { … }
$action: home
var_dump($action): string(4) “home”
So my question is why am I getting this error in the logs? I thought fatal errors were, you know … fatal, but this one seems to be more of a flesh wound! I know it is not actually stopping the website from working but having a false error in the logs gets in the way of being able to look for real errors & it’s bugging me. Any assistance gratefully received
I don’t quite have the same set up as the book, so for full disclosure I’m running:
- PHP (PHP 7.0.33-0ubuntu0.16.04.3)
- on a Ubuntu 16.04 server, using
- a Apache/2.4.18 (Ubuntu) webserver and
- mysql Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.7.25