By webel on

Since I upgraded to Drupal6.15 (along with about a dozen recommended modules updates) I get the following well known (dare I say infamous) side-effect warning:

warning: preg_match() expects parameter 2 to be string, array given in [...]/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 791.

I've inserted the following dump and backtrace into bootstrap.inc:

function drupal_validate_utf8($text) {
  if (strlen($text) == 0) {
    return TRUE;
  }
  ///2010-01-30 DEBUG
  try {
	if (is_array($text)) {
		var_dump($text); //DEBUG;
		ddebug_backtrace();// needs Devel module on
		throw new Exception("array passed as text to drupal_validate_utf8");
	} 
  } catch (Exception $e) {
		echo "Caught Exception('{$e>getMessage()}')\n<pre>{$e}</pre>\n";
  }
 ///
  return (preg_match('/^./us', $text) == 1);
}

I get the following:

array(2) { [0]=>  string(7) "8 reads" [1]=>  string(7) "0 reads" } Caught Exception ('array passed as text to drupal_validate_utf8')

exception 'Exception' with message 'array passed as text to drupal_validate_utf8' in [...]/includes/bootstrap.inc:785
Stack trace:
#0 [...]/includes/bootstrap.inc(741): drupal_validate_utf8(Array)
#1 [...]/includes/theme.inc(1177): check_plain()
#2 [...]/includes/theme.inc(617): theme_links(Array)
#3 [...]/includes/theme.inc(1929): theme()
#4 [...]/includes/theme.inc(658): template_preprocess_node(Array, Array)
#5 [...]/modules/node/node.module(1023): theme()
#6 [...]/modules/node/node.module(1096): node_view()
#7 [...]/modules/node/node.module(1785): node_show()
#8 [...]/includes/menu.inc(348): node_page_view('theme_links', Array)
#9 [...]/index.php(18): menu_execute_active_handler()
#10 {main}

I'm none the wiser. What else can I do to find out what is causing the error ?

⋅ Categories: Drupal 6.x

Comments

webel’s picture

webel commented

When I upgraded to Drupal6.15, I took the opportunity to upgrade many modules, only due to security recommendations.

Using brute force (and it feels mostly irrelevant) disable of upgraded modules I can now exclude:

- Link 6.x-2,8

- FileField 6.x-3.2

- Date 6.x-2.4

- Calendar 6.x-2.2

..this is ridiculous, there has to be an easier way to find the culprit.

Webel IT Australia, "Elements of the Web", Scientific IT Consultancy,
For PHP-driven Drupal CMS web sites, Enterprise Java, graphical UML, UML Parsing Analysis, SysML, XML.

webel’s picture

webel commented

Diagnosing the backtrace.

Within args of theme_links have statistics_counter (Array, 1 element), with a title (Array, 2 elements), with strings "7 reads" and "0 reads".

check_plain called with args (Array, 1 element) which is the (Array, 2 elements), with strings "7 reads" and "0 reads" (from statistics_counter).

drupal_validate_utf8 then called with args (Array, 1 element) which is the (Array, 2 elements), with strings "7 reads" and "0 reads" (from statistics_counter).

However, drupal_validate_utf8 expects a string arg, not an array.

Surely this is not a core Drupal 6.15 problem ?

Can somebody please explain to me how to find the cause of this problem, this has now wasted hours of my time, and just because I performed recommended security upgrades, which should not have such side-effects.

Webel IT Australia, "Elements of the Web", Scientific IT Consultancy,
For PHP-driven Drupal CMS web sites, Enterprise Java, graphical UML, UML Parsing Analysis, SysML, XML.

webel’s picture

webel commented

The call_user_func_array takes place in menu.inc
line (Integer) 348:

return call_user_func_array($router_item['page_callback'], $router_item['page_arguments']);

And although (and I confess proudly that I'm UML-driven Java boy and Netbeans IDE fan) I love the ability to manipulate functions as strings sometimes, the way function as strings are thrown around in PHP-based Drupal makes it infuriatingly difficult to diagnose anything. Could somebody please help me isolate the cause of this most annoying and common of errors (and surely not one I caused). I am a real coder, and I don't mind getting my hands dirty, even in PHP, however this is so much harder than it need be, because Drupal does not leverage obvious object-oriented strategies, preferring it seems at every turn function-manipulation tricks (and they are mostly not necessary, and makes thinks darn hard to trace).

How do I find which module, or which part of core, is causing drupal_validate_utf8 to be called incorrectly with statistics_counter as an array ?

And who would not be tempted to just hack core to silence drupal_validate_utf8 whenever it is invoked with an array ? I could die figuring it out.

Webel IT Australia, "Elements of the Web", Scientific IT Consultancy,
For PHP-driven Drupal CMS web sites, Enterprise Java, graphical UML, UML Parsing Analysis, SysML, XML.

webel’s picture

webel commented

Brute force Google search brought me to: http://api.drupal.org/api/function/statistics_link/6

Buried (because it is a string key PHP-like, not a real var) inside the statistics.module, I find:

$links['statistics_counter']['title'] = format_plural($statistics['totalcount'], '1 read', '@count reads');

(From that point on of course, all diagnostics become more difficult, because one has to go hunting for the string 'statistics_counter' as $links is passed around.)

Switching off the Statistics 6.15 gets rid of the message from drupal_validate_utf8.

So it IS a core (optional) Drupal 6.15 problem, and because I upgraded to it on the basis of a security warning I had hours of my time wasted (not least because the way Drupal is coded is so unnecessarily hard to trace), and I would rather have used the time for something useful.

Webel IT Australia, "Elements of the Web", Scientific IT Consultancy,
For PHP-driven Drupal CMS web sites, Enterprise Java, graphical UML, UML Parsing Analysis, SysML, XML.

webel’s picture

webel commented

#701996: statistics_counter with array title incorrectly passed (eventually) to drupal_validate_utf8($text) in bootstrap.inc 777

Includes backtrace as image (krumo style), revealing array with key statistics_counter buried inside $links.

Webel IT Australia, "Elements of the Web", Scientific IT Consultancy,
For PHP-driven Drupal CMS web sites, Enterprise Java, graphical UML, UML Parsing Analysis, SysML, XML.