[PHP-BUG] Req #69486 [NEW]: Add support foir _toBoolean magic method

From:             adrian at adecsys dot com
Operating system: CentOS/WinXP
PHP version:      5.4.40
Package:          PHP Language Specification
Bug Type:         Feature/Change Request
Bug description:Add support foir _toBoolean magic method

Description:
------------
---
From manual page: http://www.php.net/language.oop5.magic
---

The inbuilt conversion of objects to Boolean, especially for expression
evaluation, is poor and could be greatly improved.

I propose one of two mechanisms:

(a) Given the existing __toString() magic method, use this as an
intermediate step in the conversion to a bool value, following the
documented rules for string.

or 
(b) add support for an explicit __toBoolean magic method, which allows
the implentation to take full control over the resulting type.

Thank you

Test script:
---------------
class NullObject {
  public function __toString() { return ""; }
  public function __toBoolean() { return false; }
  public function __call($name , $arguments) { return $this; }
}

$test = new NullObject();
echo $test ? "TRUE" : "FALSE" ;

// TRUE, but logically expect FALSE



-- 
Edit bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=69486&edit=1
-- 
Try a snapshot (PHP 5.4):   https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=trysnapshot54
Try a snapshot (PHP 5.5):   https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=trysnapshot55
Try a snapshot (trunk):     https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=trysnapshottrunk
Fixed in SVN:               https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=fixed
Fixed in release:           https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=alreadyfixed
Need backtrace:             https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=needtrace
Need Reproduce Script:      https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=needscript
Try newer version:          https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=oldversion
Not developer issue:        https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=support
Expected behavior:          https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=notwrong
Not enough info:            https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=notenoughinfo
Submitted twice:            https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=submittedtwice
register_globals:           https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=globals
PHP 4 support discontinued: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=php4
Daylight Savings:           https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=dst
IIS Stability:              https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=isapi
Install GNU Sed:            https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=gnused
Floating point limitations: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=float
No Zend Extensions:         https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=nozend
MySQL Configuration Error:  https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=69486&r=mysqlcfg