PHP Cookbook

8.15. Tuning Error Handling

Problem

You want to alter the error-logging sensitivity on a particular page. This lets you control what types of errors are reported.

Solution

To adjust the types of errors PHP complains about, use error_reporting( ) :

error_reporting(E_ALL);                // everything
error_reporting(E_ERROR | E_PARSE);    // only major problems
error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE);    // everything but notices

Discussion

Every error generated has an error type associated with it. For example, if you try to array_pop( ) a string, PHP complains that “This argument needs to be an array,” since you can only pop arrays. The error type associated with this message is E_NOTICE, a nonfatal runtime problem.

By default, the error reporting level is E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE, which means all error types except notices. The & is a logical AND, and the ~ is a logical NOT. However, the php.ini-recommended configuration file sets the error reporting level to E_ALL, which is all error types.

Error messages flagged as notices are runtime problems that are less serious than warnings. They’re not necessarily wrong, but they indicate a potential problem. One example of an E_NOTICE is “Undefined variable,” which occurs if you try to use a variable without previously assigning it a value:

// Generates an E_NOTICE
foreach ($array as $value) {
    $html .= $value;
}

// Doesn't generate any error message
$html = '';
foreach ($array as $value) {
    $html .= $value;
}

In the first case, the first time though the foreach,