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To solve the missing parenthesis error in PHP, the code has to be checked from the beginning to search for it. One way to avoid errors is to use proper indentation in the code. Once all the parentheses in the code have been set correctly, parse error: syntax error, unexpected $end will be fixed.
For example, a syntax error can be a forgotten quotation mark, a missing semicolon at the end of a line, missing parenthesis, or extra characters. This leads to a parse error, because the code cannot be read and interpreted correctly by the PHP parser.
T_String is the common parse error associated with the creation of PHP files. This problem is observed when an apostrophe sign is added in between a code that has been delimited with apostrophes, generating huge conflict with the PHP document.
PHP belongs to the C-style and imperative programming languages. It has rigid grammar rules, which it cannot recover from when encountering misplaced symbols or identifiers. It can't guess your coding intentions.
There are a few basic precautions you can always take:
Use proper code indentation, or adopt any lofty coding style. Readability prevents irregularities.
Use an IDE or editor for PHP with syntax highlighting. Which also help with parentheses/bracket balancing.
Read the language reference and examples in the manual. Twice, to become somewhat proficient.
A typical syntax error message reads:
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting '
;' in file.php on line 217
Which lists the possible location of a syntax mistake. See the mentioned file name and line number.
A moniker such as T_STRING explains which symbol the parser/tokenizer couldn't process finally. This isn't necessarily the cause of the syntax mistake, however.
It's important to look into previous code lines as well. Often syntax errors are just mishaps that happened earlier. The error line number is just where the parser conclusively gave up to process it all.
There are many approaches to narrow down and fix syntax hiccups.
Open the mentioned source file. Look at the mentioned code line.
For runaway strings and misplaced operators, this is usually where you find the culprit.
Read the line left to right and imagine what each symbol does.
More regularly you need to look at preceding lines as well.
In particular, missing ; semicolons are missing at the previous line ends/statement. (At least from the stylistic viewpoint. )
If { code blocks } are incorrectly closed or nested, you may need to investigate even further up the source code. Use proper code indentation to simplify that.
Look at the syntax colorization!
Strings and variables and constants should all have different colors.
Operators +-*/. should be tinted distinct as well. Else they might be in the wrong context.
If you see string colorization extend too far or too short, then you have found an unescaped or missing closing " or ' string marker.
Having two same-colored punctuation characters next to each other can also mean trouble. Usually, operators are lone if it's not ++, --, or parentheses following an operator. Two strings/identifiers directly following each other are incorrect in most contexts.
Whitespace is your friend. Follow any coding style.
Break up long lines temporarily.
You can freely add newlines between operators or constants and strings. The parser will then concretize the line number for parsing errors. Instead of looking at the very lengthy code, you can isolate the missing or misplaced syntax symbol.
Split up complex if statements into distinct or nested if conditions.
Instead of lengthy math formulas or logic chains, use temporary variables to simplify the code. (More readable = fewer errors.)
Add newlines between:
Partitioning up long code blocks really helps to locate the origin of syntax errors.
Comment out offending code.
If you can't isolate the problem source, start to comment out (and thus temporarily remove) blocks of code.
As soon as you got rid of the parsing error, you have found the problem source. Look more closely there.
Sometimes you want to temporarily remove complete function/method blocks. (In case of unmatched curly braces and wrongly indented code.)
When you can't resolve the syntax issue, try to rewrite the commented out sections from scratch.
As a newcomer, avoid some of the confusing syntax constructs.
The ternary ? : condition operator can compact code and is useful indeed. But it doesn't aid readability in all cases. Prefer plain if statements while unversed.
PHP's alternative syntax (if:/elseif:/endif;) is common for templates, but arguably less easy to follow than normal { code } blocks.
The most prevalent newcomer mistakes are:
Missing semicolons ; for terminating statements/lines.
Mismatched string quotes for " or ' and unescaped quotes within.
Forgotten operators, in particular for the string . concatenation.
Unbalanced ( parentheses ). Count them in the reported line. Are there an equal number of them?
Don't forget that solving one syntax problem can uncover the next.
If you make one issue go away, but other crops up in some code below, you're mostly on the right path.
If after editing a new syntax error crops up in the same line, then your attempted change was possibly a failure. (Not always though.)
Restore a backup of previously working code, if you can't fix it.
diff of the broken and last working version. Which might be enlightening as to what the syntax problem is.
Invisible stray Unicode characters: In some cases, you need to use a hexeditor or different editor/viewer on your source. Some problems cannot be found just from looking at your code.
Try grep --color -P -n "\[\x80-\xFF\]" file.php as the first measure to find non-ASCII symbols.
In particular BOMs, zero-width spaces, or non-breaking spaces, and smart quotes regularly can find their way into the source code.
Take care of which type of linebreaks are saved in files.
PHP just honors \n newlines, not \r carriage returns.
Which is occasionally an issue for MacOS users (even on OS X for misconfigured editors).
It often only surfaces as an issue when single-line // or # comments are used. Multiline /*...*/ comments do seldom disturb the parser when linebreaks get ignored.
If your syntax error does not transmit over the web: It happens that you have a syntax error on your machine. But posting the very same file online does not exhibit it anymore. Which can only mean one of two things:
You are looking at the wrong file!
Or your code contained invisible stray Unicode (see above). You can easily find out: Just copy your code back from the web form into your text editor.
Check your PHP version. Not all syntax constructs are available on every server.
php -v for the command line interpreter
<?php phpinfo(); for the one invoked through the webserver.
Those aren't necessarily the same. In particular when working with frameworks, you will them to match up.
Don't use PHP's reserved keywords as identifiers for functions/methods, classes or constants.
Trial-and-error is your last resort.
If all else fails, you can always google your error message. Syntax symbols aren't as easy to search for (Stack Overflow itself is indexed by SymbolHound though). Therefore it may take looking through a few more pages before you find something relevant.
Further guides:
If your website is just blank, then typically a syntax error is the cause. Enable their display with:
error_reporting = E_ALLdisplay_errors = 1In your php.ini generally, or via .htaccess for mod_php,
or even .user.ini with FastCGI setups.
Enabling it within the broken script is too late because PHP can't even interpret/run the first line. A quick workaround is crafting a wrapper script, say test.php:
<?php
error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set("display_errors", 1);
include("./broken-script.php");
Then invoke the failing code by accessing this wrapper script.
It also helps to enable PHP's error_log and look into your webserver's error.log when a script crashes with HTTP 500 responses.
I think this topic is totally overdiscussed/overcomplicated. Using an IDE is THE way to go to completely avoid any syntax errors. I would even say that working without an IDE is kind of unprofessional. Why? Because modern IDEs check your syntax after every character you type. When you code and your entire line turns red, and a big warning notice shows you the exact type and the exact position of the syntax error, then there's absolutely no need to search for another solution.
You'll (effectively) never run into syntax errors again, simply because you see them right as you type. Seriously.
Excellent IDEs with syntax check (all of them are available for Linux, Windows and Mac):
[
These days, the unexpected [ array bracket is commonly seen on outdated PHP versions. The short array syntax is available since PHP >= 5.4. Older installations only support array().
$php53 = array(1, 2, 3);
$php54 = [1, 2, 3];
⇑
Array function result dereferencing is likewise not available for older PHP versions:
$result = get_whatever()["key"];
⇑
Reference - What does this error mean in PHP? - "Syntax error, unexpected \[" shows the most common and practical workarounds.
Though, you're always better off just upgrading your PHP installation. For shared webhosting plans, first research if e.g. SetHandler php56-fcgi can be used to enable a newer runtime.
See also:
BTW, there are also preprocessors and PHP 5.4 syntax down-converters if you're really clingy with older + slower PHP versions.
Other causes for Unexpected [ syntax errors
If it's not the PHP version mismatch, then it's oftentimes a plain typo or newcomer syntax mistake:
You can't use array property declarations/expressions in classes, not even in PHP 7.
protected $var["x"] = "Nope";
⇑
Confusing [ with opening curly braces { or parentheses ( is a common oversight.
foreach [$a as $b)
⇑
Or even:
function foobar[$a, $b, $c] {
⇑
Or trying to dereference constants (before PHP 5.6) as arrays:
$var = const[123];
⇑
At least PHP interprets that const as a constant name.
If you meant to access an array variable (which is the typical cause here), then add the leading $ sigil - so it becomes a $varname.
You are trying to use the global keyword on a member of an associative array. This is not valid syntax:
global $var['key'];
] closing square bracketThis is somewhat rarer, but there are also syntax accidents with the terminating array ] bracket.
Again mismatches with ) parentheses or } curly braces are common:
function foobar($a, $b, $c] {
⇑
Or trying to end an array where there isn't one:
$var = 2];
Which often occurs in multi-line and nested array declarations.
$array = [1,[2,3],4,[5,6[7,[8],[9,10]],11],12]],15];
⇑
If so, use your IDE for bracket matching to find any premature ] array closure. At the very least use more spacing and newlines to narrow it down.
An "unexpected T_VARIABLE" means that there's a literal $variable name, which doesn't fit into the current expression/statement structure.
It most commonly indicates a missing semicolon in the previous line. Variable assignments following a statement are a good indicator where to look:
⇓
func1()
$var = 1 + 2; # parse error in line +2
A frequent mishap are string concatenations with forgotten . operator:
⇓
print "Here comes the value: " $value;
Btw, you should prefer string interpolation (basic variables in double quotes) whenever that helps readability. Which avoids these syntax issues.
String interpolation is a scripting language core feature. No shame in utilizing it. Ignore any micro-optimization advise about variable
.concatenation being faster. It's not.
Of course the same issue can arise in other expressions, for instance arithmetic operations:
⇓
print 4 + 7 $var;
PHP can't guess here if the variable should have been added, subtracted or compared etc.
Same for syntax lists, like in array populations, where the parser also indicates an expected comma , for example:
⇓
$var = array("1" => $val, $val2, $val3 $val4);
Or functions parameter lists:
⇓
function myfunc($param1, $param2 $param3, $param4)
Equivalently do you see this with list or global statements, or when lacking a ; semicolon in a for loop.
This parser error also occurs in class declarations. You can only assign static constants, not expressions. Thus the parser complains about variables as assigned data:
class xyz { ⇓
var $value = $_GET["input"];
Unmatched } closing curly braces can in particular lead here. If a method is terminated too early (use proper indentation!), then a stray variable is commonly misplaced into the class declaration body.
You can also never have a variable follow an identifier directly:
⇓
$this->myFunc$VAR();
Btw, this is a common example where the intention was to use variable variables perhaps. In this case a variable property lookup with $this->{"myFunc$VAR"}(); for example.
Take in mind that using variable variables should be the exception. Newcomers often try to use them too casually, even when arrays would be simpler and more appropriate.
Hasty typing may lead to forgotten opening or closing parenthesis
for if and for and foreach statements:
⇓
foreach $array as $key) {
Solution: add the missing opening ( between statement and variable.
⇓
if ($var = pdo_query($sql) {
$result = …
The curly { brace does not open the code block, without closing the if expression with the ) closing parenthesis first.
⇓
else ($var >= 0)
Solution: Remove the conditions from else or use elseif.
⇓
function() use $var {}
Solution: Add brackets around $var.
As mentioned in the reference answer on "Invisible stray Unicode" (such as a non-breaking space), you might also see this error for unsuspecting code like:
<?php
⇐
$var = new PDO(...);
It's rather prevalent in the start of files and for copy-and-pasted code. Check with a hexeditor, if your code does not visually appear to contain a syntax issue.
The unwieldy names T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING and T_ENCAPSED_AND_WHITESPACE refer to quoted "string" literals.
They're used in different contexts, but the syntax issue are quite similar. T_ENCAPSED… warnings occur in double quoted string context, while T_CONSTANT… strings are often astray in plain PHP expressions or statements.
And it comes up most frequently for incorrect PHP variable interpolation:
⇓ ⇓
echo "Here comes a $wrong['array'] access";
Quoting arrays keys is a must in PHP context. But in double quoted strings (or HEREDOCs) this is a mistake. The parser complains about the contained single quoted 'string', because it usually expects a literal identifier / key there.
More precisely it's valid to use PHP2-style simple syntax within double quotes for array references:
echo "This is only $valid[here] ...";
Nested arrays or deeper object references however require the complex curly string expression syntax:
echo "Use {$array['as_usual']} with curly syntax.";
If unsure, this is commonly safer to use. It's often even considered more readable. And better IDEs actually use distinct syntax colorization for that.
If a string follows an expression, but lacks a concatenation or other operator, then you'll see PHP complain about the string literal:
⇓
print "Hello " . WORLD " !";
While it's obvious to you and me, PHP just can't guess that the string was meant to be appended there.
The same syntax error occurs when confounding string delimiters. A string started by a single ' or double " quote also ends with the same.
⇓
print "<a href="' . $link . '">click here</a>";
⌞⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⌟⌞⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⌟⌞⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⎽⌟
That example started with double quotes. But double quotes were also destined for the HTML attributes. The intended concatenation operator within however became interpreted as part of a second string in single quotes.
Tip: Set your editor/IDE to use slightly distinct colorization for single and double quoted strings. (It also helps with application logic to prefer e.g. double quoted strings for textual output, and single quoted strings only for constant-like values.)
This is a good example where you shouldn't break out of double quotes in the first place. Instead just use proper \" escapes for the HTML attributes´ quotes:
print "<a href=\"{$link}\">click here</a>";
While this can also lead to syntax confusion, all better IDEs/editors again help by colorizing the escaped quotes differently.
Equivalently are forgotten opening "/' quotes a recipe for parser errors:
⇓
make_url(login', 'open');
Here the ', ' would become a string literal after a bareword, when obviously login was meant to be a string parameter.
If you miss a , comma in an array creation block, the parser will see two consecutive strings:
array( ⇓
"key" => "value"
"next" => "....",
);
Note that the last line may always contain an extra comma, but overlooking one in between is unforgivable. Which is hard to discover without syntax highlighting.
The same thing for function calls:
⇓
myfunc(123, "text", "and" "more")
A common variation are quite simply forgotten string terminators:
⇓
mysql_evil("SELECT * FROM stuffs);
print "'ok'";
⇑
Here PHP complains about two string literals directly following each other. But the real cause is the unclosed previous string of course.
Prior PHP 7.3, the heredoc string end delimiter can't be prefixed with spaces:
print <<< HTML
<link..>
HTML;
⇑
Solution: upgrade PHP or find a better hoster.
See also
T_STRING is a bit of a misnomer. It does not refer to a quoted "string". It means a raw identifier was encountered. This can range from bare words to leftover CONSTANT or function names, forgotten unquoted strings, or any plain text.
This syntax error is most common for misquoted string values however. Any unescaped and stray " or ' quote will form an invalid expression:
⇓ ⇓
echo "<a href="http://example.com">click here</a>";
Syntax highlighting will make such mistakes super obvious. It's important to remember to use backslashes for escaping \" double quotes, or \' single quotes - depending on which was used as string enclosure.
" double quotes.echo/print lines instead of escaping in and out. Better yet consider a HEREDOC section.
Another example is using PHP entry inside HTML code generated with PHP:
$text = '<div>some text with <?php echo 'some php entry' ?></div>'
This happens if $text is large with many lines and developer does not see the whole PHP variable value and focus on the piece of code forgetting about its source. Example is here
See also What is the difference between single-quoted and double-quoted strings in PHP?.
If you miss a closing " then a syntax error typically materializes later. An unterminated string will often consume a bit of code until the next intended string value:
⇓
echo "Some text", $a_variable, "and some runaway string ;
success("finished");
⇯
It's not just literal T_STRINGs which the parser may protest then. Another frequent variation is an Unexpected '>' for unquoted literal HTML.
If you copy and paste code from a blog or website, you sometimes end up with invalid code. Typographic quotes aren't what PHP expects:
$text = ’Something something..’ + ”these ain't quotes”;
Typographic/smart quotes are Unicode symbols. PHP treats them as part of adjoining alphanumeric text. For example ”these is interpreted as a constant identifier. But any following text literal is then seen as a bareword/T_STRING by the parser.
If you have an unterminated expression in previous lines, then any following statement or language construct gets seen as raw identifier:
⇓
func1()
function2();
PHP just can't know if you meant to run two functions after another, or if you meant to multiply their results, add them, compare them, or only run one || or the other.
<?xml headers in PHP scriptsThis is rather uncommon. But if short_open_tags are enabled, then you can't begin your PHP scripts with an XML declaration:
⇓
<?xml version="1.0"?>
PHP will see the <? and reclaim it for itself. It won't understand what the stray xml was meant for. It'll get interpreted as constant. But the version will be seen as another literal/constant. And since the parser can't make sense of two subsequent literals/values without an expression operator in between, that'll be a parser failure.
A most hideous cause for syntax errors are Unicode symbols, such as the non-breaking space. PHP allows Unicode characters as identifier names. If you get a T_STRING parser complaint for wholly unsuspicious code like:
<?php
print 123;
You need to break out another text editor. Or an hexeditor even. What looks like plain spaces and newlines here, may contain invisible constants. Java-based IDEs are sometimes oblivious to an UTF-8 BOM mangled within, zero-width spaces, paragraph separators, etc. Try to reedit everything, remove whitespace and add normal spaces back in.
You can narrow it down with with adding redundant ; statement separators at each line start:
<?php
;print 123;
The extra ; semicolon here will convert the preceding invisible character into an undefined constant reference (expression as statement). Which in return makes PHP produce a helpful notice.
Variables in PHP are represented by a dollar sign followed by the name of the variable.
The dollar sign ($) is a sigil that marks the identifier as a name of a variable. Without this sigil, the identifier could be a language keyword or a constant.
This is a common error when the PHP code was "translated" from code written in another language (C, Java, JavaScript, etc.). In such cases, a declaration of the variable type (when the original code was written in a language that uses typed variables) could also sneak out and produce this error.
If you use \ in a string, it has a special meaning. This is called an "Escape Character" and normally tells the parser to take the next character literally.
Example: echo 'Jim said \'Hello\''; will print Jim said 'hello'
If you escape the closing quote of a string, the closing quote will be taken literally and not as intended, i.e. as a printable quote as part of the string and not close the string. This will show as a parse error commonly after you open the next string or at the end of the script.
Very common error when specifiying paths in Windows: "C:\xampp\htdocs\" is wrong. You need "C:\\xampp\\htdocs\\".
You need PHP ≥7.4 to use property typing such as:
public stdClass $obj;
(
Opening parentheses typically follow language constructs such as if/foreach/for/array/list or start an arithmetic expression. They're syntactically incorrect after "strings", a previous (), a lone $, and in some typical declaration contexts.
A rarer occurrence for this error is trying to use expressions as default function parameters. This is not supported, even in PHP7:
function header_fallback($value, $expires = time() + 90000) {
Parameters in a function declaration can only be literal values or constant expressions. Unlike for function invocations, where you can freely use whatever(1+something()*2), etc.
Same thing for class member declarations, where only literal/constant values are allowed, not expressions:
class xyz { ⇓
var $default = get_config("xyz_default");
Put such things in the constructor. See also Why don't PHP attributes allow functions?
Again note that PHP 7 only allows var $xy = 1 + 2 +3; constant expressions there.
Using JavaScript or jQuery syntax won't work in PHP for obvious reasons:
<?php ⇓
print $(document).text();
When this happens, it usually indicates an unterminated preceding string; and literal <script> sections leaking into PHP code context.
Both isset() and empty() are language built-ins, not functions. They need to access a variable directly. If you inadvertently add a pair of parentheses too much, then you'd create an expression however:
⇓
if (isset(($_GET["id"]))) {
The same applies to any language construct that requires implicit variable name access. These built-ins are part of the language grammar, therefore don't permit decorative extra parentheses.
User-level functions that require a variable reference -but get an expression result passed- lead to runtime errors instead.
)
You cannot have stray commas last in a function call. PHP expects a value there and thusly complains about an early closing ) parenthesis.
⇓
callfunc(1, 2, );
A trailing comma is only allowed in array() or list() constructs.
If you forget something in an arithmetic expression, then the parser gives up. Because how should it possibly interpret that:
⇓
$var = 2 * (1 + );
And if you forgot the closing ) even, then you'd get a complaint about the unexpected semicolon instead.
constant For forgotten variable $ prefixes in control statements you will see:
↓ ⇓
foreach ($array as wrong) {
PHP here sometimes tells you it expected a :: instead. Because a class::$variable could have satisfied the expected $variable expression..
{
Curly braces { and } enclose code blocks. And syntax errors about them usually indicate some incorrect nesting.
if Most commonly unbalanced ( and ) are the cause if the parser complains about the opening curly { appearing too early. A simple example:
⇓
if (($x == $y) && (2 == true) {
Count your parentheses or use an IDE which helps with that. Also don't write code without any spaces. Readability counts.
You can't use curly braces in expressions. If you confuse parentheses and curlys, it won't comply to the language grammar:
⇓
$var = 5 * {7 + $x};
There are a few exceptions for identifier construction, such as local scope variable ${references}.
This is pretty rare. But you might also get { and } parser complaints for complex variable expressions:
⇓
print "Hello {$world[2{]} !";
Though there's a higher likelihood for an unexpected } in such contexts.
}
When getting an "unexpected }" error, you've mostly closed a code block too early.
It can happen for any unterminated expression.
And if the last line in a function/code block lacks a trailing ; semicolon:
function whatever() {
doStuff()
} ⇧
Here the parser can't tell if you perhaps still wanted to add + 25; to the function result or something else.
{ You'll sometimes see this parser error when a code block was } closed too early, or you forgot an opening { even:
function doStuff() {
if (true) ⇦
print "yes";
}
} ⇧
In above snippet the if didn't have an opening { curly brace. Thus the closing } one below became redundant. And therefore the next closing }, which was intended for the function, was not associable to the original opening { curly brace.
Such errors are even harder to find without proper code indentation. Use an IDE and bracket matching.
{, expecting (
Language constructs which require a condition/declaration header and a code block will trigger this error.
For example misdeclared functions without parameter list are not permitted:
⇓
function whatever {
}
And you can't likewise have an if without condition.
⇓
if {
}
Which doesn't make sense, obviously. The same thing for the usual suspects, for/foreach, while/do, etc.
If you've got this particular error, you definitely should look up some manual examples.
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