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PHP 8 support

Read this page if you upgrade from a release before 6.0.0, or if you maintain your own extensions. The kernel and libraries were changed step by step for PHP 8.0 up to 8.5 between December 2023 and April 2026…

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Address: https://doc.exponential.earth/learninminutes/exphelp/viewer/bc/6.0/php8.md

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PHP 8 support

Read this page if you upgrade from a release before 6.0.0, or if you maintain your own extensions. The kernel and libraries were changed step by step for PHP 8.0 up to 8.5 between December 2023 and April 2026. Compatibility functions were kept wherever they were known to be needed, so custom extensions do not end in fatal errors. To get rid of deprecation warnings, you may still have to adapt your own code, most often classes that extend eZPersistentObject or eZDataType.

In short

What changedPHP 8 syntax and checks throughout the kernel; since 6.0.8, Composer requires PHP 8.1 or newer. Since 6.0.15 the code runs on PHP 8.0 again (PHP 8.0 support), and on PHP 7.4 (Why Exponential supports PHP 7.4).
Who is affectedSites still on PHP 7.4 (6.0.8 to 6.0.14 need PHP 8.1; 6.0.15 is usable on 7.4 again, without support); authors of extensions with dynamic properties, unchecked count() or null passed to string functions.
How to checkEnable the debug output on a development copy and look for "Deprecated" notices from your extension files.
How to fixFollow "What this means for your own code" below.

The sequence of changes (December 2023 to April 2026)

The first column is the first release that carries the change. Use it to see which of your extensions may need the same treatment.

ReleasePHP topicWhat changed
6.0.0 (Dec 2023)8.3Fixes for eZTemplateForFunction (the {for} template function) and further PHP 8.3 incompatibilities; the setup wizard no longer prints PHP 8 warnings during installation; the installation autoload code was rewritten so no error text appears.
6.0.1 (Jan 2024)8.0count() is called only after is_countable() in places that received null or scalars; inconsistent testing of data before use fixed. Found while testing the SQLite driver.
6.0.4 (Aug 2024)8.2Dynamic properties of eZPersistentObject classes no longer cause warnings in the debug output.
6.0.11 (commit of Dec 2024, first in 6.0.11)8.0The ezmatrix datatype no longer ends in a fatal error (f433a08cf9; the commit sits on a branch that reached a release only with 6.0.11). A smaller PHP 8 notice fix of December 2024 (21d2c6b4f5) is in 6.0.6.
6.0.7 (Jan 2025)8.0 and 8.2The template {for} loop warning, the star rating extension and PostgreSQL library warnings fixed; unlinking an already removed file no longer warns.
6.0.8 (Apr 2025)8.4The removed E_STRICT constant is no longer referenced; initial 8.4 support in ten kernel and library files (eZSession, eZINI, eZExtension, eZSys, eZOrder, eZDebug, eZContentObject, the autoload generator and others, 86abc11907). Composer now requires PHP 8.1 or newer (^8.1 || ^8.2); PHP 7.4 is no longer installable.
6.0.11 (Sep 2025)8.1 and 8.2#[ReturnTypeWillChange] on methods that implement SPL interfaces (no behaviour change); utf8_decode() in ezldapuser replaced (deprecated in 8.2); public properties declared on eZURL and other classes instead of dynamic ones; null is no longer passed to mysqli_real_escape_string() and preg_match().
6.0.11 (Dec 2025)8.5Nullable types where PHP 8.5 requires them; Zeta Components raised to releases that support PHP 8.5; the README states PHP 8.5 support.
6.0.13 (Feb 2026)8.4Time datatype and eZOrder::fetchList() deprecations fixed, see the hardening specification.
6.0.15 (Oct 2026)8.0PHP 8.0 is the oldest supported version (RHEL 9): array_is_list() defined when missing (lib/phpcompat.php), fputcsv() without $eol on 8.0, the HTML escaping functions get the PHP 8.1 default flags explicitly so wash escapes single quotes on 8.0 too, a PHP 8.0 syntax check and boot test in CI. See PHP 8.0 support.
6.0.15 (Oct 2026)7.4PHP 7.4 is usable again, without support, as a bridge: the kernel parses and runs on it, Composer picks the packages per PHP version through se7enxweb/exponential-php-floor, CI job php74 (Why Exponential supports PHP 7.4)
6.0.13 (Apr 2026)8.xThe session handler: read() returns an empty string for an unknown session, gc() uses time() and a start time, and the current siteaccess global is checked before use.

How to check your installation 

php -v
grep -n '"php"' composer.json

The first line of php -v must show 8.0 or newer, also when the site runs on Exponential Velocity (from its release 0.0.4.54; see PHP 8.0 support). The composer.json line shows the PHP versions the current release accepts.

What this means for your own code

  • Declare the properties your classes use. PHP 8.2 deprecates creating them on the fly.
  • Test before you count. Use is_countable() or is_array() before count() or foreach.
  • Do not pass null to string functions. Use $value ?? ''.
  • Mark SPL methods. Give methods that implement Iterator, ArrayAccess or Countable the #[ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute, or real return types.
  • Raise your PHP constraint. Set your own composer.json PHP constraint to ^8.0 or newer, the oldest version the product supports again since 6.0.15 (6.0.8 to 6.0.14 required ^8.1). Exponential Velocity runs on 8.0 too from its release 0.0.4.54. Sites on PHP 7.4 can use 6.0.15 again, without support; 6.0.8 to 6.0.14 need PHP 8.1.

The PHP manual lists every incompatible change per version:

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This documentation is free documentation, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License 1.3 or later.

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