Silent failure of PHP fatal errors

[wradder]

Q	A
PHPUnit version	12.3.0
PHP version	8.4.3
Installation Method	Composer

Summary

Certain types of errors do no longer show up int he output

Current behavior

The script silently fails, without any error in the output. See cli output:

PHPUnit 12.3.0 by Sebastian Bergmann and contributors.

Runtime:       PHP 8.4.3

How to reproduce

See the following test setup:

A.php

<?php declare(strict_types=1);
class A
{
  public function someFunction(): void{
    echo 'A::someFunction' . PHP_EOL;
  }
}

B.php

<?php declare(strict_types=1);
class B extends A
{
  // incorrect access level
  protected function someFunction(): void
  {
    parent::someFunction();

    echo 'B::someFunction' . PHP_EOL;
  }  
}

Test.php

<?php declare(strict_types=1);
use \PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;

final class ExampleTest extends TestCase
{
  public function testOne(): void
  {
    require_once('A.php');
    require_once('B.php');    

    $this->assertSame(1, 1);
  }
}

Expected behavior

Some form of error in the output, see CLI output:

PHPUnit 12.0.10 by Sebastian Bergmann and contributors.

Runtime:       PHP 8.4.3

PHP Fatal error:  Access level to B::someFunction() must be public (as in class A) in ...

NOTE: it seems 12.0.10 was the latest version where the errors were shown

[sebastianbergmann]

According to git-bisect, a3387ae is the first commit with this issue.

CC @staabm

[staabm]

looking into it right now

[staabm]

hmm I am not able to reproduce. could someone send a PR with a reproducer?

php phpunit IssueTest6294.php                      
PHPUnit 12.4-g7c3f6442d by Sebastian Bergmann and contributors.

Runtime:       PHP 8.4.11
Configuration: /Users/staabm/workspace/phpunit/phpunit.xml


Fatal error: Access level to B::someFunction() must be public (as in class A) in /Users/staabm/workspace/phpunit/B.php on line 6

[sebastianbergmann]

❯ tree issue-6294
issue-6294
├── A.php
├── B.php
└── Test.php

A.php

<?php declare(strict_types=1);
class A
{
    public function someFunction(): void{
        echo 'A::someFunction' . PHP_EOL;
    }
}

B.php

<?php declare(strict_types=1);
class B extends A
{
    // incorrect access level
    protected function someFunction(): void
    {
        parent::someFunction();

        echo 'B::someFunction' . PHP_EOL;
    }
}

Test.php

<?php declare(strict_types=1);
use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;

final class Test extends TestCase
{
    public function testOne(): void
    {
        require_once('A.php');
        require_once('B.php');

        $this->assertSame(1, 1);
    }
}

❯ ./phpunit --no-configuration --do-not-cache-result issue-6294
PHPUnit 12.4-g7c3f6442d4 by Sebastian Bergmann and contributors.

Runtime:       PHP 8.4.11

❯ ./phpunit --no-configuration --do-not-cache-result issue-6294 --debug
PHPUnit Started (PHPUnit 12.4-g7c3f6442d4 using PHP 8.4.11 (cli) on Linux)
Test Runner Configured
Event Facade Sealed
Test Suite Loaded (1 test)
Test Runner Started
Test Suite Sorted
Test Runner Execution Started (1 test)
Test Suite Started (CLI Arguments, 1 test)
Test Suite Started (Test, 1 test)
Test Preparation Started (Test::testOne)
Test Prepared (Test::testOne)

[staabm]

hmm thats interessting:

➜  phpunit git:(6294) ✗ tree issue-6294
issue-6294
├── A.php
├── B.php
└── Test.php

1 directory, 3 files
➜  phpunit git:(6294) ✗ ./phpunit --no-configuration --do-not-cache-result issue-6294
PHPUnit 12.4-g7c3f6442d by Sebastian Bergmann and contributors.

Runtime:       PHP 8.4.11


Fatal error: Access level to B::someFunction() must be public (as in class A) in /Users/staabm/workspace/phpunit/issue-6294/B.php on line 5

➜  phpunit git:(6294) ✗ php -v                       
PHP 8.4.11 (cli) (built: Jul 29 2025 15:30:21) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Built by Shivam Mathur
Zend Engine v4.4.11, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies

➜  phpunit git:(6294) ✗ ./phpunit --no-configuration --do-not-cache-result issue-6294 --debug
PHPUnit Started (PHPUnit 12.4-g7c3f6442d using PHP 8.4.11 (cli) on Darwin)
Test Runner Configured
Event Facade Sealed
Test Suite Loaded (1 test)
Test Runner Started
Test Suite Sorted
Test Runner Execution Started (1 test)
Test Suite Started (CLI Arguments, 1 test)
Test Suite Started (Test, 1 test)
Test Preparation Started (Test::testOne)
Test Prepared (Test::testOne)

Fatal error: Access level to B::someFunction() must be public (as in class A) in /Users/staabm/workspace/phpunit/issue-6294/B.php on line 5

[staabm]

maybe phpunit is not able to create/write a tmpfile() in your system?

a3387ae#diff-75a3eeca974a0ce169359a31becc86004ea431fb1811f13e1ff04b06fb926aeaR1466-R1467

[staabm]

guesswork: I can reproduce the problem, when adding ini_set('display_errors', 0); to the test-case.

<?php declare(strict_types=1);
use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;

final class Test extends TestCase
{
    public function testOne(): void
    {
+       ini_set('display_errors', 0);

        require_once('A.php');
        require_once('B.php');

        $this->assertSame(1, 1);
    }
}

maybe your php.ini does have this setting?

---

➜  phpunit git:(simplify) ✗ cat issue-6294/Test.php
<?php declare(strict_types=1);
use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;

final class Test extends TestCase
{
    public function testOne(): void
    {
        ini_set('display_errors', 0);

        require_once('A.php');
        require_once('B.php');

        $this->assertSame(1, 1);
    }
}
➜  phpunit git:(simplify) ✗ ./phpunit --no-configuration --do-not-cache-result issue-6294
PHPUnit 12.4-g4dd7e55eb by Sebastian Bergmann and contributors.

Runtime:       PHP 8.4.11

[wradder]

@staabm

maybe your php.ini does have this setting?

Can confirm: adding

ini_set('display_errors', 1);

Will show the error

  #[Test()]
  public function myHappyTest(): void {
    ini_set('display_errors', 1);
    print_r(['display_errors' => var_export(ini_get('display_errors'), true)]);
    require_once('A.php');
    require_once('B.php');    
    $this->assertSame(1, 1);
  }

Output:

PHPUnit 12.3.0 by Sebastian Bergmann and contributors.

Runtime:       PHP 8.4.3

Array
(
    [display_errors] => '1'
)

Fatal error: Access level to B::someFunction() must be public (as in class A) in ...

[staabm]

fix in #6296