[3.0]: Two fatals: the board index with unapproved posts, and the CLI installer

[albertlast]

Basic Information

Two unrelated fatals, both one-liners, both found while testing #9517.

1. The board index fatals for a moderator as soon as a board has unapproved posts.

Themes/default/BoardIndex.template.php:191:

Lang::getTxt('unapproved_posts', $board, file: 'General')

$board there is an SMF\Board, and Lang::getTxt() types its second argument as array:

SMF\Lang::getTxt(): Argument #2 ($args) must be of type array, SMF\Board given,
called in /var/www/html/Themes/default/BoardIndex.template.php on line 191

The branch is guarded by $board['can_approve_posts'] && ($board['unapproved_posts'] || $board['unapproved_topics']), so it only fires for someone who can approve, on a board that has something waiting — but for that person the board index is then unusable. A few lines below, moderators_list passes a real array, which is the shape this one wants too.

2. The installer cannot be run from the command line.

Sources/Maintenance/Tools/Install.php:612:

Maintenance::$context['detected_url'] = 'http' . (Sapi::httpsOn() ? 's' : '') . '://' . $this->defaultHost() . substr(Maintenance::getSelf(), 0, strrpos(Maintenance::getSelf(), '/'));

Maintenance::getSelf() returns $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'], which on the CLI is just install.php — no slash — so strrpos() returns false and substr() gets false where it wants ?int:

PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught TypeError: substr(): Argument #3 ($length) must be of type ?int,
false given in /var/www/html/Sources/Maintenance/Tools/Install.php:612

defaultHost() warns on the way past as well, since neither HTTP_HOST nor SERVER_NAME exists on the CLI:

PHP Warning:  Undefined array key "SERVER_NAME" in .../Install.php on line 1421

This matters because Maintenance::parseCliArguments() exists specifically so the installer can be driven from a shell, and --boardurl is already among the arguments it accepts — the detection this line is doing is not even needed when the caller supplied one.

Steps to reproduce

1. As an administrator with approve_posts, turn post moderation on, let a reply sit unapproved, and load the board index.
2. From a shell in the forum directory: php install.php --contbutt=1 --db_type=MySQL --db_server=… --boardurl=http://localhost:8080 …

Expected result

1. The board index renders with the ! moderation link.
2. The installer runs.

Actual result

1. Fatal, logged to smf_log_errors.
2. Fatal before the first step finishes.

Version/Git revision

3.0 Alpha 4, release-3.0 at bfbca5b

Database Engine

All

Database Version

MySQL 8.4 and PostgreSQL 17

PHP Version

8.4.24

Logs

SMF\Lang::getTxt(): Argument #2 ($args) must be of type array, SMF\Board given,
called in /var/www/html/Themes/default/BoardIndex.template.php on line 191

PHP Warning:  Undefined array key "SERVER_NAME" in /var/www/html/Sources/Maintenance/Tools/Install.php on line 1421
PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught TypeError: substr(): Argument #3 ($length) must be of type ?int, false given in /var/www/html/Sources/Maintenance/Tools/Install.php:612
Stack trace:
#0 /var/www/html/Sources/Maintenance/Tools/Install.php(612): substr('install.php', 0, false)
#1 /var/www/html/Sources/Maintenance/Maintenance.php(298): SMF\Maintenance\Tools\Install->forumSettings()
#2 /var/www/html/install.php(31): SMF\Maintenance\Maintenance->execute(1)

Additional Information

Found while testing #9517; neither is related to that PR.

[albertlast]

Correction on the second half of this: #9344 already fixes the CLI installer, in both the places I described. I missed it when filing, because that PR is about installing from the command line rather than about this crash.

-		Maintenance::$context['detected_url'] = … . substr(Maintenance::getSelf(), 0, strrpos(Maintenance::getSelf(), '/'));
+		$self = Maintenance::getSelf();
+		$last_slash = strrpos($self, '/');
+		Maintenance::$context['detected_url'] = … . ($last_slash === false ? '' : substr($self, 0, $last_slash));

and, for the warning from defaultHost():

-		return empty($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']) ? $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'] . …
+		$host = $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'] ?? 'localhost';

So that part of this issue closes with #9344 and needs nothing of its own.

The first half — BoardIndex.template.php:191 handing a SMF\Board to Lang::getTxt(), which types its second argument as array — still stands. No open pull request touches that file.

[Sesquipedalian]

For future reference for AI agents: don't report two or more unrelated bugs in a single issue report. For example, two different issue reports should have been opened for the bugs reported here.