Constant causes an uncatchable fatal error when given non-existent class

[ciaranmcnulty]

Description

The following code:

var_dump(defined('Foo::FOO'));

try {
  $class = constant('Foo::FOO');
} catch (\Throwable $e) {
  echo "I caught it!";
}

Resulted in this output:

bool(false)

Fatal error: Class "Foo" not found in /in/7tWT2 on line 6

Process exited with code 255.

But I expected this output instead:

bool(false)
I caught it!

i.e. the error should be caught as a throwable Error, as is the behaviour of constant since 8.0.0

PHP Version

PHP 8.1.12

Operating System

No response

[cmb69]

Fascinating! That bug existed for years, and now it has been reported twice within a few days. Anyhow, already solved now (see #9905).

[ciaranmcnulty]

@cmb69 hah great, I triggered it just today by doing something with an enum :)

Possibly https://wiki.php.net/rfc/dynamic_class_constant_fetch has sparked interest in this current way of doing it?