PHP PHP 8 Fatal Error

[wyclef]

Hi, I am getting a fatal error of PHP Fatal error: Uncaught TypeError: count(): Argument #1 ($value) must be of type Countable|array, null given in...

on the following count line when upgrading from PHP 7.4 to PHP 8:

function orderByDate($items) {
    //$tempDate = strtotime($item);
    $referenceArray = array();
    for ($i = 0; $i < count($items); $i++) {
        $referenceArray[] = strtotime($items[$i]['pubDate']);
    }
    array_multisort($referenceArray, SORT_DESC, $items);
    return $items;
}

Anyone know how to resolve this?

 

[Deleted member 5997]

The error says $items is null. Add an additional check. If there are no items, there is nothing to sort.

 

[wyclef]

So like an if $items isset around the for, else return?

 

[wyclef]

or

function orderByDate($items) {
    //$tempDate = strtotime($item);
    $referenceArray = array();
    for ($i = 0; $i < (is_countable($items) ? count($items) : 0); $i++) {
        $referenceArray[] = strtotime($items[$i]['pubDate']);
    }
    array_multisort($referenceArray, SORT_DESC, $items);
    return $items;
}