Changes to INI file handling

PHP 5.3.0 has significantly improved performance and parsing of INI files, and adds several new syntax features.

  • The standard php.ini files have been re-organized and renamed. php.ini-development contains settings recommended for use in development environments. php.ini-production contains settings recommended for use in production environments.
  • There is now support for two special sections: [PATH=/opt/httpd/www.example.com/] and [HOST=www.example.com]. Directives set in these sections cannot be overridden by user-defined INI files or at runtime. More information about these sections can be found here.
  • zend_extension_debug, zend_extension_debug_ts and zend_extension_ts have been removed. Use the zend_extension directive to load all Zend Extensions.
  • zend.ze1_compatibility_mode has been removed. If this INI directive is set to On, an E_ERROR error is emitted at startup.
  • It is now possible to use the full path to load modules using the extension directive.
  • "ini-variables" can now be used almost anywhere in a php.ini file.
  • open_basedir restrictions may now be tighted at runtime, and the directive is now PHP_INI_ALL.
  • It is now possible to use alphanumeric or variable indices in INI option arrays.
  • get_cfg_var() is now able to return "array" INI options.
  • Two new mail directives: mail.add_x_header and mail.log, have been added.

The following new ini directives have been added:

  • user_ini.filename and user_ini.cache_ttl have been added to control the use of user INI files.
  • exit_on_timeout has been added to force Apache 1.x children to exit if a PHP execution timeout occurs.
  • Added mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetype. This directive specifies the regex pattern of content types for which mb_output_handler() is activated.
  • Added request_order. Allows controlling which external variables will be available in $_REQUEST.

The following ini directives have new default values: