php-in-php: VmFsGlob/VmFsUnlink — delete host ext/ffi glob(3)/unlink(2) shims (bootstrap self-host)

[PurHur]

Category

php-in-php | bootstrap

Problem

glob() and unlink() VM paths call host ext/ffi via ext/standard/VmFsGlob.php and VmFsUnlink.php. When FFI is unavailable (AOT self-host bundle, hardened bootstrap image), glob() falls back to a PHP iterator and unlink() returns false without error — breaking deploy scripts and compiler hygiene that delete temp artifacts.

Bootstrap M2–M5 must not depend on Zend ext/ffi for core filesystem builtins.

php-src reference

• php/php-src ext/standard/dir.c — PHP_FUNCTION(glob)
• php/php-src ext/standard/filestat.c — php_unlink / unlink(2)
• libc: glob(3), unlink(2) — thin syscall ABI only in C if unavoidable

Repro

A — unlink without FFI

./script/docker-exec.sh -- bash -lc 'source script/php-env.sh
PHP_COMPILER_DISABLE_FFI=1 php bin/vm.php -r "
\$f = tempnam(sys_get_temp_dir(), \"t\");
var_export(file_exists(\$f));
var_export(unlink(\$f));
var_export(file_exists(\$f));
"'

If env gate missing today, simulate by temporarily forcing VmFsUnlink::ffi() null in a unit probe — document actual exit in PR.

B — glob parity

<?php
var_export(glob(__DIR__ . '/*.php', GLOB_NOSORT));

./script/docker-exec.sh -- bash -lc 'source script/php-env.sh
php bin/vm.php repro.php
php repro.php
'

Scope (this repo)

Module	Path	Notes
VM	ext/standard/VmFsGlob.php, VmFsUnlink.php	Replace FFI::cdef with compiled PHP lowering or thin AOT __compiler_unlink / __phpc_glob_vec already linked from phpc_stream.c / stream helpers
JIT/AOT	lib/JIT/Builtin/ glob/unlink lowerers	Mirror VM semantics
Registration	ext/standard/glob_.php, unlink builtin
Tests	test/compliance/cases/stdlib/glob_ffi_bootstrap.phpt, unlink_bootstrap.phpt

Goal: delete or shrink FFI blocks in VmFsGlob.php / VmFsUnlink.php; any retained C is syscall trampoline only (document lines removed).

Done when

• unlink($path) succeeds on existing file in bootstrap image without host ext/ffi
• glob() returns same file list as Zend for GLOB_NOSORT smoke on ext/standard/*.php
• PR notes lines removed from FFI helpers (or C symbols deleted)
• make bootstrap-selfhost-link / php script/bootstrap-inventory.php --check unaffected

Verification

./script/docker-exec.sh -- bash -lc 'source script/php-env.sh && vendor/bin/phpunit --filter "glob_|unlink"'
make bootstrap-selfhost-helloworld

Related

• Bootstrap: glob() — native path pattern matching without host \glob() (ext/standard/dir.c) #4859 glob vector ABI · Bootstrap: VmFs::unlink() — libc unlink(2) without host @unlink (ext/standard/filestat.c) #5063 unlink bootstrap · php-in-php: stream handle registry — delete phpc_stream.c (~1059 lines), FILE* table in ext/standard #5343 stream registry · Epic: Self-host critical path — compiler compiles itself (M3→M5) #1492

[PurHur]

claim: PHP Runtime → PHP — starting this run (#7314 VmFsUnlink/VmFsGlob: drop ext/ffi requirement for VM bootstrap, host libc fallbacks).

[PurHur]

Merged via #7378

VM bootstrap without ext/ffi: VmFsUnlink falls back to host @unlink(); VmFsGlob tries host glob() before PHP iterator fallback. PHP_COMPILER_DISABLE_FFI=1 disables FFI path for testing.

Verification:

vendor/bin/phpunit test/unit/VmFsUnlinkBootstrapTest.php --filter unlink_bootstrap
PHP_COMPILER_DISABLE_FFI=1 php bin/vm.php -r '$f=tempnam(sys_get_temp_dir(),"t"); var_export(unlink($f));'

Output: true (was false without FFI).