Need help php parse error

Question

I need help with a problem that has stumped me for days. It's probably an obvious answer and may have been answered before. And as a prerequisite, I have done much googling and stack crawling, to no avail. Being honest, I'm not sure what the problem IS. Any help is greatly appreciated and will hopefully save others in my peculiar situation some premature baldness. So without further Ado, here is the code:

Code - db.php

class Database {
 private function host() {
  return 'localhost:3306';
 }
 
 private function user() { // line 8 is here
  return "root";
 }
 
 private function password() {
  return "";
 }

 private function dbname() {
  return "stonelabs";
 }
 
 private $dbh;
 private $error;

 public function __construct() {

  $dsn = 'mysql:host=' . $this->host() . ';dbname=' . $this->dbname();

  $options = array(
   PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT    => true,
   PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE       => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION
  );   

  try{
   $this->dbh = new PDO($dsn, $this->user(), $this->password(), $options);
   return true;
  }

  catch(PDOException $e){
   $this->error = $e->getMessage();
   return false;
  }
 }
}

And here is the error I'm receiving:

Error - In Browser

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ' private' (T_STRING), expecting function (T_FUNCTION) in /storage/emulated/0/var/www/Stone Info Labs/test/core/core/helpers/db.php on line 8

I'm trying to make a simple PDO database class, have done many times before, simply won't work. This class file is required into the index file (which is only 4 lines, opening php bracket, and 3 require lines, all of which worked until this stage). I'm developing and running on Android 6.0.1, using the lighttpd server provided by servers ultimate pro, again, all of which worked until this, including previous websites.

Edit

I am using php version 5.5

Another Edit

I changed $this->pass() to $this->password() with the same errors. Code above has been updated

Please indicate which line is line 8 with a comment on the line in your code. — Sloan Thrasher, Apr 23 '17 at 17:44
What version is your php? This works in the latest PHP 7: https://eval.in/781277 — Blue, Apr 23 '17 at 17:44
seems like it's PHP v.4.x (: in old PHP versions there was no `private, public, protected` accessors — num8er, Apr 23 '17 at 17:46
Actually, you should be getting `Call to undefined method Database::pass()`. since there is no method called `pass()`. — FirstOne, Apr 23 '17 at 17:46
I think there is some hidden symbol: see whitespace in this `' private'` — num8er, Apr 23 '17 at 17:50
I've formatted Your code with PHP Storm, download and try it: https://expirebox.com/download/435af6bf5c4e9efdbcdef3ac64fc8ba8.html — num8er, Apr 23 '17 at 17:54
@num8er can you please tell what the formatting program changed?? And post the answer as a answer so I can accept? The updated code works now — Stone Info Labs, Apr 23 '17 at 18:00
as I said hidden symbols, I've just opened PHP Storm, clicked on reformat code and shared with You (: for future use: PHP Storm, Sublime Text, Atom — num8er, Apr 23 '17 at 18:01
Hmm, I've never had an issue like this before, could these hidden symbols be from the keyboard on my phone? — Stone Info Labs, Apr 23 '17 at 18:01
@num8er I don't have access to these editors as I develop on my android — Stone Info Labs, Apr 23 '17 at 18:02
try this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kidinov.awd — num8er, Apr 23 '17 at 18:04
A rogue program actually fried my old Linux box last year, and I've been on my Android ever since with no difference in code quality and almost no difference in readability/typability — Stone Info Labs, Apr 23 '17 at 18:06
And I've used AWD, but with larger projects AWD gives me hiccups — Stone Info Labs, Apr 23 '17 at 18:07

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 23 '17 at 18:30

Solution found by: @num8er. Credit goes to him for answer, i am just posting this so an answer can be available until @num8er can post an answer. The problem was invisible characters hiding in my code, and num8er found them by running the code through a formatter.

Solution

Make sure you don't accidentally enter or copy/paste invisible characters into your code, and if parse errors are perplexing, the culprit may be invisible characters

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 23 '17 at 18:08

0

You have two problems:

PHP version, recommend 5.4 +
the method password() is called as pass(), you should correct that

except that, it is all working fine

I recommend you to check this link for some useful informaion:

answered Apr 23 '17 at 18:08

Mahmoud Kassem

409
5
9

1

Thank you, yes my version is a little outdated, but I develop applications suited for legacy machines, so I need to develop with the lowest possible version in mind. And as indicated, I have already corrected the incorrect method name and was having the same errors. User @num8er found the problem to be invisible characters hiding out in my code, found using a code formatter – Stone Info Labs Apr 23 '17 at 18:27
Thank you for reply, but have you tried using public functions instead of private? – Mahmoud Kassem Apr 23 '17 at 18:39