Bug fix — Issue #1593: the autoloader included a class file that is not shipped, logging 2 E_WARNINGs per load

Symptom

The Event Viewer of every TestLink request that touched a class this fork does not ship gained two PHP 8 E_WARNING rows:

E_WARNING include_once(contoursoapInterface.class.php): Failed to open stream: No such file or directory
              - in .../lib/functions/common.php - Line 122
E_WARNING include_once(): Failed opening 'contoursoapInterface.class.php' for inclusion
              (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:...') - in .../lib/functions/common.php - Line 122

contoursoapInterface is the implementation of reqmgrsystems.type=1 (lib/functions/tlReqMgrSystem.class.php:33, the only entry of tlReqMgrSystem::$systems), so this is every Contour/Jira requirement-manager system.

The defect was never visible on the screen the original report used: by the time it was filed, #1625 had already silenced the two checkConnection() call sites with @class_exists(...). The live path is the unguarded instantiation in tlReqMgrSystem::getInterfaceObject():

lib/requirements/reqSpecSearch.php:34          new reqSpecCommands($db, $args->tprojectID)
lib/requirements/reqSpecCommands.class.php:40  if ($info['reqmgr_integration_enabled'])
lib/requirements/reqSpecCommands.class.php:44    $sysmgr->getInterfaceObject($tproject_id)
lib/functions/tlReqMgrSystem.class.php:614     $iname = $itd['implementation'];   // contoursoapInterface
lib/functions/tlReqMgrSystem.class.php:617     $its = new $iname(...);             // unguarded -> autoloader
lib/functions/common.php:52                    spl_autoload_register('tlAutoload')
lib/functions/common.php:122                   include_once 'contoursoapInterface.class.php'  <-- 2 E_WARNINGs

Root cause

tlAutoload() is the only class loader of the application, and it included the class file unconditionally:

// lib/functions/common.php, pre-fix
try {
    include_once $classFileName . '.class.php';
}
catch (Exception $e) {
}

Two independent facts make this a defect rather than a design choice:

1. include_once on a missing file is not an exception. It raises two E_WARNINGs (Failed to open stream, then Failed opening ... for inclusion) and returns false. The catch (Exception) that BitNami added for the ThinkUp interop can therefore never observe the failure.
2. TestLink logs every E_WARNING. set_error_handler("watchPHPErrors") (lib/functions/logger.class.php:1407) writes each one into the events table, and register_shutdown_function("shutdownLogger") (:1471) commits the open logger transaction even when PHP 8 aborts the request — so the rows survived the HTTP 500 of the same request and polluted the Event Viewer for exactly the requests that were already broken for another reason.

contoursoapInterface.class.php is genuinely absent: find . -iname '*contour*' returns nothing and git log --all -- '*contour*' is empty — the Contour SOAP transport was never ported into this fork. Only the abstract reqMgrSystemInterface base exists, in lib/reqmgrsystemintegration/.

The fix — resolve, then include

lib/functions/common.php (only file with a code change):

$classFile = $classFileName . '.class.php';

$resolvedClassFile = stream_resolve_include_path($classFile);
if( $resolvedClassFile === false && is_file($classFile) ) {
  $resolvedClassFile = $classFile;
}
if( $resolvedClassFile === false || !is_file($resolvedClassFile) ) {
  return;   // not a real file: stay undefined, quietly
}

try {
    include_once $resolvedClassFile;
}
catch (Exception $e) {
}

stream_resolve_include_path() uses the same include_path search order include() itself uses, so every class file that resolves today still resolves; the is_file() fallback covers the current-working-directory step of the same order. When the target is not a real file the loader returns without including, the class simply stays undefined, and PHP raises its usual Error: Class not found at the new / class_exists() site — which is where a caller decides how to degrade (tlReqMgrSystem::checkConnection() already does, via the @class_exists() guard added by #1625).

The Zend_* (:86), Smarty_Internal_Compile_* (:95) and *Plugin (:112) early returns above the change are untouched, as is the BitNami catch (Exception).

Alternatives considered and rejected

Alternative	Why not
Ship a contoursoapInterface.class.php stub	The transport is not in this fork at all; a stub would advertise a feature that cannot work, and it would not fix any other missing class.
@class_exists() guards at each call site (the #1625 pattern)	Leaves the global defect in place; one edit per caller; re-opens with the next caller. Measured here: class_exists() does fire the autoloader, which is why #1625 needed the @.
@include_once	Would also swallow a real parse/fatal inside a file that does exist — hiding genuine breakage instead of just "the file is absent".
Guard the specific getInterfaceObject() call	Fixes one symptom, leaves the loader broken for the next missing class.

Verification

Fixtures: php tmp/fixtures_1593.php creates a test project with reqmgr_integration_enabled = 1 linked to a reqmgrsystems row of type = 1. The link is essential — it is what makes the unguarded instantiation reachable, and it is what the earlier report was missing (Suite 1625 filed the third unguarded new as #1629 with the note "UNVERIFIED, no project linked").

Harnesses (both force-added; tmp/ is gitignored at .gitignore:47):

• bash tmp/verify_1593.sh — 26 assertions, exits non-zero on failure
  • pre-fix baseline: 22 PASS / 4 FAIL, exit 1
  • with the fix: 26 PASS / 0 FAIL, exit 0
• php tmp/verify_1593.php — 19 loader-level assertions, exit 0

Measured results:

Check	Pre-fix	Post-fix
GET /lib/requirements/reqSpecSearch.php → events rows	2	0
GET /lib/reqmgrsystems/reqMgrSystemView.php?tproject_id=1 (the report's repro)	0	0 (200)
php tmp/verify_1593.php → events rows (autoloads 2 absent class names)	4	0
9-screen app-wide sweep → events rows each	2 on one	0 on all
contoursoapInterface warning text anywhere in events	yes	no

Loader parity, so the fix changes nothing for classes that exist:

• flat include_path classes still autoload: database, testproject, tlReqMgrSystem
• sub-directory include_path entries still autoload: mantisrestInterface/redminerestInterface (lib/issuetrackerintegration/), stashrestInterface/githubrestCodeTrackerInterface (lib/codetrackerintegration/), reqMgrSystemInterface (lib/reqmgrsystemintegration/)
• negative control: class_exists('exttable') is false before and after (the file exttable.class.php declares tlExtTable and is pulled in by an explicit require)
• a missing class still yields class_exists() === false and defines nothing
• a code review over 120 class names (108 shipped + absent/edge names) measured 0 resolution changes and 0 new diagnostics
• tlReqMgrSystem::checkConnection() still degrades to false instead of fataling

Browser pass (chrome-devtools MCP): log in as admin/admin, Requirements Design → Search Requirements renders ("Search Requirements in test project ContourDemo", document title ContourDemo - Search Requirements), /api/requirements/index.php/search-context?tproject_id=1 answers 200, 0 console errors, events 0 rows.

Deliberately not fixed here

• #1629 — the HTTP 500 of the very same request: tlReqMgrSystem::getInterfaceObject() (:617) is still an unguarded new whose catch (Exception) cannot catch a PHP 8 Error. This fix removes the warning noise and must not mask that fatal; the regression suite asserts the status is still 500 so the masking would be caught.
• #1635 — found while testing: third_party/phpxmlrpc/lib/xmlrpc.inc:554 uses $temp =& new xmlrpcval(...), a ParseError on PHP 8, so the Trac XML-RPC issue-tracker transport fatals identically before and after this change.

Files changed

File	Purpose
lib/functions/common.php	the fix: resolve-then-include in tlAutoload()
lib/functions/tlReqMgrSystem.class.php	comment only: the now-stale common.php:122 cross-reference left by #1625
CHANGELOG	2.0.1 "Key bugfix" entry for #1593
docs/Bugfix-Issue-1593-Autoloader-Missing-Class-EWarning.md	this page (wiki mirror, without the image lines)
tmp/fixtures_1593.php	fixture: contour system linked to a reqmgr-enabled project (force-added)
tmp/verify_1593.php	19 loader-level assertions (force-added)
tmp/verify_1593.sh	26-assertion end-to-end harness, discriminating (force-added)
tmp/TLU_Test_Cases.md	Regression — Issue #1593 suite, 18 restated cases + gotchas

Commits

Commit	Content
e14f2b406	the fix
6de89f76f	code-review corrections + regression suite and harnesses
(docs commit)	CHANGELOG + this page + wiki mirror