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⚠️ Deprecated Functions

Complete list of deprecated XOOPS functions, methods, and patterns with their modern replacements.

Overview

This document lists functions and patterns that are deprecated in XOOPS 2.5.x and will be removed in XOOPS 2026. Update your code to use the modern alternatives.

flowchart LR
    A[Deprecated Function] --> B{Still Works?}
    B -->|Yes| C[Shows Warning]
    B -->|No| D[Fatal Error]
    C --> E[Update Code]
    D --> E
    E --> F[Modern Alternative]

Global Functions

Handler Functions

Deprecated Replacement Since
xoops_getHandler() $helper->getHandler() 2.5.9
xoops_getModuleHandler() $helper->getHandler() 2.5.9
xoops_getActiveModules() ModuleHandler::getActiveModules() 2.5.10 
// ❌ Deprecated
$handler = xoops_getModuleHandler('item', 'mymodule');

// ✅ Modern
$helper = \XoopsModules\MyModule\Helper::getInstance();
$handler = $helper->getHandler('Item');

Utility Functions

Deprecated Replacement Since
xoops_trim() trim() 2.5.0
xoops_substr() mb_substr() 2.5.0
xoops_convert_encoding() mb_convert_encoding() 2.5.0
formatTimestamp() date() or Carbon 2.5.9
xoops_makepass() random_bytes() 2.5.10 
// ❌ Deprecated
$trimmed = xoops_trim($string);
$sub = xoops_substr($string, 0, 100);

// ✅ Modern
$trimmed = trim($string);
$sub = mb_substr($string, 0, 100, 'UTF-8');

XoopsObject Methods

Variable Methods

Deprecated Replacement Since
getVar('field', 's') getVar('field', 'show') 2.5.0
getVar('field', 'f') getVar('field', 'form') 2.5.0
getVar('field', 'n') getVar('field', 'none') 2.5.0 
// ❌ Deprecated short format
$title = $item->getVar('title', 's');

// ✅ Modern explicit format
$title = $item->getVar('title', 'show');
// Or for editing
$title = $item->getVar('title', 'edit');

Constructor Pattern

// ❌ Deprecated PHP 4 style
class MyObject extends XoopsObject
{
    function MyObject()  // PHP 4 constructor
    {
        $this->XoopsObject();
    }
}

// ✅ Modern PHP 7+ style
class MyObject extends XoopsObject
{
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
    }
}

Database Methods

Direct Query Methods

Deprecated Replacement Since
$xoopsDB->query() (raw SQL) Prepared statements 2.5.10
$xoopsDB->queryF() $xoopsDB->query() with escaping 2.5.10
mysql_* functions PDO or mysqli PHP 7.0 
// ❌ Deprecated - SQL injection risk
$sql = "SELECT * FROM " . $xoopsDB->prefix('items') .
       " WHERE id = " . $_GET['id'];
$result = $xoopsDB->query($sql);

// ✅ Modern - Using Criteria
$criteria = new \Criteria('id', (int)$_GET['id']);
$items = $handler->getObjects($criteria);

// ✅ Modern - Prepared statement (2026)
$stmt = $db->prepare("SELECT * FROM items WHERE id = ?");
$stmt->execute([(int)$_GET['id']]);

Form Methods

Form Element Constructors

Deprecated Replacement Since
new XoopsFormTextArea($caption, $name, $value, $rows, $cols) Use named parameters 2026 
// ❌ Deprecated positional parameters
$textarea = new XoopsFormTextArea('Content', 'content', '', 10, 60);

// ✅ Modern with config array (recommended for clarity)
$editor = new XoopsFormEditor('Content', 'content', [
    'name'   => 'content',
    'value'  => '',
    'rows'   => 10,
    'cols'   => 60,
    'width'  => '100%',
    'height' => '400px'
]);

Token Methods

// ❌ Deprecated
if (!$GLOBALS['xoopsSecurity']->check()) { ... }

// ✅ Modern (XMF)
use Xmf\Request;
if (!Request::checkToken()) {
    redirect_header('index.php', 3, 'Invalid token');
}

Security Functions

Password Hashing

Deprecated Replacement Since
md5($password) password_hash() 2.5.9
crypt($password) password_hash() 2.5.9 
// ❌ Deprecated - Insecure
$hash = md5($password);

// ✅ Modern
$hash = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);
$valid = password_verify($input, $hash);

Input Sanitization

// ❌ Deprecated
$id = isset($_GET['id']) ? intval($_GET['id']) : 0;
$name = isset($_POST['name']) ? $myts->htmlSpecialChars($_POST['name']) : '';

// ✅ Modern (XMF Request)
use Xmf\Request;
$id = Request::getInt('id', 0, 'GET');
$name = Request::getString('name', '', 'POST');

Template Variables

Global Variables

Deprecated Replacement Since
$xoopsTpl global Dependency injection 2026
$xoopsUser global UserHandler service 2026
$xoopsDB global Database service 2026 
// ❌ Deprecated globals
global $xoopsTpl, $xoopsUser, $xoopsDB;

// ✅ Modern (2.5.x)
$helper = \XoopsModules\MyModule\Helper::getInstance();
$xoopsTpl = $GLOBALS['xoopsTpl'];

// ✅ Modern (2026) - Dependency injection
public function __construct(
    private readonly TemplateEngine $template,
    private readonly UserInterface $user,
    private readonly Connection $db
) {}

Class Autoloading

Manual Includes

// ❌ Deprecated manual includes
require_once XOOPS_ROOT_PATH . '/modules/mymodule/class/item.php';
require_once XOOPS_ROOT_PATH . '/modules/mymodule/class/category.php';

// ✅ Modern PSR-4 autoloading
use XoopsModules\MyModule\Item;
use XoopsModules\MyModule\Category;

$item = new Item();

Reference Returns

// ❌ Deprecated - Reference returns
function &getInstance()
{
    static $instance;
    if (!isset($instance)) {
        $instance = new self();
    }
    return $instance;
}

// ✅ Modern - No reference needed
public static function getInstance(): self
{
    static $instance;
    return $instance ??= new self();
}

Template Syntax

Smarty 2 Syntax

{* ❌ Deprecated Smarty 2 section syntax *}
<{section name=i loop=$items}>
    <{$items[i].title}>
<{/section}>

{* ✅ Modern Smarty 3+ foreach syntax *}
<{foreach item=item from=$items}>
    <{$item.title}>
<{/foreach}>

Migration Checklist

Use this checklist when updating code:

  • Replace global handler functions with Helper methods
  • Update XoopsObject constructors to PHP 7+ style
  • Replace raw SQL with Criteria or prepared statements
  • Update password hashing to password_hash()
  • Use XMF Request for input handling
  • Remove reference returns (&)
  • Update Smarty templates to use foreach
  • Add namespace declarations
  • Implement PSR-4 autoloading

Removal Timeline

timeline
    title Deprecation Timeline
    2.5.9 : Functions deprecated
          : Warnings added
    2.5.11 : More warnings
           : Strict mode available
    2026 : Functions removed
         : Breaking changes
         : PSR compliance required

xoops #deprecated #migration #reference #legacy