Error Identifier: nullCoalesce.property
Every error reported by PHPStan has an error identifier. Here’s a list of all error identifiers. In PHPStan Pro you can see the error identifier next to each error and filter errors by their identifiers.
Code example #
<?php declare(strict_types = 1);
class Foo
{
public string $name = '';
public function doFoo(): void
{
echo $this->name ?? 'default'; // error: Property Foo::$name (string) on left side of ?? is not nullable.
}
}
Why is it reported? #
The null coalescing operator (??) is designed to provide a fallback value when the left-hand side is null. When the property being checked is typed as non-nullable (e.g., string), it can never be null, so the fallback value on the right side of ?? will never be used. This indicates either dead code or a missing nullable type on the property.
How to fix it #
If the property should be nullable, update its type declaration.
class Foo
{
- public string $name = '';
+ public ?string $name = null;
public function doFoo(): void
{
echo $this->name ?? 'default';
}
}
If the property is intentionally non-nullable, remove the unnecessary null coalescing operator.
class Foo
{
public string $name = '';
public function doFoo(): void
{
- echo $this->name ?? 'default';
+ echo $this->name;
}
}
How to ignore this error #
You can use the identifier nullCoalesce.property to ignore this error using a comment:
// @phpstan-ignore nullCoalesce.property
codeThatProducesTheError();You can also use only the identifier key to ignore all errors of the same type in your configuration file in the ignoreErrors parameter:
parameters:
ignoreErrors:
-
identifier: nullCoalesce.property