Error Identifier: return.noParent

← Back to return.*

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 function create(): parent
	{
	}
}

Why is it reported? #

The parent keyword in PHP refers to the parent class of the current class. It can only be used inside a class that extends another class. When parent is used as a return type in a class that does not extend any other class, it has no meaning because there is no parent class to refer to.

How to fix it #

Replace parent with the actual class name that was intended:

 class Foo
 {
-	public function create(): parent
+	public function create(): self
 	{
 	}
 }

If the class should have a parent, add the extends clause:

-class Foo
+class Foo extends BaseClass
 {
 	public function create(): parent
 	{
+		return new BaseClass();
 	}
 }

How to ignore this error #

You can use the identifier return.noParent to ignore this error using a comment:

// @phpstan-ignore return.noParent
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: return.noParent

Rules that report this error #

• PHPStan\Rules\Functions\ExistingClassesInArrowFunctionTypehintsRule [1]
• PHPStan\Rules\Functions\ExistingClassesInClosureTypehintsRule [1]
• PHPStan\Rules\Functions\ExistingClassesInTypehintsRule [1]
• PHPStan\Rules\Methods\ExistingClassesInTypehintsRule [1]
• PHPStan\Rules\Properties\ExistingClassesInPropertyHookTypehintsRule [1]