Why am I getting the 'Fatal error: [] operator not supported for strings' error in PHP 7 and how can I fix it?

Understanding the Error: "Fatal error: [] operator not supported for strings"

When trying to modify data in a database, you encountered the "[] operator not supported for strings" error. This error indicates an attempt to use the short array push syntax on a string.

Root Cause:

Reviewing your code, it appears that you have initialized one or more of the variables ($name, $date, $text, $date2) as strings. This is evident from the assignment of the $row[''] values, which are string values.

Solution:

To resolve this issue, you need to change the assignments to:

$name = $row['name'];
$date = $row['date'];
$text = $row['text'];
$date2 = $row['date2'];

This will ensure that these variables are treated as strings, rather than arrays.

Understanding PHP 7 Strictness:

PHP 7 has stricter controls for using the empty-index array push syntax. It will now throw an error if you attempt to use it on variables that are not arrays.

Examples of valid empty-index array push syntax in PHP 7 :

$previouslyUndeclaredVariableName[] = 'value'; // creates an array and adds an entry

$emptyArray = []; // creates an array
$emptyArray[] = 'value'; // pushes in an entry

However, the following will result in a fatal error:

$declaredAsString = '';
$declaredAsString[] = 'value';

$declaredAsNumber = 1;
$declaredAsNumber[] = 'value';

$declaredAsObject = new stdclass();
$declaredAsObject[] = 'value';

By following these guidelines, you can avoid this error and ensure the proper functionality of your database modification code.

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