[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #61950: add_*_meta()/get_*_meta() undocumented type juggling for some meta values

[WordPress Trac]

#61950: add_*_meta()/get_*_meta() undocumented type juggling for some meta values
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 Reporter:  rodrigosprimo       |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect (bug)        |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal              |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Options, Meta APIs  |    Version:
 Severity:  normal              |   Keywords:
  Focuses:  docs                |
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 While working on a new WPCS sniff related to the `get_*_meta()` functions
 (https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress-Coding-Standards/pull/2465), I
 noticed there is some undocumented type juggling for some meta values.

 For example, WP returns an empty string for an object meta created as
 `false`.

 Here are all the cases that I found:

 ||=Value added via `add_*_meta()`=||=Value returned by `get_*_meta()`=||
 || `false` || `''` ||
 ||  `true` || `'1'` ||
 || `0` || `'0'` ||
 || `1.5` || `'1.5'` ||

 I haven't checked, but I believe this behavior was not introduced
 recently, so changing it would be a breaking change and not really an
 option. That being said, I suggest that the DocBlock for those functions
 is updated to document this behavior explicitly. It is probably a good
 idea to add some tests as well to prevent unexpected changes in the
 future.

 The description of the `$meta_value` parameter of those functions is
 "Metadata value. Must be serializable if non-scalar." An initial
 suggestion is to change it to mention the special cases listed above.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/61950>
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