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liaison ionCube Support
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 2788
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 12:50 pm Post subject: |
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Many language features from older PHP versions are now working on PHP 7, but there are still some wrinkles to iron out. Currently a beta at some point in February seems likely, but this is tentative. The nature of supporting files compiled for earlier versions of PHP, and this could be why we are the only provider to tackle it, is that handling even a seemingly simple feature could end up having a rippling impact that causes days of extra work and even re-engineering to other features that are already working as a result. The end is in sight though. _________________ Community Admin |
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jkirker
Joined: 31 Aug 2015 Posts: 6 Location: California
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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It's gotta be challenging and frustrating. We all appreciate your hard work and efforts.  _________________ John |
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marcatos
Joined: 05 Feb 2016 Posts: 1
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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Hi all, I'm interested in ionCube loader for php 7, I saw you experienced some difficulties during development, is there any good news? |
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liaison ionCube Support
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 2788
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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marcatos wrote: | I saw you experienced some difficulties during development |
Getting existing compiled code to work on PHP 7 is certainly challenging and tedious, but we didn't experience difficulties as such
The PHP 7 support is largely in place now with just a few aspects still being worked on so the end is in sight at this point. _________________ Community Admin |
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wmdiensten
Joined: 13 Feb 2016 Posts: 1 Location: Netherlands
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Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2016 3:31 pm Post subject: PHP 7 |
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Hi,
Is there any news around the support of PHP 7? |
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liaison ionCube Support
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 2788
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Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 12:54 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, please see the previous post. When there is a beta release to run files produced by the version 9 Encoder for PHP 5.6 on 7, we will certainly announce this. _________________ Community Admin |
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Josh Abbott
Joined: 08 Feb 2016 Posts: 9
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Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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Will the Loader for PHP 7 only support files that have been encoded for PHP 5.6 or are you still planning to support files encoded for 5.4 - 5.6 once the new Loader is out of beta? |
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yarik1390
Joined: 22 Feb 2016 Posts: 2
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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Josh Abbott wrote: | Will the Loader for PHP 7 only support files that have been encoded for PHP 5.6 or are you still planning to support files encoded for 5.4 - 5.6 once the new Loader is out of beta? |
Are there any news about when to expect beta version of ioncube loaders? |
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liaison ionCube Support
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 2788
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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Josh Abbott wrote: | Will the Loader for PHP 7 only support files that have been encoded for PHP 5.6 or are you still planning to support files encoded for 5.4 - 5.6 once the new Loader is out of beta? |
The first release will be for PHP 5.6 on 7, but later PHP 5.5 and possibly PHP 5.4 will be supported too. _________________ Community Admin |
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yarik1390
Joined: 22 Feb 2016 Posts: 2
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Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2016 1:11 pm Post subject: |
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liaison wrote: | Josh Abbott wrote: | Will the Loader for PHP 7 only support files that have been encoded for PHP 5.6 or are you still planning to support files encoded for 5.4 - 5.6 once the new Loader is out of beta? |
The first release will be for PHP 5.6 on 7, but later PHP 5.5 and possibly PHP 5.4 will be supported too. |
When approximately would be the first release? |
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liaison ionCube Support
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 2788
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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 11:27 am Post subject: |
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I would expect a release within the next 6 months. _________________ Community Admin |
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mitchmenghi
Joined: 05 Mar 2016 Posts: 2
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2016 2:50 am Post subject: PHP7 |
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So this is complete poor form from the Ioncube team.
PHP7 is a dramatic improvement and has been released for almost 6 months now.
I have done some forum search and seen that as of Feb 16 the Ioncube team have said they do not plan to support php7 till the last quarter of this year ???? that is wayyyyyy to long to wait.
WordPress already supports PHP7 and plugins have already caught up and most software is not compatible with PHP7 except of course Ioncube.
Now im in a situation that i cannot upgrade my Installs of PHP to latest version because i have plugins and WHMCS that rely on Ioncube to run.
THIS IS HOLDING ME BACK....
Why is it taking so long, and why has everyone else caught up but not Ioncube ?
When will this be released ? |
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liaison ionCube Support
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 2788
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2016 3:44 pm Post subject: Re: PHP7 |
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mitchmenghi wrote: | why has everyone else caught up but not Ioncube ? |
Where Wordpress are is irrelevant, and to correct your perception of the market, now that ionCube24 can capture PHP errors from websites including errors that are normally masked by the vendors code, it's clear that there are some MAJOR applications in widespread use that are ticking timebombs because they make use of libraries such as MySQL that are gone in PHP 7, and if you could update you would have a dead website. We have observed that WHMCS is one of those timebombs by the way.
Whenever a new major version of PHP is released we basically we have two options. Option 1 is to provide a way for users such as yourself to use their existing applications on PHP 7. Option 2 is to require our customers to purchase new software from us and release new copies of their code specifically for PHP 7, require their customers (i.e. you) to update their PHP code and possibly pay for that update, and to have their customers possibly take a new version of the software and embrace all the associated risks and potential incompatibilties that come with that.
Now you might be fine with Option 2, and if the code you are using was protected by the one or two products that are similar to ours then you would have no choice because in recent years no other vendor has provided a way to use existing PHP files on newer versions of PHP. For the vast majority of users however, Option 1 is what they need, so we make a commitment to deliver compatibility for existing code if possible. In recent years PHP has had many changes internally requiring significant development on our part to make it possible to run old code on a new PHP, and PHP 7 has presented the biggest challenges yet because the changes are vast. A beta for running PHP 5.6 code on PHP 7 should be long before Q4.
It would be interesting to learn in what way being unable to use PHP 7 is "holding you back", and what feature specifically that are only available in PHP 7 that you need. Can you provide that insight for us? _________________ Community Admin |
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mitchmenghi
Joined: 05 Mar 2016 Posts: 2
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 12:27 am Post subject: Re: PHP7 |
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liaison wrote: | mitchmenghi wrote: | why has everyone else caught up but not Ioncube ? |
Where Wordpress are is irrelevant, and to correct your perception of the market, now that ionCube24 can capture PHP errors from websites including errors that are normally masked by the vendors code, it's clear that there are some MAJOR applications in widespread use that are ticking timebombs because they make use of libraries such as MySQL that are gone in PHP 7, and if you could update you would have a dead website. We have observed that WHMCS is one of those timebombs by the way.
Whenever a new major version of PHP is released we basically we have two options. Option 1 is to provide a way for users such as yourself to use their existing applications on PHP 7. Option 2 is to require our customers to purchase new software from us and release new copies of their code specifically for PHP 7, require their customers (i.e. you) to update their PHP code and possibly pay for that update, and to have their customers possibly take a new version of the software and embrace all the associated risks and potential incompatibilties that come with that.
Now you might be fine with Option 2, and if the code you are using was protected by the one or two products that are similar to ours then you would have no choice because in recent years no other vendor has provided a way to use existing PHP files on newer versions of PHP. For the vast majority of users however, Option 1 is what they need, so we make a commitment to deliver compatibility for existing code if possible. In recent years PHP has had many changes internally requiring significant development on our part to make it possible to run old code on a new PHP, and PHP 7 has presented the biggest challenges yet because the changes are vast. A beta for running PHP 5.6 code on PHP 7 should be long before Q4.
It would be interesting to learn in what way being unable to use PHP 7 is "holding you back", and what feature specifically that are only available in PHP 7 that you need. Can you provide that insight for us? |
I am unable to upgrade to PHP7 because there are plugins that require Ioncube loaders to be available to run, and a since there is no such thing as PHP7 Ion loaders those plugins simply error out.
So either i dont use Ion protected applications and can safely upgrade to PHP7 or stick with PHP5.6 and use Ion based plugins.
I have no idea what features i need, i am a user not technically minded. I just want things to work, pretty simple really! |
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liaison ionCube Support
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 2788
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 11:10 am Post subject: |
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mitchmenghi wrote: | I have no idea what features i need, i am a user not technically minded. |
Ok - I wondered because you wrote:
Quote: | PHP7 is a dramatic improvement |
so I was interested to know what improvements you actually needed.
Quote: | I just want things to work, pretty simple really! |
Agreed, and that plus being non-technical yourself makes it best to stay away from even thinking about switching to a new version for quite a while yet. If a site works now with PHP 5.6, it will not stop working or mysteriously degrade just because PHP 7 has come out, so you needn't worry.
Best practice is something that's not generally taught or promoted to end users by our industry, and it's easy to fall for the hype about a new release such as PHP 7, assuming that updating must be a good or even a necessary thing. From a technical point of view it *is* better internally, however rather than blindly updating to the latest shiny new thing just because it exists, it is usually better to favour stability of an older version unless updating is a prerequisite for operation or there's a concrete problem that is known to be solved by doing so. You may know the phrase "If it ain't broke don't fix it" that originates from comments about Government by the US Chamber of Commerce in the late 70's, and it applies well here. PHP 7 is also going through a phase of fixing crash bugs and other issues at the moment, with the latest bug fix release just last Thursday. Fixing something that isn't broken in the first place can end up leading to that very thing becoming broken, which is likely with PHP 7 (which is just 3 months old incidentally and not 6).
It *will* be necessary to use PHP 7 if there is a specific language feature that is needed by any code that you're using, but there won't be. PHP 5.6 also officially has active security support until 31 Dec 2018 so it doesn't become essential to move to PHP 7 until then. I wouldn't leave it until then though, and updating to PHP 7 by the end of the year or early 2017 is probably a good plan, and I don't expect that to be a problem. _________________ Community Admin |
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