id	summary	reporter	owner	description	type	status	priority	milestone	component	version	severity	resolution	keywords	cc
21989	update_option() calls sanitize_option() twice when option does not exist	MikeSchinkel		"
I just spent several hours tracking down an issue when using the Settings API where `sanitize_option()` is called twice which is unnecessary execution especially if sanitization includes calling an external API for username/password authorization ''(this was how another developer set it up for a plugin I was debugging.)''

What happens is that a call to `update_option()` will call `sanitize_option()` and then if the option wasn't previously in the options table `update_option()` will delegate to `add_option()` which calls `santize_option()` a second time.  This would normally be easy to workaround by first calling `get_option()` and testing for `false` and calling `add_option()` instead of `update_option()` if `false`, but not when the Settings API chooses how to call it.

I've looked at the problem and can envision several different ways to solve it such but don't know which the core developers would choose ''(or if they'd choose yet another option I haven't envisioned)'' so I didn't submit a patch:

- Adding a 3rd parameter `$mode` to `sanitize_option()` that identifies the mode ''('add', 'edit', default = 'unknown')'' and thus allow the hook to ignore one of the options ''(this would be more backward compatible but would put the onus on the developer to know to do this)'',  
- Adding a 5th parameter `$bypass_sanitize` to `add_option()` defaulted to `false` that is only passed as `true` in `update_option()` allowing `update_option()` to disable the call to `sanitize_option()` found in `add_option()` ''(this would be less backward compatible and hacky, but seemless to the developer)''
- Adding a 3rd parameter `$bypass_sanitize` to `update_option()` defaulted to `false` that is only passed as `true` from `/wp-admin/options.php` allowing `update_option()` to bypass the call to `sanitize_option()` if an `add_option()` will happen ''(this would be less backward compatible and hacky, but seemless to the developer)''
- Have `/wp-admin/options.php` test for no pre-existing option and then call `add_option()` or `update_option()`, respectively ''(this would be seemless to the developer but less backward compatible and not hacky, and it wouldn't handle the general case.)''

So is this worth fixing to save other users and developers debugging time, and to reduce the chance of subtle errors in new code? If yes, how best to approach?"	defect (bug)	new	normal	Awaiting Review	Administration		normal		needs-patch dev-feedback 2nd-opinion	mike@…