is_wp_version_compatible works unreliably

[kkmuffme]

on all major WP version releases is_wp_version_compatible works unreliably.
(the root cause is https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/59403, but the function needs to be fixed too)

e.g. on WP 6.3, if you pass in '6.3.0' you would get back false, which is not what you'd expect

[afragen]

But there is no WP version 6.3.0. The version number is 6.3.

WordPress doesn’t conform to precise semantic versioning and has never used the x.x.0 format.

[kkmuffme]

Yes, that's why the other issue was opened to correct that, but that is something else.

The issue here is that 6.3 and 6.3.0 will return different results, which isn't what anybody would usually expect.

[jorbin]

is_wp_version_compatible was introduced in 5.2, so adjusting the version.

As @afragen noted, 6.3.0 isn't a valid release. So the question becomes what should happen if you pass in an invalid version. I think what's best here is to assume that someone means 6.3 in this example.

I think the path forward for this is to maybe throw a doing_it_wrong or wp_trigger_error if you pass in x.y.0 and strip off the .0 so that version_compare works correctly.

The patch for this should also include tests

[sessioncookiemonster]

Patch for this

[sessioncookiemonster]

I threw a _doing_it_wrong, like @jorbin suggested, set the version to X.X, since I don't know when this might be added

[jorbin]

Thanks @sessioncookiemonster for the patch. A few notes:

• Please make sure to use the WordPress coding standards. PHPCS should be able to help with this.
• The string needs to be translatable. I also think it might be good to make this error as descriptive as possible, maybe something like Invalid Version string passed to is_wp_version_compatible. $version passed but $valid_request assumed.

Also, @costdev pointed out in slack that wp_trigger_error might be better to use. I'm not sure yet but would love to hear some other folks chime in.

[afragen]

Just a thought but what about using str_ends_with() and then rtrim() ?

Result would then need to ensure proper x.0 version for replacement.

Just thinking it might be more clear what we’re trying to do than with regex.

[afragen]

Quick proof ​https://3v4l.org/p0qa2

Some users improperly test for releases of the format x.x.0. Unfortunately there is never a WordPress release with this version number and version_compare( '5.2', '5.2.0', '>=' ) is false.

Test value sent to is_wp_version_compatible( $required ) to ensure a trailing zero (x.x.0) is fixed to be (x.x) and a wp_trigger_error() is sent.

This will correctly test the improper version x.x.0 as x.x.

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/59448

[afragen]

Using error_log() as wp_trigger_error() results in exiting the function and therefore cannot correct the value x.0.0 to x.0 and have the script continue.