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PHP 5 to PHP 7 Upgrade

Dockerfile Changes (commit: 8f552ed)

Both Dockerfiles (Dockerfile and docker/dev/Dockerfile) had their PHP_VERSION build arg updated from 5.6 to 7.4:

# Before
ARG PHP_VERSION="5.6"

# After
ARG PHP_VERSION="7.4"

docker/config/php.ini was also updated to remove directives that were removed in PHP 7 (asp_tags, track_errors, session.hash_bits_per_character) and update others to PHP 7 defaults.

Bug Fixes

Fix: Empty Satellite Lab ID in Patient Registration (commit: d92f307)

Merged via PR #185. Fixes a bug where the satellite lab ID was empty during patient registration, causing the insert to fail silently. Added logging to query_insert_one to surface these failures.

Files changed: htdocs/includes/db_lib.php, htdocs/includes/db_mysql_lib.php

Fix: Excel Export Not Working (commit: 0a01423)

Merged via PR (Excel-Bug branch). Fixes two issues with the "Export to Excel" feature on the reports page.

Problem 1: 404 on custom field endpoints

Two AJAX endpoints called by htdocs/reports/reports.php were returning 404 because .htaccess rewrite rules were missing for them. The files exist at htdocs/export/export_to_excel_get_custom_patient_fields.php and htdocs/export/export_to_excel_get_custom_specimen_fields.php but BLIS's flat-URL routing had no rules to reach them.

Fix: Added two rewrite rules to htdocs/.htaccess in the ## /export folder section.

Problem 2: Wrong Content-Type / corrupt file

The header() calls in htdocs/export/export_to_excel.php were inside the foreach loop over test types. If no results were found, headers were never sent and the browser received text/html. When all test types had no data, removeSheetByIndex(0) removed the only worksheet, producing a corrupt workbook.

Fix: Moved Content-Type, Content-Disposition, and Cache-Control headers before the loop. Replaced the unconditional removeSheetByIndex(0) with a guard that keeps a "No Data" sheet when no results are found.

Additional fixes in the same commit: - export_to_excel_get_custom_patient_fields.php — fixed malformed JSON (missing opening [, undefined $output_fields variable) - export_to_excel_get_custom_specimen_fields.php — same JSON fix, plus replaced undefined $lab_ids with $lab_id in the auth check - htdocs/includes/composer.php — removed closing ?> tag to prevent accidental whitespace output before headers

Files changed: htdocs/.htaccess, htdocs/export/export_to_excel.php, htdocs/export/export_to_excel_get_custom_patient_fields.php, htdocs/export/export_to_excel_get_custom_specimen_fields.php, htdocs/includes/composer.php

Fix: PHPExcel → PhpSpreadsheet Migration (PR #209, pending merge)

Replaces the abandoned phpoffice/phpexcel 1.8.2 with phpoffice/phpspreadsheet 1.30.2. PHPExcel uses get_magic_quotes_runtime() / set_magic_quotes_runtime() internally (via PCLZip), which were removed in PHP 7.4, making it incompatible with the upgraded runtime.

Changes included in the PR: - composer.json / composer.lock — swapped dependency - htdocs/export/export_to_excel.php — migrated to PhpSpreadsheet API (new Spreadsheet(), PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\IOFactory, 1-based column indexing) - htdocs/export/export_excel_dailylog.php — updated HTML reader string ('HTML' → 'Html') and writer format ('Excel2007' → 'Xlsx') - Dockerfile — added composer install step and unzip apt dependency - Guarded against missing test_types/specimen_custom_fields in request

Remaining Work (not yet addressed)

The items below were identified during the PHP 7 upgrade analysis but have not been fixed yet.

Critical (will break on PHP 7)

  • htdocs/sqlbuddy/includes/class/Sql-php4.php — uses mysql_* functions (fatal on PHP 7). The updated Sql.php already uses mysqli_*; confirm nothing references Sql-php4.php and remove it.
  • DataTables server-side scripts in htdocs/uilog/DataTables/ — several use mysql_pconnect, mysql_query, etc. Replace with mysqli_* or the app's db_mysql_lib.php abstraction.
  • htdocs/js/fckeditor/fckeditor_php4.php and fckeditor_php5.php — use removed $HTTP_SERVER_VARS / $HTTP_GET_VARS. Replace with $_SERVER / $_GET, or replace FCKEditor with a modern editor (CKEditor 5).

High Priority

  • Short open tags (<? instead of <?php) in htdocs/debug/util.php, htdocs/healthcheck.php, htdocs/export/updateNationalDatabaseUI.php, htdocs/ajax/test_list_by_site.php, htdocs/includes/page_elems.php, htdocs/regn/doctor_add_patient.php, htdocs/regn/new_patient.php. Works with short_open_tag = On but fragile.
  • htdocs/sqlbuddy/functions.php — calls get_magic_quotes_gpc() (removed in PHP 7.4).
  • PHP 4-style var keyword for class properties in htdocs/includes/new_image.php, htdocs/sqlbuddy/includes/class/GetTextReader.php, htdocs/sqlbuddy/includes/class/Sql.php.

Medium Priority

  • monolog/monolog ^1.25 — compatible with PHP 7 but end-of-life. Consider upgrading to Monolog 2.x or 3.x.
  • Password hashing in htdocs/includes/db_lib.php uses sha1() with a hardcoded salt. Migrate to password_hash() / password_verify().
  • SQLBuddy (htdocs/sqlbuddy/) has multiple PHP 5 issues. Either update it or replace with PHPMyAdmin (already in the dev docker-compose).