.. _cannot-unbind-\$this-of-method,-this-will-be-an-error-in-php-9:

Cannot unbind $this of method, this will be an error in PHP 9
-------------------------------------------------------------
 
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Description
___________
 
A closure created directly from a non-static method (``$obj->method(...)`` or ``ReflectionMethod::getClosure()``) is a ``$this``-call in disguise: the method body may use ``$this`` freely, whether or not it is written explicitly. Since PHP 8.0 removed static calls to non-static methods, ``$this`` is guaranteed to exist whenever such a method runs, so ``bindTo(null)`` can no longer strip it.

Since PHP 8.5, this operation already emitted an ``E_WARNING`` and the bind silently failed, returning ``null``. It is now deprecated and will become a fatal error in PHP 9.0.

Example
_______

.. code-block:: php

   <?php
   
   class X {
       public function method() {
           return __METHOD__;
       }
   }
   
   $x = new X;
   $fn = $x->method(...);
   $fn2 = $fn->bindTo(null);
   var_dump($fn2);
   
   ?>


Literal Examples
****************
+ Cannot unbind $this of method, this will be an error in PHP 9

Solutions
_________

+ Keep the closure bound to the object; call it with the original binding instead of unbinding ``$this``.
+ If a scope-free version of the logic is needed, extract it into a standalone function that does not rely on the method's ``$this``.

Related Error Messages
______________________

+ :ref:`cannot-unbind-$this-of-closure-using-$this,-this-will-be-an-error-in-php-9`
+ :ref:`cannot-rebind-scope-of-closure-created-from-method,-this-will-be-an-error-in-php-9`

See Also
________

+ `Closure::bindTo <https://www.php.net/manual/en/closure.bindto.php>`_
+ `Closure::bind <https://www.php.net/manual/en/closure.bind.php>`_

Changed Behavior
________________

This error may appear following an evolution in behavior, in previous versions. See `closure <https://php-changed-behaviors.readthedocs.io/en/latest/behavior/closure.html>`_.