Parameter uses ‘parent’ as type hint although class does not have a parent!

Description

This error is a Reflection API error. It appears when the code tries to get information about the type of a parameter, that was defined as ‘parent’ while it is not a valid code.

Example

<?php

class X {
     function foo(parent $a) {}
}

?>

Solutions

• Check the name of the type before trying to instantiate it.

In more recent PHP versions, this error message is now Cannot use “parent” when current class scope has no parent.