application_top.php error, fixed... but why?

[shteou]

Hello osCommerce!

I recently had a paniced call when our osCommerce catalog died with an unexpected T_STRING error in index.php, however after a refresh (no changes were made in this time) this error flipped into a method call on an uninstantiated object in application_top.php as documented in this post. The only change made prior to the first error was an edit to the english language settings for index.php which was subsequently reverted to the previous working copy.

 

I followed the instructions detailed in the above thread and it worked like a charm... however I have no idea why this worked.

The site suggests register_globals toggling to off caused this error; however I, nor anyone else, would have dreamed of messing with this setting on a live site.

After checking, register_globals was indeed off (it's a managed host but it can be set per domain).

 

Does anyone have any more information on the root cause of this unruly behaviour? I can't imagine it would simply toggle itself and I have received no indication that it may have been forced off by the host (ticket pending).

 

Does this behaviour always manifest itself when register_globals is off or only when it is toggled during a live site, perhaps?

 

My congratulations on the project and kindest regards,

Stew.