global array variables report incorrectly or inexplicably stomped

Hi, I’m getting odd behavior with global array variables. After loading them with strings, they’re showing up with ordered numbers.

I isolated the problem by making the code as simple as possible. I have this code in one function:

`global $test_array;
$test_array = array();

$test_array[] = ‘test’;
array_push ($test_array, ‘tester’);

?><p><?php
echo ‘<pre>’;
print_r($test_array);
echo ‘</pre>’;
?></p><?php’`

Which outputs, as expected:

Array
(
[0] => test
[1] => tester
)

For good measure I tested the array variable contents by inserting print code into another function that’s called later:

`global $test_array;

?><p><?php
echo ‘<pre>’;
print_r($test_array);
echo ‘</pre>’;
?></p><?php’`

Which outputs, as expected:

Array
(
[0] => test
[1] => tester
)

There is no other code anywhere on my site that does anything to $test_array – nothing else even referencing that variable at all.

Yet when I use Debug This – PHP – Variables, I see:

test_array
Array
(
[0] => 0
[1] => 1
)

This same issue was happening with other array variables as well.

Any idea what’s going on? Has anyone else seen anything like this? Is there some kind of universal global variable array stomper function hiding in WordPress?

https://wordpress.org/plugins/debug-this/