Attribute class can not be used with methodPHP-W1031

Attribute used with the function doesn't have TARGET_METHOD as its scope. Therefore, an attempt to retrieve the metadata through reflection would result in a fatal error.

Apart from applying attributes to different entities in PHP, you can also define the scope of where a particular attribute should be used. This is achieved by passing special flags to the Attribute class and these include the following: Attribute::TARGET_METHOD, Attribute::TARGET_CLASS, Attribute::TARGET_FUNCTION, Attribute::TARGET_PROPERTY, Attribute::TARGET_CLASS_CONSTANT, Attribute::TARGET_PARAMETER, and Attribute::TARGET_ALL.

It is recommended to provide appropriate scope to the attribute.

Bad Practice

#[\Attribute(Attribute::TARGET_CLASS)]
class TestAttribute
{
    public function __construct(public string $testArgument)
    {}
}

Trying to apply this attribute to a class method to get the metadata through reflection will throw a fatal error.

class MyClass
{
    #[TestAttribute('Hello World')]
    public function index()
    {

    }
}

$reflection = new \ReflectionMethod(MyClass::class, 'index');
$methodAttributes = $reflection->getAttributes();

print_r($methodAttributes[0]->newInstance()->testArgument);

References

• Overview of Attributes in PHP.