CodeIgniter4: Bug: a tilde (~) in the path, such as within iCloud local storage, will cause CodeIgniter to fail

PHP Version

8.2

CodeIgniter4 Version

4.2.11

CodeIgniter4 Installation Method

Composer (using codeigniter4/appstarter)

Which operating systems have you tested for this bug?

macOS

Which server did you use?

cli-server (PHP built-in webserver)

Database

none

What happened?

When a fresh composer-created CodeIgniter 4 application has a tilde(~) in its path, it crashes when staring with “php spark serve”.

This is a critical failure, because on MacOS in all filesystem areas synced to iCloud, tildes are present, like so: /Users/moo/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Documents/development/swapper/vendor/codeigniter4

I moved the fresh new app out of the com~apple~CloudDocs directory tree to /Users/shared/dev/swapper, and it immediately starts up fine with “php spark serve”.

After renaming the directory from “/Users/shared/dev/swapper” to “/Users/shared/dev/~swapper”, the application immediately fails when started with “php spark serve”.

CodeIgniter_4.2.11_tilde_bug.pdf

Steps to Reproduce

1. cd to directory that does not include a tilde(~), such as /Users/shared/ on MacOS.
2. composer create-project codeigniter4/appstarter newApp
3. cd ./newApp
4. php spark serve
5. newApp works as expected
6. cd …/
7. mv ./newApp ./~newApp
8. cd ./~newApp
9. php spark serve
10. newApp fails due to the tilde-intolerance bug
11. cd …/
12. mv ./~newApp ./newApp
13. cd newApp
14. php spark serve now works as expected

Expected Output

php spark serve should start the application, no matter what characters are present in the path name. And ESPECIALLY tildes should be accounted for, because all MacOS users should be using iCloud to sync their files.

Anything else?

The test log on my machine:

{23-01-05 23:51}MoosacreM1ProMax:/Users/Shared/dev moo% cd swapper 
{23-01-05 23:51}MoosacreM1ProMax:/Users/Shared/dev/swapper moo% php spark serve

CodeIgniter v4.2.11 Command Line Tool - Server Time: 2023-01-05 23:51:41 UTC-06:00

CodeIgniter development server started on http://localhost:8080
Press Control-C to stop.
[Thu Jan  5 23:51:41 2023] PHP 8.2.1 Development Server (http://localhost:8080) started
^C
{23-01-05 23:51}MoosacreM1ProMax:/Users/Shared/dev/swapper moo% cd ..
{23-01-05 23:51}MoosacreM1ProMax:/Users/Shared/dev moo% mv swapper \~swapper
{23-01-05 23:52}MoosacreM1ProMax:/Users/Shared/dev moo% cd \~swapper 
{23-01-05 23:52}MoosacreM1ProMax:/Users/Shared/dev/~swapper moo% php spark serve
PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught Error: Class "Config\App" not found in /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/Factories.php:129
Stack trace:
#0 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Common.php(204): CodeIgniter\Config\Factories::__callStatic('config', Array)
#1 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/Services.php(146): config('App')
#2 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/BaseService.php(253): CodeIgniter\Config\Services::codeigniter(NULL, false)
#3 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/BaseService.php(194): CodeIgniter\Config\BaseService::__callStatic('codeigniter', Array)
#4 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/Services.php(143): CodeIgniter\Config\BaseService::getSharedInstance('codeigniter', NULL)
#5 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/BaseService.php(253): CodeIgniter\Config\Services::codeigniter()
#6 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/spark(82): CodeIgniter\Config\BaseService::__callStatic('codeigniter', Array)
#7 {main}
  thrown in /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/Factories.php on line 129

Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Class "Config\App" not found in /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/Factories.php:129
Stack trace:
#0 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Common.php(204): CodeIgniter\Config\Factories::__callStatic('config', Array)
#1 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/Services.php(146): config('App')
#2 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/BaseService.php(253): CodeIgniter\Config\Services::codeigniter(NULL, false)
#3 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/BaseService.php(194): CodeIgniter\Config\BaseService::__callStatic('codeigniter', Array)
#4 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/Services.php(143): CodeIgniter\Config\BaseService::getSharedInstance('codeigniter', NULL)
#5 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/BaseService.php(253): CodeIgniter\Config\Services::codeigniter()
#6 /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/spark(82): CodeIgniter\Config\BaseService::__callStatic('codeigniter', Array)
#7 {main}
  thrown in /Users/Shared/dev/~swapper/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Config/Factories.php on line 129
{23-01-05 23:52}MoosacreM1ProMax:/Users/Shared/dev/~swapper moo% composer create-project codeigniter4/appstarter swapper