Regression: highlight_string() HTML wire still differs — Zend <code><span> + &nbsp; (re-#24288, ext/standard/basic_functions.c) #24662

Category

Regression: · php-src-strict · highlight HTML wire format

Problem

highlight_string($code, true) still does not match Zend’s HTML. Zend wraps with <code><span…> and uses   for spaces; this compiler emits a <pre><code style=…> shell, omits  , and uses a different span nesting.

Probed 2026-07-29 (acd38db4c vs host Zend 8.2.32):

#24288 / #24524 / #23733 closed green earlier, but master is still red on this wire format.

php-src reference

• php/php-src ext/standard/basic_functions.c — highlight_string / php_highlight
• php/php-src Zend/zend_highlight.c — token HTML emission ( , outer <code>)

PHP implementation target

• ext/standard highlight implementation (PHP-in-PHP) — match Zend outer wrapper and space encoding; keep colour ini knobs; share path for highlight_file / show_source
• No new C in runtime/

Repro

./script/docker-exec.sh -- bash -lc 'cat > /tmp/hl_wire.php <<'"'"'PHP'"'"'
<?php
$z = highlight_string("<?php echo 1;", true);
echo (str_contains($z, "&nbsp;") ? "nbsp_yes" : "nbsp_no"), "\n";
echo (str_contains($z, "<pre>") ? "pre_yes" : "pre_no"), "\n";
echo (preg_match("/<code><span/", $z) ? "zend_shape" : "other_shape"), "\n";
PHP
php bin/vm.php /tmp/hl_wire.php
php /tmp/hl_wire.php'

Done when

• VM output matches Zend on  , no <pre> wrapper, and <code><span nesting for the sample
• highlight_file / show_source stay consistent with the same wire format
• Compliance / repro guard; php-src-strict; no php-compiler-strict shortcut