# Parse Error?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parse-error/38003>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [October 23, 2000, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parse-error/38003 "2000-10-23T19:32:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2000, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parse-error/38003/1 "2000-10-23T19:32:59Z")

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I did the following:

1. Executed a search for posts by a username, no other crieteria.

2. Clicked on the name of a thread in the resulting list

got the following error:

```auto

Parse error: parse error in global.php on line 523

```

went back (browser back button) and

1. Clicked on the name of a forum in the list instead

got the same error.

Took a look at the query strings that were being passed to the server and they looked OK to me.

Has this problem been spotted before?

I tried to do another search, using words from the error message, to see if this error had been posted before, but I got lots and lots of threads back in the list that clearly did not contain these words. Very strange.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2000, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parse-error/38003/2 "2000-10-23T19:34:40Z")

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When I submitted this thread, I got the following error:

```auto

Using scalar variable $posts as an array or object in global.php on line 521

```

Miraculously, the post seems to have gone through OK.

What the …?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parse-error/38003/3 "2000-10-24T02:47:24Z")

</div>

Let me refer this info to our techs.

I have no idea what this means. Maybe they can tell us.

your humble TubaDiva  
Administrator

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**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parse-error/38003/4 "2000-10-24T03:46:53Z")

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The answer is obvious: there was a grammatical error (“parse error”) in the post mentioned by the OP, and the SDMB supercomputer, with automatic grammar-checking software, would not accept it for posting.

Why do you think the grammar police are all over people who regularly make grammatical errors? It’s not a sense of aesthetics; they’re protecting your right to post!! 😃

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**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parse-error/38003/5 "2000-10-24T03:50:39Z")

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One more thing, Tuba. When I was trying to post earlier, it said that my username wasn’t cookied (which it is on this computer) and it made me login a few times. It ended up not letting me post, but then I closed out and came back and all was fine.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parse-error/38003/6 "2000-10-24T04:11:04Z")

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More weirdness. Thanks.

your humble TubaDiva  
Baffled adminstrator