wppaste
WordPress

_set_cron_array( array[] $cron, bool $wp_error = false ): bool|WP_Error

Since
2.1.0, 5.1.0, 5.7.0
Source
wp-includes/cron.php:1297
Updates the cron option with the new cron array.

Compatibility

WordPress
since 5.7.0
PHP
7.4–8.6-dev
  • 6.7.7
  • 6.8.8
  • 6.9.7
  • 7.0.4
  • 7.1.0

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$cronarray[]
Array of cron info arrays from _get_cron_array().
$wp_errorbooloptional
Whether to return a WP_Error on failure. Default false.Default: false

Return value

bool|WP_Error
True if cron array updated. False or WP_Error on failure.

Performance profile

How much work a call to _set_cron_array() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class
Moderate

Reads stored settings via update_option(), cached per request but not free on a cold cache.

Scaling
Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions
14–23

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 24.

Plugin surface
None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by
6

6 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What it touches

  • optionoption read or writeupdate_option()called directly
  • hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()one call below _set_cron_array()
  • serializeserialisationmaybe_serialize()one call below _set_cron_array()
  • cacheobject cachewp_cache_get()one call below _set_cron_array()

Further down the call graph this can also reach query and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 2 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost _set_cron_array() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

WhenInstructionsCalls it makes
always14–16update_option()
always22–23update_option(), __()

Across PHP versions

Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 24 instructions, 14–23 executed per call, 3 branches. The work does not change between versions.

An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.

Uses · 3

Used by · 6

Source code

View on Trac View on GitHub 

function _set_cron_array( $cron, $wp_error = false ) {	if ( ! is_array( $cron ) ) {		$cron = array();	} 	$cron['version'] = 2; 	$result = update_option( 'cron', $cron, true ); 	if ( $wp_error && ! $result ) {		return new WP_Error(			'could_not_set',			__( 'The cron event list could not be saved.' )		);	} 	return $result;}

Changelog

Introduced in 2.1.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

  1. 6.7.7
  2. 6.8.8
  3. 6.9.7
  4. 7.0.4
  5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

5.7.0
The $wp_error parameter was added.from the docblock
5.1.0
Return value modified to outcome of update_option().from the docblock
2.1.0
Introduced.from the docblock

About this page

Parsed data
Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.1.0 tag, from src/wp-includes/cron.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.
Corrections
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