get_category_children( int $id, string $before = '/', string $after = '', array $visited = array() ): string
- Since
- 1.2.0
- Source
wp-includes/deprecated.php:1275
Compatibility
Deprecated in WordPress 2.8.0. Use get_term_children()
- WordPress
- since 1.2.0
- 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
$idint- Category ID to retrieve children.
$beforestringoptional- Prepend before category term ID. Default '/'.Default:
'/' $afterstringoptional- Append after category term ID. Default empty string.Default:
'' $visitedarrayoptional- Category Term IDs that have already been added.
Default empty array.Default:array()
Return value
string
Performance profile
How much work a call to get_category_children() 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
- Heavy
- Scaling
- Scales with input
- Instructions
- 12–30
- Plugin surface
- None
- Called by
- 1
Reaches the database via get_terms().
The body loops, so the work grows with what you pass in.
Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 55.
Nothing here hands control to plugin code.
1 place in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- hookthird-party callbacks
do_action()one call below get_category_children() - querycontent query
get_terms()one call below get_category_children()
Further down the call graph this can also reach option, cache, serialize 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 · 3 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost get_category_children() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
$id == 0 | 12 | _deprecated_function() |
$id != 0 | 19–20 | _deprecated_function(), get_all_category_ids() |
$id != 0 && !$cat_ids && $cat_id != false && is_wp_error() | 30 | _deprecated_function(), get_all_category_ids(), get_category(), is_wp_error() |
Across PHP versions
| PHP | Compiled | Executed | Branches | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.6-dev | 55 | 12–30 | 7 | |
| 8.5 | 55 | 12–30 | 7 | |
| 8.4 | 55 | 12–30 | 7 | 3 fewer instructions than PHP 8.3 |
| 8.3 | 58 | 12–30 | 7 | |
| 8.2 | 58 | 12–30 | 7 | |
| 8.1 | 58 | 12–30 | 7 | |
| 7.4 | 58 | 12–30 | 7 |
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 · 5
- _deprecated_function()Marks a function as deprecated and inform when it has been used.
- get_all_category_ids()Retrieves all category IDs.
- get_category()Retrieves category data given a category ID or category object.
- is_wp_error()Checks whether the given variable is a WordPress Error.
- get_category_children()Retrieve category children list separated before and after the term IDs.
Used by · 1
- get_category_children()Retrieve category children list separated before and after the term IDs.
Source code
function get_category_children( $id, $before = '/', $after = '', $visited = array() ) { _deprecated_function( __FUNCTION__, '2.8.0', 'get_term_children()' ); if ( 0 == $id ) return ''; $chain = ''; /** TODO: Consult hierarchy */ $cat_ids = get_all_category_ids(); foreach ( (array) $cat_ids as $cat_id ) { if ( $cat_id == $id ) continue; $category = get_category( $cat_id ); if ( is_wp_error( $category ) ) return $category; if ( $category->parent == $id && !in_array( $category->term_id, $visited ) ) { $visited[] = $category->term_id; $chain .= $before.$category->term_id.$after; $chain .= get_category_children( $category->term_id, $before, $after ); } } return $chain;}Changelog
Introduced in 1.2.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.
Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.
About this page
- Parsed data
- Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.7.7 tag, from
src/wp-includes/deprecated.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it. - Corrections
- Something wrong on this page? Report it and it gets fixed in the next regeneration.