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WordPress

wp_check_post_hierarchy_for_loops( int $post_parent, int $post_id ): int

Since
3.1.0
Source
wp-includes/post.php:8063
Checks the given subset of the post hierarchy for hierarchy loops.

Description

Prevents loops from forming and breaks those that it finds. Attached to the 'wp_insert_post_parent' filter.

Compatibility

WordPress
since 3.1.0
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

$post_parentint
ID of the parent for the post we're checking.
$post_idint
ID of the post we're checking.

Return value

int
The new post_parent for the post, 0 otherwise.

Performance profile

How much work a call to wp_check_post_hierarchy_for_loops() 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

Reaches the database via get_post().

Scaling
Scales with input

The body loops, so the work grows with what you pass in.

Instructions
4–22

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 33.

Plugin surface
None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by
0

Nothing in core calls this; the cost is only what you spend yourself.

What it touches

  • querycontent queryget_post()one call below wp_check_post_hierarchy_for_loops()

Further down the call graph this can also reach option, cache, hook, 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 wp_check_post_hierarchy_for_loops() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

WhenInstructionsCalls it makes
always4–7none
$post_parent !== false14–16wp_find_hierarchy_loop()
$post_parent !== false && !isset($loop[$post_id])21–22wp_find_hierarchy_loop(), array_keys()

Across PHP versions

Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 33 instructions, 4–22 executed per call, 7 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 · 2

Source code

function wp_check_post_hierarchy_for_loops( $post_parent, $post_id ) {	// Nothing fancy here - bail.	if ( ! $post_parent ) {		return 0;	} 	// New post can't cause a loop.	if ( ! $post_id ) {		return $post_parent;	} 	// Can't be its own parent.	if ( $post_parent === $post_id ) {		return 0;	} 	// Now look for larger loops.	$loop = wp_find_hierarchy_loop( 'wp_get_post_parent_id', $post_id, $post_parent );	if ( ! $loop ) {		return $post_parent; // No loop.	} 	// Setting $post_parent to the given value causes a loop.	if ( isset( $loop[ $post_id ] ) ) {		return 0;	} 	// There's a loop, but it doesn't contain $post_id. Break the loop.	foreach ( array_keys( $loop ) as $loop_member ) {		wp_update_post(			array(				'ID'          => $loop_member,				'post_parent' => 0,			)		);	} 	return $post_parent;}

Changelog

Introduced in 3.1.0. 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.

About this page

Parsed data
Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.9.7 tag, from src/wp-includes/post.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.
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