For pre-2005 users the API userinfo says the registration is the current day
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	Seb35
	Mar 24 2024, 4:47 PM

Description

Steps to replicate the issue (include links if applicable):

On current version on Wikipedia (rMW768fd92)
When connected as a user (like mine) created before December 2005 (when the field user.user_registration was added in the database, see rSVN12207)
Open the API Query UserInfo https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&meta=userinfo&uiprop=*&formatversion=2

What happens?:

The field registrationdate is the current date and time (currently "registrationdate": "2024-03-24T16:46:27Z"), and it is updated when the query is refreshed.

What should have happened instead?:

Either the field registrationdate should be missing (given the date is not known) either it should be null (like the value in the database).

I find null would be a better choice to be coherent with other values (like api.php?action=query&list=users&usprop=registration like in T350741 -- example on ApiSandbox with my user).

This bug could disappear on individual wikis if/when some script like described in T24097 is run, but before such action is done a more realistic value should be written in this API request.

Software version (skip for WMF-hosted wikis like Wikipedia):

MediaWiki: rMW768fd92

Details

	Subject	Repo	Branch	Lines +/-
	api: In QueryUserInfo, return null as registrationdate for pre-2005 users	mediawiki/core	master	+5 -1

Customize query in gerrit

Related Objects

Mentioned Here: rSVN12207: * (bug 1735) Revamped protection interface
rMW768fd92fc05f: block: Clarify function of HideUserUtils aliases and use them consistently
T24097: Populate user.user_registration DB field on every wiki
T350741: Registration date for some users is "null"

Event Timeline

Seb35 created this task.Mar 24 2024, 4:47 PM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptMar 24 2024, 4:48 PM

Seb35 triaged this task as Low priority.Mar 24 2024, 4:48 PM

The relevant code in includes/api/ApiQueryUserInfo.php function getCurrentUserInfo is:

if ( isset( $this->prop['registrationdate'] ) ) {
        $regDate = $user->getRegistration();
        if ( $regDate !== false ) {
                $vals['registrationdate'] = wfTimestamp( TS_ISO_8601, $regDate );
        }
}

How it returns the current day:

User::getRegistration() returns string|false|null (string = timestamp, false = anonymous user, null = logged-in user but no data),
Here $regDate = null,
so the condition $regDate !== false is true (because null !== false),
and finally wfTimestamp( TS_ISO_8601, null ) returns the current date.

Change #1013715 had a related patch set uploaded (by Seb35; author: Seb35):

[mediawiki/core@master] api: In QueryUserInfo, return null as registrationdate for pre-2005 users

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1013715

gerritbot added a project: Patch-For-Review.Mar 24 2024, 5:34 PM

For pre-2005 users the API userinfo says the registration is the current dayOpen, LowPublicBUG REPORTActions

Description

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For pre-2005 users the API userinfo says the registration is the current day
Open, LowPublicBUG REPORT
Actions