====== PHP RFC: Your Title Here ======
  * Version: 0.9
  * Date: 2024-04-11
  * Author: Robert Landers, landers.robert@gmail.com
  * Status: Draft (or Under Discussion or Accepted or Declined)
  * First Published at: http://wiki.php.net/rfc/define-negative-execution-time

===== Introduction =====

Currently, a negative max execution time may be set to a negative number without warning or error. The documentation does not define what happens when a negative number is given, and this RFC deprecates passing a negative number.

===== Proposal =====

Given a max_execution_time either via a php.ini setting or via set_time_limit() will result in a deprecation notice from 8.4+ and a fatal error in 9.0+. Numbers greater than 999,999,999 (31 years, 259 days) will be set to 0 (unlimited).

===== Backward Incompatible Changes =====

* Legacy code passing a negative number will receive a deprecation notice.

===== Proposed PHP Version(s) =====
8.4: deprecation notice
9.0: fatal error

===== RFC Impact =====
==== To SAPIs ====
The potential of a fatal error while applying the configuration.

==== To Existing Extensions ====
None

==== To Opcache ====
None

===== Open Issues =====
Not yet.

===== Unaffected PHP Functionality =====
No change for positive integers in the bounds.

===== Proposed Voting Choices =====

* yes: to apply a deprecation warning and fatal error in the next major version
* no: to keep it undefined

===== Patches and Tests =====

PR conforming setting negative numbers to 0: https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/13942

===== Implementation =====
After the project is implemented, this section should contain 
  - the version(s) it was merged into
  - a link to the git commit(s)
  - a link to the PHP manual entry for the feature
  - a link to the language specification section (if any)

===== References =====
Links to external references, discussions or RFCs

===== Rejected Features =====
Keep this updated with features that were discussed on the mail lists.