XMLWriter incompatibility in the writeAttribute method in PHP 8.1.2

[KFRANCMM]

Describe the Bug

I am trying to use the library in Code Igniter 4, with PHP 8.1.2 but when I try to use XMLWritter an exception appears. I don't know if PHPWord is compatible with this php version or a downgrade is required. I tried using the 3 ways to save documents, only the HTML option works.

Exception has occurred.

ErrorException: Return type of PhpOffice\PhpWord\Shared\XMLWriter::writeAttribute($name, $value) should either be compatible with XMLWriter::writeAttribute(string $name, string $value): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice

Steps to Reproduce

I have only tested executing the example code, the IOFactory::createWriter() object does its function but when using the save() method, the exception appears.

Code

namespace App\Controllers\API;

use CodeIgniter\RESTful\ResourceController;
use PhpOffice\PhpWord\PhpWord;
use PhpOffice\PhpWord\Style\Font;



class OfficeController extends ResourceController
{
    //protected $office_word;
    //protected $office_font;
    public function __construct()
    {
        //$this->office_word = new PhpWord();
        //$this->office_font = new Font();
    }
    public function index()
    {
        // Creating the new document...
        $phpWord = new \PhpOffice\PhpWord\PhpWord();

        /* Note: any element you append to a document must reside inside of a Section. */

        // Adding an empty Section to the document...
        $section = $phpWord->addSection();
        // Adding Text element to the Section having font styled by default...
        $section->addText(
            '"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. '
                . 'The important thing is not to stop questioning." '
                . '(Albert Einstein)'
        );

        /*
        * Note: it's possible to customize font style of the Text element you add in three ways:
        * - inline;
        * - using named font style (new font style object will be implicitly created);
        * - using explicitly created font style object.
        */

        // Adding Text element with font customized inline...
        $section->addText(
            '"Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, '
                . 'and is never the result of selfishness." '
                . '(Napoleon Hill)',
            array('name' => 'Tahoma', 'size' => 10)
        );

        // Adding Text element with font customized using named font style...
        $fontStyleName = 'oneUserDefinedStyle';
        $phpWord->addFontStyle(
            $fontStyleName,
            array('name' => 'Tahoma', 'size' => 10, 'color' => '1B2232', 'bold' => true)
        );
        $section->addText(
            '"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, '
                . 'but in rising again after you fall." '
                . '(Vince Lombardi)',
            $fontStyleName
        );

        // Adding Text element with font customized using explicitly created font style object...
        $fontStyle = new \PhpOffice\PhpWord\Style\Font();
        $fontStyle->setBold(true);
        $fontStyle->setName('Tahoma');
        $fontStyle->setSize(13);
        $myTextElement = $section->addText('"Believe you can and you\'re halfway there." (Theodor Roosevelt)');
        $myTextElement->setFontStyle($fontStyle);

        // Saving the document as OOXML file...
        $objWriter = \PhpOffice\PhpWord\IOFactory::createWriter($phpWord, 'Word2007');
        $objWriter->save('php://output');
        //$objWriter->save('helloWorld.docx');

        // Saving the document as ODF file...
        //$objWriter = \PhpOffice\PhpWord\IOFactory::createWriter($phpWord, 'ODText');
        //$objWriter->save('helloWorld.odt');

        // Saving the document as HTML file...
        //$objWriter = \PhpOffice\PhpWord\IOFactory::createWriter($phpWord, 'HTML');
        //$objWriter->save('php://output');
    }
}

Expected Behavior

Save document on server or expose via web browser.

Current Behavior

Function stopped by XMLWritter exception.

Context

Environment information:

• PHP Version: 8.1.2
• PHPWord Version: 0.18.3

------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHP 8.1.2 (cli) (built: Jan 19 2022 10:18:23) (ZTS Visual C++ 2019 x64)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.1.2, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Xdebug v3.1.3, Copyright (c) 2002-2022, by Derick Rethans

------------------------------------------------------------------------
  [PHP Modules]
  bcmath
  bz2
  calendar
  Core
  ctype
  curl
  date
  dom
  exif
  fileinfo
  filter
  ftp
  gettext
  hash
  iconv
  intl
  json
  libxml
  mbstring
  mysqli
  mysqlnd
  openssl
  pcre
  PDO
  pdo_mysql
  pdo_sqlite
  pdo_sqlsrv
  Phar
  readline
  Reflection
  session
  SimpleXML
  SPL
  sqlsrv
  standard
  tokenizer
  xdebug
  xml
  xmlreader
  xmlwriter
  zip
  zlib
  
  [Zend Modules]
  Xdebug

[goozak]

For me, I get a "Deprecated" notice with the same text (when saving a Word document), which can be ignored (until PHP 9) by adding #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] before the public function writeAttribute($name, $value) declaration in ...\phpoffice\phpword\src\PhpWord\Shared\XMLWriter.php.

[goozak]

So coming back to this, I now realize that the proper fix for this is actually to add the proper return type to the writeAttribute function:

public function writeAttribute($name, $value): bool

Since it's actually calling parent::writeAttribute, the return type will not change. The deprecation notice is only shown because the overloaded function doesn't tell PHP it will return a bool.

[tw-ict]

When will this be fixed in future updates?

[kilvroch]

Is there any update on a fix for this? I must upgrade my web apps to php 8.1 before the end of May 2023