Add Pure-PHP ULID Generator (Spec-Compliant & Monotonic) #19972

zaenalcoders · 2025-12-02T13:44:27Z

Add Pure-PHP ULID Generator (Spec-Compliant & Monotonic)

Summary

This pull request introduces a fully self-contained ULID (Universally Unique Lexicographically Sortable Identifier) generator for phpMyAdmin.
The implementation is written entirely in pure PHP, adds no external dependencies, and follows the official ULID specification, including timestamp structure, randomness generation, and Crockford Base32 encoding.

Motivation

phpMyAdmin currently supports UUID generation but does not provide a built-in ULID generator.
ULID offers several advantages:

Lexicographically sortable identifiers
Millisecond timestamp precision
80 bits of secure randomness
Human-friendly, URL-safe Base32 output
Widely used in modern distributed systems

Adding a built-in ULID generator improves developer experience without increasing dependency footprint.

Design & Implementation

Specification-Compliant

This generator follows the official ULID specification:
https://github.com/ulid/spec

Monotonic Behavior

When multiple ULIDs are generated within the same millisecond, the randomness portion is incremented to maintain:

Ordering consistency
Collision avoidance
Monotonic output (similar to Symfony/Uid)

Dependency-Free

Although inspired by symfony/uid and robinvdvleuten/ulid, this implementation is entirely rewritten to keep phpMyAdmin dependency-light.

Structure & Coding Standards

PEAR-style formatting
phpMyAdmin directory conventions
Documented using phpDoc
Focus on clarity, maintainability, and predictability

New Files

Class

libraries/classes/Ulid.php

Public API

Ulid::generate(): string
Generates a 26-character ULID encoded using Crockford Base32.

Tests

Test File

test/classes/UlidTest.php

Test Coverage Includes:

Correct ULID length (26 chars)
Valid Base32 character set
Monotonic ordering within the same millisecond
Timestamp correctness
Collision avoidance across large batches

All tests are pure PHPUnit and require no external libraries.

Impact

No breaking changes
No new dependencies
Minimal performance overhead
Fully isolated; no side effects

Conclusion

This PR adds a modern, reliable, and specification-compliant ULID generator to phpMyAdmin, without altering existing behavior or adding dependencies.
It strengthens phpMyAdmin's utility for modern development workflows.

Signed-off-by: zaenalcoders <zaenal.virus@gmail.com>

…e functions Signed-off-by: zaenalcoders <zaenal.virus@gmail.com>

ibennetch · 2025-12-03T02:19:45Z

I think this is interesting. I wasn't familiar with ULID but seems like something we can implement. Nice work on the pull request, thanks especially for having tests. I'm curious what the others think, but this looks good to me. 🤔 Maybe it should target 6.x, which we're working hard towards releasing as the next major version.

zaenalcoders · 2025-12-03T03:30:46Z

Hi @ibennetch,

Thank you for the feedback and kind words! I’ll update this pull request to target the 6.x branch as suggested and ensure it aligns with the upcoming major release.

Appreciate your guidance and time reviewing this.

williamdes · 2025-12-03T08:38:56Z

🤔 Maybe it should target 6.x, which we're working hard towards releasing
as the next major version.

I am a bit confused as it already targets master, and QA_6_0 did not start yet

src/Types.php

ibennetch · 2025-12-03T12:43:56Z

I am a bit confused as it already targets master, and QA_6_0 did not start yet

You're quite right - I somehow misread the email notification. I'm not sure what I thought I saw - I definitely misread it as being for the QA branch - but you are of course correct.

kamil-tekiela · 2025-12-04T15:29:01Z

src/InsertEdit.php

        }

+        if ($editField->function === 'ULID') {
+            /* generate ULID */


Please don't add comments that convey no information.

kamil-tekiela · 2025-12-04T15:29:26Z

src/InsertEdit.php


+        if ($editField->function === 'ULID') {
+            /* generate ULID */
+            $ulid = (string) Ulid::generate();


Suggested change

$ulid = (string) Ulid::generate();

$ulid = Ulid::generate();

kamil-tekiela · 2025-12-04T15:32:45Z

src/Ulid.php

+    private static function encodeRandom(array $bytes): string
+    {
+        $binary = '';
+        foreach ($bytes as $b) {


Suggested change

foreach ($bytes as $b) {

foreach ($bytes as $byte) {

The word is short enough that you don't need to be cryptic with it.

kamil-tekiela · 2025-12-04T15:33:52Z

src/Ulid.php

+            $result = '0';
+        } else {
+            while ($value > 0) {
+                $result = $alphabet[$value % 32] . $result;


Suggested change

$result = $alphabet[$value % 32] . $result;

$result = self::ALPHABET[$value % 32] . $result;

Unnecessary reassignments are confusing in the long run.

kamil-tekiela · 2025-12-04T15:34:42Z

src/Ulid.php

+        $result = '';
+
+        if ($value === 0) {
+            $result = '0';


Why is this line necessary?

kamil-tekiela · 2025-12-04T16:00:04Z

tests/unit/UlidTest.php

+        }
+    }
+
+    // ULIDs created one after another should be in order thanks to the monotonic logic.


Again, I don't think any of these comments add any value. They just repeat what the test already does.

kamil-tekiela · 2025-12-04T16:01:59Z

tests/unit/UlidTest.php

+        $u1 = Ulid::generate();
+        $u2 = Ulid::generate();
+
+        $this->assertLessThan(


Doesn't this assertion accept strings? Is there a reason to use strcmp here?

kamil-tekiela · 2025-12-04T16:03:32Z

tests/unit/UlidTest.php

+        // Wait for about 2ms to make sure the next ULID lands in a new millisecond.
+        usleep(2000);


Or you could take the timestamp as an optional parameter to the generate method.

kamil-tekiela · 2025-12-04T16:03:56Z

tests/unit/UlidTest.php

+        );
+    }
+
+    // The first 10 characters are the timestamp. If you generate a ULID a little later, that part should go up.


A comment like this belongs in the class where the functionality is implemented, not in the test case.

kamil-tekiela · 2025-12-04T16:06:32Z

tests/unit/UlidTest.php

+    public function testMultipleUlidsAreUnique(): void
+    {
+        $generated = [];
+
+        for ($i = 0; $i < 1000; $i++) {
+            $u = Ulid::generate();
+            $this->assertArrayNotHasKey(
+                $u,
+                $generated,
+                "Duplicate ULID found: {$u}"
+            );
+            $generated[$u] = true;
+        }
+
+        $this->assertCount(
+            1000,
+            $generated,
+            'All ULIDs generated in batch should be unique'
+        );
+    }


A unit test should be reproducible. If it fails, we need to be able to apply a fix and retest with the same parameters. I doubt this test fulfils this requirement. Testing random behaviour may be useful during development, but it isn't helpful in a test suite.

Signed-off-by: zaenalcoders <zaenal.virus@gmail.com>

zaenalcoders added 2 commits December 2, 2025 20:48

Add ULID generator class (spec-compliant, pure PHP)

b3c077a

Signed-off-by: zaenalcoders <zaenal.virus@gmail.com>

Add support for ULID generation in formatAsSqlFunction and update typ…

0c91351

…e functions Signed-off-by: zaenalcoders <zaenal.virus@gmail.com>

zaenalcoders force-pushed the feat/ulid-support branch from 9a76d1e to 0c91351 Compare December 2, 2025 13:48

zaenalcoders closed this Dec 3, 2025

williamdes reopened this Dec 3, 2025

williamdes reviewed Dec 3, 2025

View reviewed changes

src/Types.php Show resolved Hide resolved

kamil-tekiela reviewed Dec 4, 2025

View reviewed changes

zaenalcoders added 2 commits December 5, 2025 11:22

removed unnecessary comment

834fad5

Signed-off-by: zaenalcoders <zaenal.virus@gmail.com>

Enhance ULID class and tests with detailed documentation and assertions

478c00b

Signed-off-by: zaenalcoders <zaenal.virus@gmail.com>

zaenalcoders requested a review from kamil-tekiela December 5, 2025 04:26

	$result = $alphabet[$value % 32] . $result;
	$result = self::ALPHABET[$value % 32] . $result;

		// Wait for about 2ms to make sure the next ULID lands in a new millisecond.
		usleep(2000);

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zaenalcoders commented Dec 2, 2025

Add Pure-PHP ULID Generator (Spec-Compliant & Monotonic)

Summary

Motivation

Design & Implementation

Specification-Compliant

Monotonic Behavior

Dependency-Free

Structure & Coding Standards

New Files

Class

Public API

Tests

Test File

Test Coverage Includes:

Impact

Conclusion

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ibennetch commented Dec 3, 2025 via email

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williamdes commented Dec 3, 2025

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ibennetch commented Dec 3, 2025 •

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