MediaWiki Error: “Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_NAMESPACE, expecting T_STRING in /usr/local/www/apache22/data/wiki/includes/Namespace.php on line 46”

After upgrading my PHP to 5.3.2, I received the following error when accessing MediaWiki (1.6.12):

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_NAMESPACE, expecting T_STRING in /usr/local/www/apache22/data/wiki/includes/Namespace.php  on line 46

There are three solutions:

Downgrade your PHP from 5.3 back to 5.2
Upgrade your MediaWiki to a newer version.
Fix the codes.

In my case, the first couple solutions do not work for me, and therefore I choose 3.

Backup your wiki file first.
Access your webserver and go to the MediaWiki/includes directory.
For example:
```
cd /usr/local/www/apache22/data/wiki/includes
```
Edit Namespace.php
```
nano Namespace.php
```
Go to line 46, change the following from:
```
class Namespace {
```
to:
```
class MWNamespace {
```
Save the file.

Now, let’s create a script:

nano wikifix.sh

Copy and paste the following:

for fl in *.php; do
mv $fl $fl.old
sed 's/Namespace::/MWNamespace::/g' $fl.old > $fl
done

Save the file.

Change the file to executable by:
```
chmod u+x wikifix.sh
```
Search the keyword Namespace:: and replace it by MWNamespace:::
```
./wikifix.sh
```
Warning: Don’t run the script twice!
Delete the script.
```
rm wikifix.sh
```

Try to access the MediaWiki again and the problem should be gone.

Enjoy Wiki.

–Derrick

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64 Replies to “MediaWiki Error: “Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_NAMESPACE, expecting T_STRING in /usr/local/www/apache22/data/wiki/includes/Namespace.php on line 46””

kmxz March 10, 2013 at 1:16 pm

Thanks. It worked.

In any case it’s not wise to use a variable name that is possible to become a reserved word.

Reply ↓

Andy March 12, 2013 at 7:53 pm

Worked like a charm – thanks! I did the manual find-and-replace using Notepad++ rather than the script, but worked just as well once I found the language.php file needed to be updated too.

Reply ↓

mdaud March 21, 2013 at 9:59 am

worked with me like a charm!

Reply ↓

Nuno Leitao April 27, 2013 at 6:52 pm

Thanks a lot!!

I’d like to sugest a better fix:

for file in `grep -R Namespace:: * | awk -F”:” ‘{ print $1 }’ | sort | uniq ` ; do sed -i ‘s/Namespace::/MWNamespace::/g’ ./$file ; done

Best regards
Nuno

Reply ↓

Senthil May 20, 2013 at 3:08 pm

I get a different error now!

PHP Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM, expecting T_NS_SEPARATOR in /usr/share/mediawiki1.10/languages/Language.php on line 254

Reply ↓

Senthil May 20, 2013 at 3:11 pm

Too quick to post that comment … solved it by adding MW to the Namespace as below:

if( ( $ns = MWNamespace::getCanonicalIndex( $lctext ) ) !== null ) return $ns;

Reply ↓