No DNF For Catch

<?php

try {} catch (A&B $e) {}

try {} catch (A|(B&C) $e) {}

Catch clauses accept multiple types of exceptions, since PHP 7.1: they are listed with the ‘|’ separator.

This looks like the union type of PHP 8.0, and actually acts like it.

Yet, this is not a normal type, because the intersectional and the DNF format are not supported at parsing time. Thus, the two expressions below generate an error.

See Also

• Catch (PHP manual)
• Type declarations
• No DNF [Try me]

PHP Features

• catch
• dnf-type

Last updated: 10 September 2026