it would be super cool if this hadn't taken so long to figure out, so i'll post it here, then post my bug report.
if you use var_dump($foo) or var_export($foo, true) to see the status of your vars there is an odd behavior under the following code:
echo "this is foo".var_dump($foo);
the resulting printout will be
*********************
{the contents of $foo with type info}
this is foo
*********************
as is apparent the contents is dumped above and before the echo'd text.
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Manual Page -- http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.var-dump.php
Edit Note -- http://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php?action=edit+35466
Delete Note -- http://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php?action=delete+35466&report=yes
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