PHP Parse error: syntax error, unexpected index.php on line 37

Question

Strange error log:

[19-Jul-2013 22:59:43] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected '<' in qa/index.php on line 37
[19-Jul-2013 22:59:46] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected '<' in qa/index.php on line 37
[19-Jul-2013 22:59:46] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected '<' in qa/index.php on line 37
[19-Jul-2013 22:59:48] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected '<' in qa/index.php on line 37
[19-Jul-2013 22:59:51] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected '<' in qa/index.php on line 37
[19-Jul-2013 22:59:52] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected '<' in qa/index.php on line 37
[19-Jul-2013 22:59:53] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected '<' in qa/index.php on line 37
[19-Jul-2013 22:59:59] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected '<' in qa/index.php on line 37
[19-Jul-2013 23:00:57] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected '<' in qa/qa-include/qa-index.php on line 173
[19-Jul-2013 23:01:01] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected '<' in qa/qa-include/qa-index.php on line 173
[19-Jul-2013 23:01:10] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected '<' in qa/qa-include/qa-index.php on line 173
 

I checked the server logs, those were different visitors who did not access critical files as it seems.

Can I assume that this was a server problem?

Comments

yes, it looks like that server can't find end of file. maybe if you turn "short_open_tag" option on php.ini to 'off' it will be solved. check: http://www.bin-co.com/php/articles/using_php_short_tags.php

and another guess is that your files encoding are changed while moving to another server/file-system. see if their encoding are "utf8-without bom".

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thanks for your feedback, twohid. This was a one time thing, if it occurs again I do what you suggested :)

Have a good weekend!
Kai