Disable Spam Module on Core

That namespace line is correct, but it’s indicating that code has been added above that line. Perhaps the text editor you used added something? Can you paste the top 20 or so lines of the file as it sits on your server?

Here is the opening:

<?php
/**
 * ExpressionEngine (https://expressionengine.com)
 *
 * @link      https://expressionengine.com/
 * @copyright Copyright (c) 2003-2017, EllisLab, Inc. (https://ellislab.com)
 * @license   https://expressionengine.com/license
 */

namespace EllisLab\ExpressionEngine\Controller\Publish;

use EllisLab\ExpressionEngine\Library\CP\Table;

use EllisLab\ExpressionEngine\Controller\Publish\AbstractPublish as AbstractPublishController;
use EllisLab\ExpressionEngine\Service\Model\Query\Builder;

/**
 * Publish/Comments Controller
 */
class Comments extends AbstractPublishController {

 public function __construct()
 {
  parent::__construct();

  if ( ! ee()->cp->allowed_group_any(
   'can_moderate_comments',
   'can_edit_own_comments',
   'can_delete_own_comments',
   'can_edit_all_comments',
   'can_delete_all_comments'
   ))
  {
   show_error(lang('unauthorized_access'), 403);
  }
 }

The forum’s formatting doesn’t capture the line breaks.

Well, now it’s working. OK.

Thanks Joseph! I edited your post to fix that for you, your code wasn’t in a code fence (see the “Use Markdown” link for formatting tips).

That looks correct though, and doesn’t match the PHP compilation error you’re getting. What application did you use to modify the file? Might be an invisible control character perhaps.

LibreWriter, which came up as the default. I’ll try to open it in a simple text editor. It saved as simple text. but something may have snuck in.

OK, I just downloaded the file, opened it with a text editor, copied everything, pasted into a blank text file, renamed it Comments.php, then loaded it. So, hidden formatting should have been left behind, right? The error message remains the same.

I would start by just restoring those files from your download—refresh, make sure it still works (working in this case will be the original Spam module error). Then open the files in a plain text editor (Atom for instance), and apply the changes I referenced directly to the files that you can be sure have integrity.

That did it! Thank you so much. I tested the comments function, too, and it works. I appreciate your fast and thorough help!!!

My pleasure, and incidentally, this is also fixed in version 4.0.7 that was just released today, so when you update you will not have to maintain these changes yourself. Have a great weekend!