php Classes
To create an object with a specified class, use the new keyword, like this: object = new Class. Here are a couple of ways in which we could do this:
$object = new User; $temp = new User('name', 'password');
On the first line, we simply assign an object to the User class. In the second, we pass parameters to the call.
A class may require or prohibit arguments; it may also allow arguments, but not require them.
Accessing Objects
Let’s add a few lines more to above example and check the results. below extends the previous code by setting object properties and calling a method.
<?php class User { public $name, $password; function save_user() { echo "Save User code goes here"; } } $object = new User (); print_r ( $object ); echo "<br />"; $object->name = "john"; $object->password = "123456"; print_r ( $object ); echo "<br />"; $object->save_user (); ?>
Output
User Object ( [name] => [password] => ) User Object ( [name] => john [password] => 123456 ) Save User code goes here
As you can see, the syntax for accessing an object’s property is $object->property. Likewise, you call a method like this: $object->method().
You should note that the example property and method do not have $ signs in front of them. If you were to preface them with $ signs, the code would not work, as it would try to reference the value inside a variable. For example, the expression $object->$property would attempt to look up the value assigned to a variable named $property (let’s say that value is the string “brown”) and then attempt to reference the property $object->brown. If $property is undefined, an attempt to reference $object->NULL would occur and cause an error.