[SOLVED] case-insensitive Class Constants possible?

[alexweber15]

weird issue i ran into today...

 

- its possible to define case-insensitive constants outside the scope of a class using:

define('name', 'value', false);

however, you cannot use define() for Class Constants.

 

- to define a Class Constant you have to use (inside class scope):

const 'name' = 'value';

 

So what happened to case-sensitivity here?

how can i define a case-insensitive Class Constant????

 

thanks!

 

Alex

[rhodesa]

simple answer: you can't

 

Why don't use a static function?

 

class someClass {
  private static $vals = array(
    'name' => 'abc',
  );
  static function getValue ( $key ) {
    return self::$vals[strtolower($key)];
  }
}

print someClass::getValue('NAME');

[alexweber15]

why not?  seems silly to me that's why... i'd rather define an uppercase and lowercase version of the same constant =P

 

const FOO = 'bar';
const foo = self::FOO;

 

lol 

 

just kidding!

 

really i'd rather just stick with all-uppercase convention instead, i just think it doesn't add up because I mean if you can declare case-insensitive constants outside a class then why the hell can't you do the same inside the class?  seems like poor implementation to me... 

[rhodesa]

i never even realized there was a case-insensitive flag in define(). i just always use all caps

[alexweber15]

i never even realized there was a case-insensitive flag in define(). i just always use all caps

 

[genericnumber1]

I agree with this post, remove the case insensitive param in define()

[alexweber15]

I agree with this post, remove the case insensitive param in define()

 

 

lol i hope you're being ironic 

 

they should do the exact opposite and add the case insensitive param to const 

[genericnumber1]

I was mainly making a joke, but I do think case insensitivity is a poor choice for a developer to choose. If I have to read code and force myself to distinguish red Red rEd reD RED, and with your suggestion class::red, class:Red, etc... I think I'd just delete the code and send an angry email to the developer. Variables/attributes are case sensitive, classes definitions are case sensitive, functions/methods are case sensitive.. if you ask me, the inconsistency is that global scope constants can be case insensitive, not that object constants can't.

 

Not that I'm suggesting they remove the case insensitive setting from define(), because I couldn't care less in my own code; I just won't use it. I'm saying that if I saw it in someone else's code I would think the developer hasn't been programming in the C/C++/PHP/Java world very long.. (I'm looking at you VB/Pascal/ASP programmers!)

[alexweber15]

lol good point

 

im all for case-sensitivity as it makes you write more legible and less error-prone code (somehow)

 

but this was a particular situation where i was trying to write a friendly api for a class by including multiple aliases for each function, etc

 

come to think of it, screw it!  i'm gonna remove all aliases and people should just RTFM if they wanna use my class 

[rhodesa]

I would recommend trying to stick to the Zend standards:

http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/coding-standard.html

[corbin]

If the people using it aren't smart enough to not need aliases, they shouldn't be touching a PHP file, in my opinion.

[alexweber15]

agreed on both statements! (rhodesa and corbin)

 

i guess i just had a lapse where i got a little too concerned about who was going to use it rather than doing it properly.  after all, i'm complete the documentation at the end and offer support so i should just focus on making it functional!

[corbin]

Eh as long as the docs are decent, and it's coded with some logic in mind, I'm sure people will be able to figure it out.

[discomatt]

Just to note to genericnumber1...

 

Functions are NOT case sensitive.

<pre><?php

function somefunc() {
echo 'Hello World';
}

someFunc();

?></pre>

 

I agree with the consensus here though. Variables/constants should NEVER be case-insensitive. It's sloppy, even for PHP's standards

[genericnumber1]

Just to note to genericnumber1...

 

Functions are NOT case sensitive.

<pre><?php

function somefunc() {
echo 'Hello World';
}

someFunc();

?></pre>

 

I agree with the consensus here though. Variables/constants should NEVER be case-insensitive. It's sloppy, even for PHP's standards

 

Heh, always learning something new (not that I'll never use this bit of trivia).

[corbin]

Certain people wanted to make them case-sensitive in PHP6, but it was shot down since it would break old code.

[genericnumber1]

I'm sure eventually PHP might do the bandaid rip that python is doing now.

[corbin]

By bandaid rip you mean change things that will break some scripts?

 

 

I would be all for PHP making everything case sensitive.  I'm not a pansy 3 year old programmer; my cases match.  lol

[genericnumber1]

By bandaid rip you mean change things that will break some scripts?

 

Yup But yeah, I think case insensitivity is just for lazy programmers! (well, particularly lazy, we're ALL pretty lazy)

[alexweber15]

lol i could have sworn i already said this here but its 3am and ive posted about this on google groups too but i really dont care about case-sensitivity.  i think PHP is fine as it is, in fact its GREAT! 

 

i'm just a stickler for consistency.  and having a case-sensitive flag (albeit optional) in "define()" and not having the same option in "const" is just wrong.  constants are constants.  so it makes no sense to me to allow case-insensitivity in one context and disallow it in another.

 

personally i think that all constants should be capitalized, end of story.

[discomatt]

Code as if the flag doesn't exist Even with case-sensitivity, there's no way in hell you should have 2 constants with the same name in different cases.

 

define('FOOBAR', 'someval');
define('FooBar', 'anotherval');

 

could lead to some major confusion.

 

I like case insensitivity for function and class names. They're both designed as a modular way to share code.. whether it be with your own script or others. Some people prefer to code using camelHump(), or UppercaseFirst() or sometimeslower(). Having case-insensitive function/class names allows multiple developers to use the same code without having to worry about the other dev's case standards.

 

This also goes with my above comment that you should never have two functions or classes with the same name, regardless of case differences

[alexweber15]

Code as if the flag doesn't exist Even with case-sensitivity, there's no way in hell you should have 2 constants with the same name in different cases.

 

define('FOOBAR', 'someval');
define('FooBar', 'anotherval');

 

could lead to some major confusion.

 

I like case insensitivity for function and class names. They're both designed as a modular way to share code.. whether it be with your own script or others. Some people prefer to code using camelHump(), or UppercaseFirst() or sometimeslower(). Having case-insensitive function/class names allows multiple developers to use the same code without having to worry about the other dev's case standards.

 

This also goes with my above comment that you should never have two functions or classes with the same name, regardless of case differences

 

good points, like i said "personally i think that all constants should be capitalized, end of story."

 

as far as function and variable names I think that there should be some kind of convention (made a poll here: http://www.phpfreaks.com/forums/index.php/topic,221997.0.html)

 

Alex

[discomatt]

as long as someFunction(), somefunction() and SomeFunction() all work the same... is there really a need for convention?

[alexweber15]

as long as someFunction(), somefunction() and SomeFunction() all work the same... is there really a need for convention?

 

without convention anarchy would ensure! 

[genericnumber1]

as long as someFunction(), somefunction() and SomeFunction() all work the same... is there really a need for convention?

 

I don't want to read someone's code where they aren't consistent.. it looks amateur, messy, and it makes the code harder to read.