php & oop

[otuatail]

Hi. I have used classes and objects before in C++ but was wondering how I can use them in a web based php. The problem is they need to be persistant from page to page. Is there any way like using Session variables that this could be achieved.

 

TIA

 

Desmond.

 

[oni-kun]

serialize

[ignace]

Or

 

class MyPersistingClass {
  public function __construct() {
    $this->restoreState();
  }
  
  public function __destruct() {
    $this->saveState();
  }
  
  private function saveState() {
    //add your fields to the $_SESSION variable
    //$_SESSION[get_class($this)] = array(..);
  }
  
  private function restoreState() {
    //retrieve values from the $_SESSION variable's into your fields
  }
}

 

It's generally not a good idea to store objects in sessions because:

 

1. Your class definition has to be present before session_start() is called

2. It takes longer for session_start() to rebuild the $_SESSION array using objects

 

There has been a discussion on this forums before on this topic and the suggested approach is storing array's.

[otuatail]

Ok thanks for this. The only problem is that I have only stored single values in a session. Necer stored an araay. How do I do this?

 

Desmondd.

 

[KevinM1]

1. Your class definition has to be present before session_start() is called

 

That's what __autoload (or the spl equivalent) is for.  If you're serious about OOP in PHP, this isn't an issue.

 

2. It takes longer for session_start() to rebuild the $_SESSION array using objects

 

This is true.

 

There has been a discussion on this forums before on this topic and the suggested approach is storing array's.

 

I don't see anything wrong with storing objects in sessions if it's a small app.

 

To the OP, storing an array in sessions is the same as storing a single value.  Fill your array with your data, then assign it to a session variable.