Little help in php Magic Methods

[criostage]

Hello, i m trying to learn magic method's and i have an small question on something that probably it's extremely easy, but i m not getting there ... Here's the "simple" code i got:

class MyClass{
       protected static $name;
 
        public static function __callStatic($name, $arguments) {
            $methodPrefix = substr($name, 0,3);
            $methodProperty = strtolower(substr($name, 3));
            
            self::$name = 'Allan';
            echo self::$name;
            
            switch( $methodPrefix ) {
                case 'get':
                    return self::$methodProperty;
                    break;
            }
        }

My objective is to remove all the get and set's we you usually use in the code so i m using the __callStatic in order to retrieve or set variables inside the class, for example setName('John'). My question is if i want get the value of the protected static variable called name, usually you would just do return self::name, but let's say i have an more evolved class and i have several protected static variables (like age, genre), so here an small issue comes into my mind, how can i use the the content of the variable $methodProperty to return the proper protected static variable?

 

My attempts resulted in the following error:

Fatal error: Access to undeclared static property: MyClass::$methodProperty

i understand the error but i have no idea how to work it arround...

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited November 26, 2013 by criostage

[Irate]

Redacted. Noticed I was answering a different question than what was asked.

Edited November 26, 2013 by Irate

[th3fallen]

My initial question would be why would you opt for this method instead of just using self::$name? And if you're trying to access them outside of the class why are they protected?

[requinix]

Try variable variables.

return (isset(self::${$methodProperty}) ? self::${$methodProperty} : null);

[criostage]

My initial question would be why would you opt for this method instead of just using self::$name? And if you're trying to access them outside of the class why are they protected?

 

I m using this magic method to create an function to avoid creating  diferent set and get functions within this class for each variable example:

class MyClass{
    protected static $name;
    protected static $age;
 
    public static function __callStatic($name, $arguments) {
        $methodPrefix = substr($name, 0,3);
        $methodProperty = strtolower(substr($name, 3));
            
        self::$name = 'Allan';
        self::$age = '20';
        #echo self::$name;

        switch( $methodPrefix ) {
            case 'get':
                return self::${$methodProperty};
                break;
        }
    }
}

echo 'Hello my name is '. MyClass::getName() . ' and i m ' . MyClass::getAge() .' years old';

The output will be "Hello my name is Allan and i m 20 years old", and btw this code have already the code that i got from requinix reply, so it's working.

 

Try variable variables.

return (isset(self::${$methodProperty}) ? self::${$methodProperty} : null);

 

Tyvm that did the trick , would you mind pointing me out the logic behind it?

Edited November 26, 2013 by criostage

[requinix]

Tyvm that did the trick , would you mind pointing me out the logic behind it?

PHP has this crazy feature called variable variables. Lets you use a string value to determine the name of a variable. The syntax is basically either adding another $ or, for more complicated situations, ${}. It works in very many places, actually, and even lets you get and set otherwise invalid variables... as long as you can deal with the potential "bugs" of doing so.

 

Given $methodProperty = "name",

self::${$methodProperty} -> self::$name -> "Allan"

Just try not to use it too much: in, like, damn near every possible situation where they would solve a problem, an array is a better solution. Including this situation: it's better to store the values in an array and bypass all this nonsense. Plus, you have a very convenient array of all the data instead of a bunch of variables. Edited November 26, 2013 by requinix

[criostage]

tyvm for the requinix that was very helpfull.