[SOLVED] php referencing a class

[deviantgeek6966]

alright, i know how to reference an object or variable. i know what referencing is, but ive been trying to write an object that actually needs to reference itself. so nobody jumps to conclusions i cant just use $this instead of referencing to it. i need to actually reference the object. the problem is that when i save the reference inside my object it shows up as a reference when i do a var_dump but its actually only a copy of the object. ill show my actual code if i need to if it helps to understand but i figure ill write this little bit of code to show my problem more easier. this will produce my same problem.

[code]
<?php
class my_class
{
var $reference;
var $some_var;

function my_class()
{
                //save a reference to this object
$this->save_reference(&$this);
}

function save_reference(&$reference)
{
$this->reference =& $reference;
}
}


//create my object
$obj = new my_class();
//now that my_class() referenced $obj to $obj->reference (any changes to $obj should reflect in $obj->refence). so now i will change a variable in $obj
$obj->some_var = 'blah';
//now if things worked right, $obj->reference should point to $obj and should see the change i made to $obj->some_var
die($obj->reference->some_var);
?>
[/code]

the output is blank, which can only mean $obj->reference was never actually referenced, it was copied instead. now i dont know if im misunderstanding how referencing works or if im completely missing something. ive looked all over and i have no idea how to fix this or understand whats going on. any help would be great. thanks

[deviantgeek6966]

whelp nm, i finally figured out what was going on. it turns out that when i actualy create my object i need to reference it at the same time or else it wont work. this is what i did to actually make it work:

[code]
<?php
class my_class
{
var $reference;
var $some_var;

function my_class()
{
$this->reference = &$this;
}

function save_reference(&$reference)
{
$this->reference =& $reference;
}
}

//return a reference to my object created, this is where i had my problem
$obj =& new my_class();
$obj->some_var = 'blah';
die($obj->reference->some_var);
?>
[/code]