PHP Calling class method from constructor not filling array

Question

I have a very weird problem that when I call the method of a class from within the constructor I get as a result empty arrays, but when I call the method from the class instance it works fine.

Here is the code for loadxml.php:

include('XMLNode.php'); // this is a simple object class

class LoadXML
{
public $MyNodes = array();

public function __constructor($xmlFile)
{
    $this->getNodes($xmlFile);
}

public function getNodes($xmlFile)
{
    if (file_exists($xmlFile)) {
        $xmlNodes = simplexml_load_file($xmlFile);

        foreach ($xmlNodes->XMLNode as $key => $value) {
            array_push($this->MyNodes, $value);
        }
    }
    else
    {
        exit('Failed to open xml file '.$xmlFile);
    }
}
}

Now in the main file if I make the call like this:

include('loadxml.php');

$nodes = new LoadXML('myXMLFile.xml');

print "<pre>";
print_r($nodes);
print "</pre>";

... the result looks like this:

LoadXML Object ( [MyNodes] => Array ( ) )

If I make the call from the class instance like this and comment out the call to getNodes from the LoadXML constructor:

include('loadxml.php');

$nodes = new LoadXML();
$nodes->getNodes('myXMLFile.xml');

print "<pre>";
print_r($nodes);
print "</pre>";

I will get the correct output. What's happening? What am I doing wrong in the first approach? Am I missing something from the class constructor? I looked in the manual (http://php.net/manual/en/oop4.newref.php) and the call to the method seems legit from within the constructor.

I am actually trying to figure out why your script doesn't exit when you call new LoadXML(). You haven't passed a parameter, yet you still call getNodes() in the constructor. In such a case, file_exists() would evaluate as false, causing the exit. Does your code shown here accurately reflect the entire class structure and the tests you are performing? — Mike Brant
– Mike Brant, Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 21:17
@MikeBrant his constructor gets never called. He has to rename it to __construct before your described behaviour will be correct in the second example. — Benjamin Paap
– Benjamin Paap, Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 21:24
@Benjamin Haha. I was spending my time looking at the actually logic that I didn'y actually look at the name of the method. — Mike Brant
– Mike Brant, Commented Dec 5, 2012 at 21:26

Benjamin Paap · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-05 21:12:17Z

8

Try renaming your constructor to __construct

answered Dec 5, 2012 at 21:12

Benjamin Paap

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1 Comment

asuciu Over a year ago

Thank you sir! Damn, I would have never thought of that. I would have expected php to give me an error or something ... Greatly appreciate your quick reply! :)

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