PHP - lost reference in object array?

Question

I have an array that stores some Employee Objects ie.

var $this->employeeArray = array();
$this->employeeArray[] = $empObjectA;
$this->employeeArray[] = $empObjectB;
...

which Employee object has id, firstName, lastName etc. I also have a function to search for the employee object that with certain ID. ie:

public function searchArrayByID($id) {
$targetObject = null;

        foreach($this->employeeArray as $e) {
            if ($id == $e->id) {
                $targetObject = $e;
                break;
            }
        }//foreach

return $targetObject;

}

but when I do:

$targetEmployee = $this->searchArrayByID(1);
$targetEmployee->firstName = "someOtherName";

and do a

print_r($this->employeeArray);

that object inside the Array is not being changed.

x4rf41 · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-07 15:18:13Z

2

try this, with the & prepended, it will pass the reference. i also simplified your search function.

Since i dont know why it isnt working for you, because its working for me on 2 different servers without any & i can just suggest the 'safest' method => force references wherever possible

$this->employeeArray[] = &$empObjectA;  // here

public function &searchArrayByID($id) {   // here
    foreach($this->employeeArray as &$e) {   // and here
        if ($id == $e->id) return $e;
    }
    return null;
}

$targetEmployee = $this->searchArrayByID(1);

now if that doesnt work, i suspect another error in your code, because every reference is forced here

funny thing is. i tried it here: http://phpfiddle.org/main/code/2cv-pt2 and with that php version, it makes no difference (thats how it should be). Which php version are you using? Because PHP got better at handling references (reducing unwanted/unnecessary copies)

edited Aug 7, 2013 at 15:18

answered Aug 7, 2013 at 14:52

x4rf41

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8 Comments

Josh Over a year ago

unfortunately it's not working. I have used print_r on both $targetEmployee and $this->employeeArray. $targetEmployee contains the changes while the obj in $this->employeeArray doesn't

Josh Over a year ago

I'm using php 5.3.15 (mac)

x4rf41 Over a year ago

plz tell me the php verion you are using, as i said, old php version are bad with reference, it tends to copy alot. and some manual referencing isnt allowed in newer version, thats why i cant tell what code will work for you

x4rf41 Over a year ago

can you run this code: phpfiddle.org/main/code/890-j3a on your server? As you see on phpfiddle, it works fine, with and without the &'s. plz post the output of my code from your server

Josh Over a year ago

this is what I got: $obj1: stdClass Object ( [id] => 1 [name] => xyz ) $emp1: stdClass Object ( [id] => 1 [name] => xyz ) $obj2: stdClass Object ( [id] => 2 [name] => zui ) $emp2: stdClass Object ( [id] => 2 [name] => zui ) $empArr: Array ( [0] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 1 [name] => xyz ) [1] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 2 [name] => zui ) ) so when adding object to array I have to put an ampersand like: $this->array[] = &obj?

|

Rob · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-07 14:49:57Z

0

That's because PHP copies the object to $targetEmployee, it's not linked.

answered Aug 7, 2013 at 14:49

Rob

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