i have a class of this kind
Class Car {
private $color;
public function __construct($color){
$this->color=$color;
}
public function get_color(){
return $this->$color;
}
}
Then i create some instances of it:
$blue_car = new car('blue');
$green_car = new car('green');
etc.
Now i need to call method get_color() on the fly, according to instance's name
$instance_name='green_car';
Is there any way to do it?
$$instance_name->get_color();
${$instance_name}->get_color();
or something of the like.
Edit:
Tested...
<?php
class test_class{
public function __construct( $value ){
$this->value = $value;
}
public function getValue(){
return $this->value;
}
}
$test = new test_class( "test" );
$test2 = new test_class( "test2" );
$iname = "test";
$iname2 = "test2";
echo $$iname->getValue(), "\r\n"; \\ echos test
echo ${$iname2}->getValue(), "\r\n"; \\ echos test2
?>
Both worth in php 5.2
$green_car->get_color()
will be equivalent to
call_user_func(array($$instance_name, 'get_color'))
I'm not sure why need to call the instance "by name", usually you just pass the instance as a parameter or assign it to another variable. By default, PHP5 will just make another reference to the class, not copy it. But you can use =& for good measure and make it obvious what you are doing.
$blue_car = new Car('blue');
$red_car = new Car('red');
$current_car =& $blue_car
$current_car->get_color(); // returns blue car's color
$current_car =& $red_car
$current_car->get_color(); // returns red car's color
