Is there a way to define an object as null from within the object?

Question

I'm currently doing a controller, and I want the controller to be null if the parameter pass to the controller does not match an entry in the database, so my question is the following, can I set the object instance to null from the object constructor?

Here's what I'm trying to achieve

public function __construct() {
    unset($this);
}

Is this possible?

is it possible? i dont know, have you tried? is it bad design? yeah, you would lose all methods and attributes and at that point, why bother using an object? — castis
– castis, Commented Mar 9, 2018 at 19:23
I don't fully understand your use case but it does sound like bad design... Why not have the class responsible for instantiating it not instantiate it depending on the database value? — ishegg
– ishegg, Commented Mar 9, 2018 at 19:26
You can't unset($this), not possible. All you need to check any property to validate if that contains anything, so why complicating things? — The Alpha
– The Alpha, Commented Mar 9, 2018 at 19:26

Venr · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-09 19:29:04Z

2

This is not really possible, consider that you would somehow have to clear all external references to the object from within the object itself which is not possible.

Additionally this is bad design because a controller object should be a mediator between a model and a view and should itself not be dependent on a model value.

It is a model object which represents a database entity and that would be null because it did not exist in the database.

answered Mar 9, 2018 at 19:29

Venr

9277 silver badges10 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Is there a way to define an object as null from within the object?

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related