Access substring of class constant with array index operator

Question

class Foo {
 const BAR = 'Hello';
}

echo Foo::BAR; //Works
echo Foo::BAR[0]; //Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '[', expecting ',' or ';'

I've found a way around this by using substr, but I'm curious to know why this doesn't work as it is.

PHP 5.3.3 by the way.

Note that you may be able to do what you need to do like this: $foo = Foo::BAR; $foo = $foo[0]; — FtDRbwLXw6
– FtDRbwLXw6, Commented Jan 1, 2012 at 14:23

Maxime Pacary · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-01 11:57:02Z

3

I guess that PHP considers class constants like "classic" constants (e.g. created with define()).

Therefore, they are simply replaced by their values at runtime, so Foo::BAR[0] would be interpreted by PHP as 'Hello'[0] which is not a valid syntax ($myVariable[0] being allowed).

edited Jan 1, 2012 at 11:57

answered Jan 1, 2012 at 11:28

Maxime Pacary

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