Hi all.
I'm using php 5.1.2 compiled from source, with Apache 2.2.0
and MySQL 5.0.18 on SuSE Linux 9.2 pro.
I really do not see the need to keep telling php I'm
refering to the properties and method of the class I'm
already in, when php 5 should be able to deduce this from
the context of the class I'm coding in.
I was wondering if it would be possible in future versions
of php to provide a PHP_INI_CLASS constant and a
this.use_implicit TRUE|FALSE option please, valid only
within a class's definition? I guess it could be moved to
php.ini later, if it became popular, and was required there.
This would allow a programmer to set the default value of
whether to use $this-> as a prefix to class properties and
methods, or not. (Similar to the way php 5.1.2 handles
methods without a visibility declaration - i.e. they default
to public)
This option to select default implicit referencing could
also apply to inherited properties and methods.
This would save ALOT of repetitive typing, and make the code
alot more concise. This would be similar to & being made
implicit when passing object references to method calls.
this.use_implicit could default to FALSE, so it would not
interfere with current code compatibility.
Developers could then choose to enable this.use_implicit
on a class by class basis. This would allow a developer to
do a gradual upgrade of their classes, without breaking any
code.
The only problem I can see, is that the parameters passed to
the __construct() function would have to use different names
to avoid any ambiguity conflicts - see example below.
As the parameters are only usually passed into a class once,
when the object is instantiated, this would cut down on a
lot of coding once the parameters are inside the class.
So, instead of coding something like:
(From chapter 19 example 25 of the manual)
<?php
class Connection {
protected $link;
private $server, $username, $password, $db;
public function __construct($server, $username, $password, $db)
{
$this->server = $server;
$this->username = $username;
$this->password = $password;
$this->db = $db;
$this->connect();
}
private function connect()
{
$this->link = mysql_connect($this->server, $this->username,
$this->password);
mysql_select_db($this->db, $this->link);
}
public function __sleep()
{
mysql_close($this->link);
}
public function __wakeup()
{
$this->connect();
}
}
?>
I was thinking of something more like this:
<?php
class Connection {
// use $this-> implicitly within this class only
ini_set('this.use_implicit', ON);
protected $link;
private $server, $username, $password, $db;
public function __construct($server_p, $username_p, $password_p, $db_p)
{
$server = $server_p;
$username = $username_p;
$password = $password_p;
$db = $db_p;
connect();
}
private function connect()
{
$link = mysql_connect($server, $username, $password);
mysql_select_db($db, $link);
}
public function __sleep()
{
mysql_close($link);
}
public function __wakeup()
{
connect();
}
}
?>
Any comments or suggestions would be welcomed.
Keith Roberts
In theory, theory and practice are the same;
In practice they are not.
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