From: mitsu at syntheticzero dot com
Operating system: ALL
PHP version: 4.3.1
PHP Bug Type: Feature/Change Request
Bug description: PHP should allow access to object properties inline
Description:
------------
As noted in a comment to the PHP object/classes page:
>It seems there is no way to access the return value of a
>method (or any function) inline, without assigning it to a
>variable.
>
>For example:
>....
>$test = new Test;
>
>// This does not work:
>$foo = $test->blah()[0];
>
>// Instead have to do:
>$temp = $test->blah();
>$foo = $temp[0];
>
>// Similarly for objects, cannot do:
>$foo = $test->childTest()->blah();
>
>// Instead have to do:
>$temp = $test->childTest();
>$foo = $temp->blah();
>
>
>:-(
I would like to strongly request that PHP add this functionality to a
future version. The editor's note says that "PHP is not a hard-core OOP
language" --- however, it seems to me that this is a very essential
feature if you want to use even fairly basic object-oriented principles.
For example, because of this, it is very difficult to use access methods
instead of directly accessing instance variables of a class. I.e.,
suppose I have a class which has an array inside it, called $contents,
which contain a variable called $foo. I can do this:
$object->contents[5]->foo
Suppose I want to use an access method instead:
$object->getContents(5)
so that I can hide the fact that $contents is an array --- maybe later I
might want to change it so it looks up the value in a mysql database or
something. I would want to be able to write:
$object->getContents(5)->foo
(or even better, $object->getContents(5)->foo() )
but I can't. Instead, I have to write the much more cumbersome:
$temp = $object->getContents(5);
$temp->foo();
Not allowing transparent use of access methods destroys a lot of the power
of using object-oriented programming. If you can't use access methods
cleanly, then you are forced to reach inside the object and directly
access instance variables, violating encapsulation and making it difficult
to change the internal structure of a class without having to rewrite
everything that calls it.
Reproduce code:
---------------
class Test
{
function blah ()
{
return array(1,2,3);
}
function childTest ()
{
return new Test;
}
}
Expected result:
----------------
$test = new Test;
// This does not work:
$foo = $test->blah()[0];
// Instead have to do:
$temp = $test->blah();
$foo = $temp[0];
// Similarly for objects, cannot do:
$foo = $test->childTest()->blah();
// Instead have to do:
$temp = $test->childTest();
$foo = $temp->blah();
--
Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=24978&edit=1
--
Try a CVS snapshot (php4): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=trysnapshot4
Try a CVS snapshot (php5): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=trysnapshot5
Fixed in CVS: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=fixedcvs
Fixed in release: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=alreadyfixed
Need backtrace: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=needtrace
Try newer version: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=oldversion
Not developer issue: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=support
Expected behavior: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=notwrong
Not enough info: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=notenoughinfo
Submitted twice: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=submittedtwice
register_globals: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=globals
PHP 3 support discontinued: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=php3
Daylight Savings: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=dst
IIS Stability: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=isapi
Install GNU Sed: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=24978&r=gnused
