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87 lines
4.5 KiB
87 lines
4.5 KiB
6 years ago
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Properties
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==========
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In PHP, class member variables are also called *properties*. These variables are part of the class definition, and are used
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to represent the state of a class instance (i.e., to differentiate one instance of the class from another).
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In practice, you may often want to handle the reading or writing of properties in special ways. For example,
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you may want to always trim a string when it is being assigned
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to a `label` property. You *could* use the following code to achieve this task:
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```php
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$object->label = trim($label);
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```
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The drawback of the above code is that you would have to call `trim()` everywhere in your code where you might set the `label`
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property. If, in the future, the `label` property gets a new requirement, such as the first letter must be capitalized,
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you would again have to modify every bit of code that assigns a value to `label`.
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The repetition of code leads to bugs, and is a practice you want to avoid as much as possible.
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To solve this problem, Yii introduces a base class called [[yii\base\BaseObject]] that supports defining properties
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based on *getter* and *setter* class methods. If a class needs that functionality, it should extend from
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[[yii\base\BaseObject]], or from a child class.
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> Info: Nearly every core class in the Yii framework extends from [[yii\base\BaseObject]] or a child class.
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This means, that whenever you see a getter or setter in a core class, you can use it like a property.
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A getter method is a method whose name starts with the word `get`; a setter method starts with `set`.
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The name after the `get` or `set` prefix defines the name of a property. For example, a getter `getLabel()` and/or
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a setter `setLabel()` defines a property named `label`, as shown in the following code:
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```php
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namespace app\components;
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use yii\base\BaseObject;
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class Foo extends BaseObject
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{
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private $_label;
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public function getLabel()
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{
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return $this->_label;
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}
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public function setLabel($value)
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{
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$this->_label = trim($value);
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}
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}
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```
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To be clear, the getter and setter methods create the property `label`, which in this case internally refers to a private
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property named `_label`.
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Properties defined by getters and setters can be used like class member variables. The main difference is that
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when such property is being read, the corresponding getter method will be called; when the property is
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being assigned a value, the corresponding setter method will be called. For example:
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```php
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// equivalent to $label = $object->getLabel();
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$label = $object->label;
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// equivalent to $object->setLabel('abc');
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$object->label = 'abc';
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```
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A property defined by a getter without a setter is *read only*. Trying to assign a value to such a property will cause
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an [[yii\base\InvalidCallException|InvalidCallException]]. Similarly, a property defined by a setter without a getter
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is *write only*, and trying to read such a property will also cause an exception. It is not common to have write-only
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properties.
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There are several special rules for, and limitations on, the properties defined via getters and setters:
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* The names of such properties are *case-insensitive*. For example, `$object->label` and `$object->Label` are the same.
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This is because method names in PHP are case-insensitive.
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* If the name of such a property is the same as a class member variable, the latter will take precedence.
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For example, if the above `Foo` class has a member variable `label`, then the assignment `$object->label = 'abc'`
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will affect the *member variable* `label`; that line would not call the `setLabel()` setter method.
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* These properties do not support visibility. It makes no difference to the defining getter or setter method if the property is public, protected or private.
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* The properties can only be defined by *non-static* getters and/or setters. Static methods will not be treated in the same manner.
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* A normal call to `property_exists()` does not work to determine magic properties. You should call [[yii\base\BaseObject::canGetProperty()|canGetProperty()]]
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or [[yii\base\BaseObject::canSetProperty()|canSetProperty()]] respectively.
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Returning back to the problem described at the beginning of this guide, instead of calling `trim()` everywhere a `label` value is assigned,
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`trim()` now only needs to be invoked within the setter `setLabel()`.
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And if a new requirement makes it necessary that the label be initially capitalized, the `setLabel()` method can quickly
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be modified without touching any other code. The one change will universally affect every assignment to `label`.
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