How can I access a private variable in a class without changing its visibility

Question

I am wondering is it possible for me to access the _staff_id variable without me having to change the declaration to public (I have access to change this but its not my code and im assuming it was made private for a reason, however i am still tasked with getting this information)

MyObject Object
(

    [_staff_id:private] => 43

)

You can't access it from outside of the class, unless you class has a public getter method.... that's the whole point of private — Mark Baker, Feb 26 '15 at 13:31
possible duplicate of [accessing private variable from member function in PHP](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1762135/accessing-private-variable-from-member-function-in-php) — Jørgen R, Feb 26 '15 at 13:33

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 26 '15 at 13:32

Using a public get function. E.g.:

class MyObject {
    private _staff_id = 43

    public function get($field) {
        return $this->$field;
    }
}
$myObject = new MyObject;
$staff_id = $myObject->get('_staff_id');

This allows you to access the variable without the ability to overwrite its value.

How can I access a private variable in a class without changing its visibility

1 Answers1