Accessing object's properties like if the objects were arrays

Question

Is it possible to access object's properties, when you don't know just how their names will be written?

My problem is that when a query returns Zend_Db_Table_Rowset_Abstract object, there are some fields with names like "name_fr", "name_en", "name_au". I want to access either of them according to the current language used in the application. To achieve this I write the code this way:

$result = $myModel->fetchAll($query)->current();
$row = $result->toArray();
echo 'Your name is '.$row['name_'.$language];

This is very annoying. Is it possible to write a code like this for example:

$result = $myModel->fetchAll($query)->current();
echo 'Your name is '.$result->name_{$language};

You can hide this logic in a custom row class: http://pastebin.com/ny6JtF5b — nevvermind, Nov 24 '11 at 07:26

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 23 '11 at 07:08

2

This should work:

$result = $myModel->fetchAll($query)->current();
echo 'Your name is '.$result->{'name_'.$language};

answered Nov 23 '11 at 07:08

Godwin

9,739
6
40
58

Cheers Godwin! It is working! Please would you tell me where this behavior is documented. How can I search for it? Does it have a name? Thanks a lot! – eroteev Nov 23 '11 at 07:23
Fairly sure it's usually called a dynamic property but I can't find any official documentation out there (although I'm sure it is). – Godwin Nov 23 '11 at 07:34
It's called variable variables: http://php.net/manual/en/language.variables.variable.php – Radek Benkel Nov 24 '11 at 07:26

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 23 '11 at 07:26

When you use Zend_Db_Table and fetchAll()->current(), type of returned object is Zend_Db_Table_Row, which inherits from Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract. Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract implements ArrayAccess(manual) interface, which means you can refer to object properties using array key notation.

So, syntax:

'Your name is '.$row['name_'.$language];

should work without using toArray();

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 23 '11 at 07:09

0

Try this:

$result->{"name_$language"}

answered Nov 23 '11 at 07:09

dfsq

191,768
25
236
258

Accessing object's properties like if the objects were arrays

3 Answers3

Linked