More on Private Methods with PHP 5 Member Visibility - Reintroducing a previous hands-on example
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As I expressed in the beginning, my plan for this final part of the series consists of completing the discussion of private methods within PHP 5 classes, as well as demonstrating how to use the “final” keyword. Thus, it’d be more than convenient to review one of the hands-on examples developed in the previous tutorial of the series. It illustrated how to declare and implement a pair of private methods within a rudimentary data saving class.
Essentially, the example looked like this:
// define 'DataSaver' class (methods are defined private)
class DataSaver{
private $filePath;
private $data;
public function __construct($data,$filePath){
if(!$data||strlen($data)>1024){
throw new Exception('Invalid data for being saved to target file.');
}
if(!file_exists($filePath)){
throw new Exception('Invalid target file.');
}
$this->data=$data;
$this->filePath=$filePath;
}
// save data to target file
public function save(){
if(!$fp=fopen($this->filePath,'w')){
throw new Exception('Error opening target file.');
}
if(!fwrite($fp,$this->data)){
throw new Exception('Error writing data to target file.');
}
fclose($fp);
}
// get target file via an accessor
private function getFilePath(){
return $this->filePath;
}
// get data via an accessor
private function getData(){
return $this->data;
}
}
try{
// create new instance of 'DataSaver' class
$dataSaver=new DataSaver('This string of data will be saved to a target file!','datafile.txt');
// save data to target file
$dataSaver->save();
// call private methods
echo 'Target file is the following : '.$dataSaver->getFilePath().'<br />';
echo 'Data for being saved to target files is the following : '.$dataSaver->getData();
/* displays the following
Fatal error: Call to private method DataSaver::getFilePath() from context '' in path/to/file/
*/
}
catch(Exception $e){
echo $e->getMessage();
exit();
}
As you can see, a few interesting things happen: first, a basic “DataSaver” class is built, this time incorporating a couple of private methods, called “getFilePath()” and “getData()” respectively, into its API. Then, an instance of this class is created with the purpose of demonstrating how the PHP interpreter fires up a fatal error each time these methods are called from outside the originating class.
With this simple example grasped, I will assume that you’re pretty familiar with declaring and implementing private methods within a basic PHP 5 class. Therefore, it’s time to look further into the topics that I plan to discuss in the following section.
Well, at this point you know that when a method is declared private by a parent, it simply can’t be called by any of its eventual subclasses, right? This condition can be better understood by way of a hands-on approach, so in the next few lines I’m going to build another practical example aimed at recreating this particular situation.
To see how this brand new example will be developed, click on the link below and keep reading.
Next: Calling a private method from a subclass >>
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