Overloading multiple property accesses: combining the “__set()” and “__get()” methods in a single class - PHP

Combining the “__set()” and “__get()” methods into one single class is really a no-brainer process. Once the structure of the class has been defined, it’s just a matter of adding a concrete implementation for each of the methods. Using the previous “CookieSaver” class, here is how the two respective methods can be combined:

class CookieSaver{
    var $cookieName;
    var $value;
    var $expTimes=array('exp1'=>900,'exp2'=>1800,'exp3'=>3600);
    function CookieSaver($cookieName='defaultCookie',$value='defaultValue'){
        if(!is_string($cookieName)){
            trigger_error('Invalid cookie name',E_USER_ERROR);
        }
            $this->cookieName=$cookieName;
            $this->value=$value;
    }
    // set cookie
    function setCookie(){
        setcookie($this->cookieName,$this->value);
    }
    // get cookie
    function getCookie(){
        if(!$cookie=$_COOKIE[$this->cookieName]){
            trigger_error('Error retrieving
cookie',E_USER_ERROR);
        }
        return $cookie;
    }
    // set value of property via __set() method
    function __set($property,$value){
        $this->expTimes[$property]=$value;
        $expTime=$this->expTimes[$property];
        setcookie('newCookie',urlencode('This cookie has been set
via the __set() method'),time()+$expTime);
        echo 'Setting new cookie...with expiration of '.$expTime.' seconds.';
        return;
    }
    // get value of property via __get() method
    function __get($property){
        $expTime=$this->expTimes[$property];
        setcookie('newCookie',urlencode('This cookie has been set
via the __get() method'),time()+$expTime);
        echo 'Retrieving new cookie...with an expiration of
'.$expTime.' seconds.';
        return;
    }
}

As you can see, the above class now includes both the “__set()” and “__get()” methods that you saw previously. This comes in very handy for demonstrating how they can be triggered together when the class is properly overloaded by the “overload()” function.

With reference to this, the following code snippet shows how to overload the class, and how the corresponding “__get()” and “__set()” method are automatically called behind the scenes when the same property access is overloaded in turn:

// overload 'CookieSaver' class ( implements __set() and __get()
methods)
overload('CookieSaver');
// instantiate 'CookieSaver' object
$cookieSaver=&new CookieSaver();
// call __set() method and modify $this->expTimes['exp1'] array
element
@$cookieSaver->exp1=60;
// call __get() method and return $this->expTimes['exp1'] array
element
echo @$cookieSaver->exp1;

In the previous example, when the first property access is overloaded, it gives as output the following message:

Setting new cookie...with an expiration of 60 seconds.

Obviously, this means that the “__set()” method has been triggered by the PHP parser and a new cookie has been set. In a similar fashion, when the second property access is overloaded, the script displays the following message:

Retrieving new cookie...with an expiration of 900 seconds.

This time, after overloading the second property access, the “_get()” method has been called, and as a result, the cookie has been retrieved by this method. Also, it should be noted that both property accesses must not be overloaded at the same time. An error will be triggered if you do this, because the two “__set()” and “__get()” methods first set a cookie and then display a simple message. As you know, you cannot output anything before handling cookies (at least not directly) when using the HTTP protocol.

Right, at this point you’ve seen how the two “__set()” and “__get()” methods were combined within the same sample class, to be triggered by the PHP interpreter when a couple of property accesses are overloaded. Assuming that you already grasped the core concepts of how to overload a property access, the last example that I’m going to show you in this article is aimed at demonstrating how to overload a method call. It will result in the triggering of the respective “__call()” method.

To learn how this will be achieved, please jump into the next section and keep on reading.