get_class

Last updated: Fri, 24 Sep 2010

get_class_vars

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

get_class_vars — Get the default properties of the class

Description

array get_class_vars ( string $class_name )

Get the default properties of the given class.

Parameters

class_name: The class name

Return Values

Returns an associative array of declared properties visible from the current scope, with their default value. The resulting array elements are in the form of varname => value.

Changelog

Version	Description
5.0.3	Depending on the scope, get_class_vars() will only return the properties that can be accessed from the current scope.
5.0.2	Calling get_class_vars() will now expose all the properties as an array, unlike previous behaviour where protected and private properties were prefixed with nul bytes.
5.0.1	Calling get_class_vars() will expose all properties, as when converting an object to a class.
Prior to 4.2.0	Uninitialized class variables will not be reported by get_class_vars()

Examples

Example #1 get_class_vars() example


<?php

class myclass {

    var $var1; // this has no default value...
    var $var2 = "xyz";
    var $var3 = 100;
    private $var4; // PHP 5

    // constructor
    function myclass() {
        // change some properties
        $this->var1 = "foo";
        $this->var2 = "bar";
        return true;
    }

}

$my_class = new myclass();

$class_vars = get_class_vars(get_class($my_class));

foreach ($class_vars as $name => $value) {
    echo "$name : $value\n";
}

?>

The above example will output:

// Before PHP 4.2.0
var2 : xyz
var3 : 100

// As of PHP 4.2.0
var1 :
var2 : xyz
var3 : 100

Example #2 get_class_vars() and scoping behaviour


<?php
function format($array)
{
    return implode('|', array_keys($array)) . "\r\n";
}

class TestCase
{
    public $a    = 1;
    protected $b = 2;
    private $c   = 3;

    public static function expose()
    {
        echo format(get_class_vars(__CLASS__));
    }
}

TestCase::expose();
echo format(get_class_vars('TestCase'));
?>

The above example will output:

// 5.0.0
a| * b| TestCase c
a| * b| TestCase c

// 5.0.1 - 5.0.2
a|b|c
a|b|c

// 5.0.3 +
a|b|c
a


If you need get the child protected/private vars ignoring the parent vars, use like this:



<?php 

class childClass extends parentClass {

    private $login;

    private $password;

    

    public function __set($key, $val) {

        if ($key == 'password')

            $this->$key = md5($val);

        else

            $this->$key = $val;

    }

}

class parentClass {

    public $name;

    public $email;

    

    function __construct() {

        $reflection = new ReflectionClass($this);

        $vars = array_keys($reflection->getdefaultProperties());

        $reflection = new ReflectionClass(__CLASS__);

        $parent_vars = array_keys($reflection->getdefaultProperties());

        

        $my_child_vars = array();

        foreach ($vars as $key) {

            if (!in_array($key, $parent_vars)) {

                $my_child_vars[] = $key;

            }

        }

        

        print_r($my_child_vars);

    }

}



$child_class = new childClass();

?>

harmor
21-Dec-2008 12:53


So I wanted to get a list of the public parameters in a child class using a static function pre-5.3.0 (< 5.3.0).  In 5.3.0+ you would use the new 'static' like you would 'self' to get the late binding.



<?php

class childClass extends parentClass

{

    public $id;

    public $name;    



    public static function getFields()

    {

        return self::_getFields(__CLASS__);

    }

    

}

abstract class parentClass

{

    public $idInParent;

    public $nameInParent;

    

    abstract public static function getFields();

    

    final protected static function _getFields($className)

    {

        $rtn = array();

        foreach (array_keys(get_class_vars($className)) as $var) {

            $rtn[] = $var;            

        }

        return $rtn;

    }

    

}



var_dump(childClass::getFields());

?>



Results:

array(4) {

  [0]=>

  string(2) "id"

  [1]=>

  string(4) "name"

  [2]=>

  string(10) "idInParent"

  [3]=>

  string(12) "nameInParent"

}

artktec at art-k-tec dot com
16-Nov-2007 06:18


There seems to be be a function to get constants missing , i.e. get_class_constants() ... so here is a simple function for you all. Hopefully Zend will include this in the next round as a native php call, without using reflection.



<?php

   function GetClassConstants($sClassName) {

      $oClass = new ReflectionClass($sClassName);

      return $oClass->getConstants());

   }

?>

phpnet at stccorp dot net
15-Jun-2007 02:18


This is one of the best php functions. Look at what you can do



class Object 

{

   var $updtFields;//keep track of affected values

   function Object($record="") {

       if (is_array($record))

       {

          $this->updtFields = array();

          foreach(array_keys(get_class_vars(get_class($this))) as $k)

          if (isset($record[$k]))

         {

          $this->$k = $record[$k];

          $this->updtFields[] = $k;

         }

      }    

   }//end of arrayToObject

       

   function toDebug($nl='<br>')

   {

       foreach(array_keys(get_class_vars(get_class($this))) as $k)

       echo "$k = [" . $this->$k . "]{$nl}";

    }//end of toDebug  

}



Now you can do really cool things. If you have a form like 

<form action="" method="post">

  <input type="text" name="name" />

  <input type="text" name="phone" />

  <input type="submit" />

</form>



and you define your class like this

class Person extends Object{

  var $name; //same same as in the form

  var $phone;

}



when you submmit the form, you can get the data like



$person = new Person($_POST);



//everything in just one line,cool!! Also if you use pear db or adodb when you get data from the database you can do the same thing except use the $row that you get from the database. Remember to ask the result is associative mode.



This is my core Object for everthing I do and it works great.

bernd at tiggerswelt dot net
29-Jan-2007 11:52


If you assign a constant value using the self-scope by default to a variable, get_class_vars() will result in a FATAL error.



Example:



<?PHP



  class Foo {

    const Bar = "error";

    

    public $Foo = self::Bar;

  }

  

  print_r(get_class_vars("Foo"));



?>



... but using "Foo::Bar" instead "self::Bar" will work ;)

gizmobits at hotmail dot com
04-Mar-2006 04:48


I wanted a simple ToString() function that was automatic and class independent.  I wanted to dump it into any of several classes and get values quickly.  I wanted to leave it there so I could customize it for each class, so an outside function wasn't suitable.  I came up with this and thought it might be useful.  Have fun!



<?php

  function ToString () {

    $s = "";

    $s .= "<table>\n";

    $s .= "<tr><td colspan=2><hr></td></tr>\n";

    foreach (get_class_vars(get_class($this)) as $name => $value) {

      $s .= "<tr><td>$name:</td><td>" . $this->$name . "</td></tr>\n";

    }

    $s .= "<tr><td colspan=2><hr></td></tr>\n";

    $s .= "</table>\n";

    return $s;

  }



?>

php dot net at sharpdreams dot com
25-Oct-2005 03:25


Contrary to multiple comments throughout the manual, get_class_vars() performed within a class can access any public, protected, and private members.



<?php

class Foo {

   public $x;

   protected $y;

   private $z;

   public function __sleep() {

      return( get_class_vars( __CLASS__ ) );

   }

}

?>



works fine (returns x, y, & z). However, given the same class as above,



<?php

print_r( get_class_vars( "Foo" ) );

?>



will NOT return x, y, & z. Instead it will only return the public members (in our case, z).

alan_k at php dot net
22-Jan-2005 04:23


in PHP5 to get all the vars (including private etc.) use:



$reflection = new ReflectionClass($class);

$defaults = $reflection->getdefaultProperties();

rec at NOSPAM dot instantmassacre dot com
24-Jan-2003 01:23


If you want to retrieve the class vars from within the class itself, use $this.



<?php

class Foo {



    var $a;

    var $b;

    var $c;

    var $d;

    var $e;



    function GetClassVars()

    {

        return array_keys(get_class_vars(get_class($this))); // $this

    }



}



$Foo = new Foo;



$class_vars = $Foo->GetClassVars();



foreach ($class_vars as $cvar)

{

    echo $cvar . "<br />\n";

}

?>



Produces, after PHP 4.2.0, the following:



a

b

c

d

e

add a note