Constructors in Object-oriented PHP

[Anon]

Hi,

Is it possible to define more than one constructor in a class and, if so, how is it possible to call an other constructor ?

Example :

class myClass
{
var $field ;

   function myClass($inField)
           {
             $this->$field = $inField ;
           }
   function myClass()
           {
             this("Default field name") ;
             // It is Java's typical call
             // How can this be done in PHP 4 ?
           }

 }

I gave a simple example on purpose. I know that the heqder of the first constructorcan be written like that :

function myClass($inField = "Default field name")

However, I need more sophisticated stuff and this trick is not enough.

Romain

[Anon]

my understanding oh PHP OOP is that what you are seeking is not possible. You could do something like your second example and then call internal methods to "extend" the constructor..

class myClass
{
var $field ;

function myClass($inField = "Default field name")
{
switch ($inField) {
case "case1":
$this->function();
break;
case "case2":
$this->anotherfunction();
break;
case "default":
This->mylastfunction();

}

}

There is an article here: http://www.phpcomplete.com/content.php?id=68

that discusses your question I believe - I found it difficult to read because the writer's native language is apparently not English, but you can get the general idea.

[Anon]

Oh... Is it such obvious that I am not a native English speaker ?

Thanks a lot. In fact, this is the solution I used because I realized that methods could not be overloaded : PHP only keeps the last defined method.

[Anon]

Romain wrote:

Oh... Is it such obvious that I am not a native English speaker ?

not at all, I was speaking about the author of the article. U speek Englich jyust fiine! :-)