Global variables to new class

pnoeric

Ok, maybe I'm missing something here-- or maybe I'm not thinking about classes in the right way. But I have some site-wide config variables in an include file which I want to make available to every class... is there no way to do this?

For example:

include('globals.inc.php');      // defines: $r = 5;

include('myclass.inc.php');
$nc = new myclass;

now, INSIDE of myclass, how do I access $r? obviously, I could just pass $r to myclass when I instantiate the class, but there's actually a ton of globals in globals.inc.php, not just $r; far too many to pass on a command line. and I don't want to use the 'global' command, that's just sloppy ;-)

what's even weirder(?) is that, within myclass, I can't just do the include() since globals.inc.php says $r=5, not $this->r = 5, so it wouldn't even set up the config variables to work within the class properly. argh.

what am I missing here? I'm sure there's a language construct or some way to do this, but I'm not seeing it.

thanks
Eric

Eric_Bartels

Just use global in your class declaration...

class Test
{
    global $r ; // now contains 5
}

pnoeric

Eric, thanks for the reply. The problem with that approach is, every time I add a new variable to my config.inc.php file, I have to also declare it as global in the class.

HMMMM, or I could put the 'global' declaration in the config.inc.php file... better, but still not ideal...

BTW, I'm guessing the "right" answer here is that all data for a particular task should be interfaced through its class... i.e. if config.inc.php includes variables that deal with user registartion (for example), instead of having the userreg class deal with the variables osmetimes and the main app also having access, I should always have userreg work with the variables, and any time the main app needs to access one of them, it would go through a class function. Right?

Frustrating ;-) I prefer my sloppy coding style ;-)

Any other thoughts? This sort of a "meta" question, more about style and structure than a specific code bug, so I'm especially interested in the opinions of other coders.

best
Eric

Eric_Bartels

Yeah i often have the same problem.
Good code is really not easy with php. I miss public 😉

Back to your "problem"...
You could also use a global array containing all needed data.
Example:

 /* userreg vars */
$glbConfig['userreg_rootdir'] = 'foo' ; 
$glbConfig['userreg_pass'] = 'testing' ;
/* misc settings */
$glbConfig['misc_color_one']  = '#FFCC00' ;

Have a nice day... 🙂

Weedpacket

Wildly off-hand suggestion or two:

A single $CONFIG[] array - an associative array with all yer config bits-and-bobs in it; then the entire thing is made available w/a "global $CONFIG;". A bonus is additional self-documentation if you're into that sort of thing.
A configuration class containing those variables, which you then subclass to suit. Makes certain assumptions about inheritance.

I prefer the first, myself. A hybrid isn't out of the question either - a CONFIG class which is made available w/a "$config = new CONFIG;" (internally, PHP probably treats this situation a lot like suggestion (1) above). That would allow functions to be included as well, though that's probably more appropriate for a utility library.

pnoeric

hmm hmm... I do like that idea of all config variables in an array; certainly makes it easier to GLOBALize.

too bad I can't declare 'global' up with the variable declaration, then just always have it available everywhere, incl. within classes and functions!

thanks all, for the notes.