[Resolved] Inexplicable parse error

[ppowell]

 class Blah {

/**
 * Required fields array for generating HTML hidden "placeholders" to bypass required Accepter server-side validation
 *
 * @access private
 * @var array $requiredAccepterFieldsArray
 */
var $requiredAccepterFieldsArray = array('image' => array('image_alt' => 'Placeholder'),
									   'video' => array('video_file_type_id' => '1', 'video-table_name' => 'Placeholder'),
									   'event' => array('event_start_year' => date('Y'))
									  );

    function Blah() {}

}

Why is it that the "var" statement throws a parse error? There is absolutely nothing wrong with this declaration, in fact, when taken out of the class structure it parses just fine.

What is up, I'm confused here

Thanx
Phil

[longbow]

didi you try it with out the var and just leaving it as $requiredAccepterFieldsArray?

[rehfeld]

you have an error before the class is even defined, and the php parser doesnt die until it reaches that line.

if your using a text editor w/ syntax highlighting, just look at the code and see where the highlighting starts to look abnormal.

you prob forgot to
close a quote
close a bracket {}
or forgot a semicolon ;

[ppowell]

I found it over the weekend, after talking to a Java guru.

Apparently it's not a PHP problem at all, it's a fundamental "problem" with how OO is designed in the first place.

You can NEVER, at any time, declare an object property with a variant (function, etc.) as part of the definition (you can't with "static", "var" nor "global"). That can only be done either in the constructor or a class method.

So I fixed it by redefining the array as an empty array, only to re-redefine it within the constructor.

Phil