object or reference

[twister47]

Hi, I'm just trying to find if there is some part of php that I'm not aware of that can do this.

Probably the easiest way to describe this is with an example.

In javascript, if you say:
variable = document.getElementById('object');

variable will now equal that object and will be a reference to it, so if you say variable.value = 'something', the 'object' will now have a value of object.

So variable EQUALS that object. Now if I did something like this in PHP, it just COPIES the object.

For example:

$variable = $object

and then if you said $variable->value = '5'

$variable->value would be equal to 5, but $object=>value would still be whatever it was before.

I want to know if there is a way to mimic that behavior so I can create a reference instead of a copy?

I know I'm doing a poor job at explaining this, but if anyone could help me out, I'd greatly appreciate it, please ask questions to help clarify if necessary.

Thanks guys

[twister47]

Nevermind! I found the answer and its just a little one, haha

just add & to the beginning of the variable in PHP 4:
http://mjtsai.com/blog/2004/07/15/php-5-object-references/

[dream_scape]

One of the big reasons to upgrade to PHP 5. If you do alot of object oriented programming in PHP 4, all the &'s you have to place gets to be a bit messy.

$object2 =& $object1;

function &returnsObject() { }

function receivesObject(&$object) { }

call_user_func(array(&$object, 'method));

That's off the top of my head from what I can remember doing OO in PHP 4, but there will probably be more places you'll need to place &'s at.

[bradgrafelman]

Don't forget to mark this thread resolved.