[RESOLVED] Method help

[cleanman_2]

I am teaching myself OOP and have a problem understanding how to transfer values between methods of the same class. Can I get and use the value of a variable in Method A in Method B WITHOUT using RETURN in Method A?

Thanks, Cleanman2

[dagon]

$this->foo

or

self::foo

depending on the circumstances.

[cleanman_2]

dagon;10893992 wrote:

$this->foo

or

self::foo

depending on the circumstances.

Thank you very much. $this->foo works I had completely forgotten about dropping the $ in this situation.

Regards, Cleanman2

[cleanman_2]

cleanman/2;10893997 wrote:

Thank you very much. $this->foo works I had completely forgotten about dropping the $ in this situation.

Regards, Cleanman2

Dragon,

Sorry, I guess I did not understand after all. I apparently had some uncommented test code that made it look like I had it figured out.

Let me ask the question in a different manner. If I have a class like this:

class anyClass
{
public function A()
{
$foo = $vee['T'];
}

public function B()
{
// What goes in this function to be able to use it's return value.
return ; // what
}

I want to be able to use method B in a program like this:

$ans = $x->B();
echo $ans;

Thanks, cleanman/2

[dagon]

either

$ZZZ = new anyClass();

$ans= $ZZZ->B();

or

$ans=anyClass::B()

[laserlight]

cleanman/2 wrote:

What goes in this function to be able to use it's return value.

Without knowing what the member function B() is supposed to do, it is impossible to say what it should return.

My guess is that you actually want to do something like this:

<?php
class anyClass
{
    private $foo;

function __construct($vee)
{
    $this->foo = $vee['T'];
}

function B()
{
    return $this->foo;
}
}

$v = array('T' => 'Hello!');
$x = new anyClass($v);
$ans = $x->B();
echo $ans;

Note that I changed the member function A() into a constructor, and then I returned my best guess (the member variable $foo) from the member function B(). dagon gave you two options from calling B(), but the second one is semantically wrong though it will work if B() does not actually use any member variables, directly or indirectly.

[cleanman_2]

I'm afraid in the interest of brevity I have failed to give a good explanaiton of my problem. As I said I am trying to learn OOP, I decided to convert a working procedural PHP script to OOP style. It uses Pear QuickForm to dispaly a form and then put the results of filling out the form in MySql database.It is mostly working except nothing was going to the database. I determined that the form was displayed correctly but I was not capturing the results of filling out the form.

I wrote one class, displayForm() to dispaly the form and capture the results and another class, saveForm() to update the database. I am talking about problems with the displayForm() class. I have a method in it that must return a QuickForm object and the results of filling out the form. I know you can't use return $a, $b; so I tried an array but could not get it to work. I don't know if this is beacuse you can't pass a QuickForm object in an array or if I just coded it wrong.

I decided to try solving the problem by using Method A to return the QuickForm object and having Method B get the form data from MethodA and then return it to my script. That is why I asked if it was possible to get the contents of a variable in one method and pass it to another method in the same class without using return in the first class.

I hope my problem is now clearer and apologize if I have wasted everyone's time with my earlier posts.

Regards, Cleanman/2

[laserlight]

cleanman/2 wrote:

I wrote one class, displayForm() to dispaly the form and capture the results and another class, saveForm() to update the database.

To be honest, classes named displayForm and saveForm do not sound like correct object oriented design. Typically, class names are nouns because they model some kind of "object", hence the phrase that "a class is a blueprint for an object". Names involving verbs, like displayForm and saveForm, are more appropriate for functions, be they free functions or member functions (also known as methods).

Consequently, my guess is that you are still thinking along entirely procedural lines when designing your classes, and this could be related to your current problems in the bigger picture.

cleanman/2 wrote:

I am talking about problems with the displayForm() class. I have a method in it that must return a QuickForm object and the results of filling out the form. I know you can't use return $a, $b; so I tried an array but could not get it to work. I don't know if this is beacuse you can't pass a QuickForm object in an array or if I just coded it wrong.

Using an array should work. What did you try?

cleanman/2 wrote:

I decided to try solving the problem by using Method A to return the QuickForm object and having Method B get the form data from MethodA and then return it to my script.

So the user of your class only calls Method B?

[cleanman_2]

laserlight;10894092 wrote:

To be honest, classes named displayForm and saveForm do not sound like correct object oriented design. Typically, class names are nouns because they model some kind of "object", hence the phrase that "a class is a blueprint for an object". Names involving verbs, like displayForm and saveForm, are more appropriate for functions, be they free functions or member functions (also known as methods)

Consequently, my guess is that you are still thinking along entirely procedural lines when designing your classes, and this could be related to your current problems in the bigger picture.

You are probably right, though I am trying think OOP style. When I started this process I basically wrapped the procedural code in a class and got it to work, but it looked long and complicated, almost cheating in fact. The book I was using said to give classes clearly defined tasks. I just went and read the first chapter and the example it used was one class to retrieve database info and another to display it. I guess this influenced my throught process.

Using an array should work. What did you try?

That code is long gone, but since I am getting nowwhere with what I am trying now I will put more effort into using an array.

So the user of your class only calls Method B?

No I was using Method A to pass the QuickForm object to display the form and Method B to pass the data from filling out the form.

I appreciate the feedback. It is more helpful than trying figure out everything from reading a book.

Regards, Cleanman/2

[laserlight]

Why not post these classes that you have written?

[cleanman_2]

laserlight;10894108 wrote:

Why not post these classes that you have written?

That would have been my next step but I don't have to now as I finally figured out how to use arrays to do what I needed.

Thanks for your help, Cleanman/2

P.S. I would mark this thread as resolved but I'm not sure how to do it.

[laserlight]

You're welcome 🙂

cleanman/2 wrote:

P.S. I would mark this thread as resolved but I'm not sure how to do it.

Use the thread tools. They are found from a menu near the top of this page.