Question

I want to create an array within an object (handler) that holds a series of objects (subject) in PHP. The array is a property of the handler and I have a method to create new subjects.

class MyHandler (
  $TheList = array();
  $TempSubject = object; // class subject

  public function AddNewSubject($information) {
    $TempSubject = new subject($information);
    $This->TheList [] = $TempSubject;
  }
)

If I create a new subject as above, does the information persist object persist within MyHandler or is it lost after AddNewSubject ends? I am new to PHP so please comment on any errors.

Answer 1

$TempSubject within the object’s method is only a temporary variable. If, however, you were to define your function like this:

public function AddNewSubject($information) {
  $this->TempSubject = new subject($information);
  $this->TheList [] = $this->TempSubject;
}

then the object’s property ($this->TempSubject) would be updated each time but a copy of that object would be stored in $this->TheList.

Finally, if you were to define your function like this:

public function AddNewSubject($information) {
  $this->TempSubject = new subject($information);
  $this->TheList [] =& $this->TempSubject;
}

you would find that $this->TheList would contain a list of references to the same object, which would be overridden every time you call the function.

I hope that helps.