Question

I’m trying to create a function that will autoload classes, so I can do something like this:

load_class('Db');
$db->query();

Here’s my code so far. It loads the file and instantiates the class successfully, but when I try to call a method like above, I get Call to member function error.

Here’s my code:

function load_class($class) {
    $file = 'classes/' . $class . '.php';

    if (file_exists($file)) {
        include_once($file);

        if (class_exists($class)) {
            $class = new $class();
            return $class;
        }
    }
}

What am I missing?

Thanks!

Answer 1

load_class return the instance of Db class, if it found the declaration.

You may need to do:

$db = load_class('Db');
if (!$db) {
  throw new Exception('Failed to load db!');
}
$db->query();

But, If you want to autoload the class when you do $db = new Db;, then you should take a look at the php’s autoload.

Example:

function load_class($class) {
    $file = 'classes/' . $class . '.php';
    if (file_exists($file)) {
        include_once($file);
    }
}
spl_autoload_register('load_class');