Question

Is there a simple way to make a class object global for an entire application in PHP? I need my class to only be able to be instantiated once throughout the entire application and have it working 100%.

Thanks.

EDIT

Decided the Singleton pattern is the best idea for what I need, and was requested to add a bit of code so here it is:

Using the class in my app:

function catp_check_request(){
    $catp=catp::getInstance();

    $dlinks=array();
    $ddlinks=array();

    foreach($catp->rawlinks->link as $rawlink){
        $dellink="catp-del-{$rawlink->name}";
        array_push($dlinks,$dellink);
    }

    // More stuff..
}

Declaring the class:

class catp {

private static $instance;
private $errors;
private $status_messages;
private $plugin_name;
private $plugin_shortname;
private $links;
private $linksurl;
private $rawlinks;

private function __construct(){}

public static function getInstance() {
    if (self::$instance == null) {
        self::$instance = new catp();
    }
    return self::$instance;
}

public function catp(){
    $this->errors=false;
    $this->plugin_name='CloakandTrack Plugin';
    $this->plugin_shortname='CaTP';
    $this->status_messages=array(
        'updated' => 'You just updated',
        'enabled' => 'You just enabled',
        'disabled' => 'You just disabled',
        'debug' => 'Plugin is in debug mode'
    );
    $this->linksurl=dirname(__FILE__).'/links.xml';
    $this->rawlinks=simplexml_load_file($this->linksurl);
    $this->links=$this->catp_parse_links($this->rawlinks);
}

// More functions..

}

Answer 1

You need singleton object.

class YourClass { 
    private $_instance = null;

    public static function getInstance() {
        if (self::$_instance == null) {
            self::$_instance = new YourClass();
        }
        return self::$_instance;
    }
}

// to get your instance use
YourClass::getInstance()->...;

Check this link for more details http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.patterns.php#language.oop5.patterns.singleton