Question

Ok here is a method I use for initializing models in my controller actions:

protected $_tables = array();

protected function _getTable($table)
{
    if (false === array_key_exists($table, $this->_tables)) {
        include APPLICATION_PATH . '/modules/'
        . $this->_request->getModuleName() . '/models/' . $table . '.php';
        $this->_tables[$table] = new $table();
        echo 'test ';
    }
    return $this->_tables[$table];
}

Then when I call the _getTable() method two times (for example once in init() method and once in the controller action) it prints:

test test test test test test

On top of the page. Shouldn’t it just return the object from the _tables array() because of the array_key_exists() check? In other words shouldn’t the part inside the array_key_exists() function get executed only once when the method is called multiple times?

UPDATE:

So the problem is this – for some reason the layout gets printed twice (so it’s layout printed and inside the layout where there is layout()->content; ?> it prints the layout again). I have no idea why it does this as it worked well on the previous server and also on localhost.

Answer 1

In the snippet you show:

protected $this->_tables = array();

This is not valid syntax, it should be:

protected $_tables = array();

Also, why not just use include_once and let PHP handle this for you? Alternatively, you could use the Zend_Loader. Don’t reinvent the wheel.