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<refentry xml:id="function.get-class" xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook">
 <refnamediv>
  <refname>get_class</refname>
  <refpurpose>Returns the name of the class of an object</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>
 <refsect1 role="description">
  &reftitle.description;
  <methodsynopsis>
   <type>string</type><methodname>get_class</methodname>
   <methodparam choice="opt"><type>object</type><parameter>object</parameter><initializer>&null;</initializer></methodparam>
  </methodsynopsis>
  <para>
   Gets the name of the class of the given <parameter>object</parameter>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="parameters">
  &reftitle.parameters;
  <para>
   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>object</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The tested object. This parameter may be omitted when inside a class.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="returnvalues">
  &reftitle.returnvalues;
  <para>
   Returns the name of the class of which <parameter>object</parameter> is an
   instance. Returns &false; if <parameter>object</parameter> is not an 
   object.
  </para>
  <para>
   If <parameter>object</parameter> is omitted when inside a class, the
   name of that class is returned.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="errors">
  &reftitle.errors;
  <para>
   If <function>get_class</function> is called with anything other than an
   object, an <constant>E_WARNING</constant> level error is raised.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="changelog">
  &reftitle.changelog;
  <para>
   <informaltable>
    <tgroup cols="2">
     <thead>
      <row>
       <entry>&Version;</entry>
       <entry>&Description;</entry>
      </row>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
      <row>
       <entry>5.3.0</entry>
       <entry>
        &null; became the default value for <parameter>object</parameter>,
        so passing &null; to <parameter>object</parameter> now has the same
        result as not passing any value.
       </entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </informaltable>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="examples">
  &reftitle.examples;
  <para>
   <example>
    <title>Using <function>get_class</function></title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php

class foo {
    function name()
    {
        echo "My name is " , get_class($this) , "\n";
    }
}

// create an object
$bar = new foo();

// external call
echo "Its name is " , get_class($bar) , "\n";

// internal call
$bar->name();

?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
    &example.outputs;
    <screen>
<![CDATA[
Its name is foo
My name is foo
]]>
    </screen>
   </example>
   <example>
    <title>Using <function>get_class</function> in superclass</title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php

abstract class bar {
    public function __construct()
    {
        var_dump(get_class($this));
        var_dump(get_class());
    }
}

class foo extends bar {
}

new foo;

?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
    &example.outputs;
    <screen>
<![CDATA[
string(3) "foo"
string(3) "bar"
]]>
    </screen>
   </example>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="seealso">
  &reftitle.seealso;
  <para>
   <simplelist>
    <member><function>get_called_class</function></member>
    <member><function>get_parent_class</function></member>
    <member><function>gettype</function></member>
    <member><function>is_subclass_of</function></member>
   </simplelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

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