Visibility
The visibility of a property or method can be defined by prefixing
the declaration with the keywords public,
protected or
private. Class members declared public can be
accessed everywhere. Members declared protected can be accessed
only within the class itself and by inherited classes. Members
declared as private may only be accessed by the class that defines
the member.
Property Visibility
Class properties must be defined as public, private, or
protected. If declared using var,
the property will be defined as public.
Property declaration
public;
echo $this->protected;
echo $this->private;
}
}
$obj = new MyClass();
echo $obj->public; // Works
echo $obj->protected; // Fatal Error
echo $obj->private; // Fatal Error
$obj->printHello(); // Shows Public, Protected and Private
/**
* Define MyClass2
*/
class MyClass2 extends MyClass
{
// We can redeclare the public and protected method, but not private
public $public = 'Public2';
protected $protected = 'Protected2';
function printHello()
{
echo $this->public;
echo $this->protected;
echo $this->private;
}
}
$obj2 = new MyClass2();
echo $obj2->public; // Works
echo $obj2->protected; // Fatal Error
echo $obj2->private; // Undefined
$obj2->printHello(); // Shows Public2, Protected2, Undefined
?>
]]>
The PHP 4 method of declaring a variable with the
var keyword is still supported for compatibility
reasons (as a synonym for the public keyword). In PHP 5 before 5.1.3, its
usage would generate an E_STRICT warning.
Method Visibility
Class methods may be defined as public, private, or
protected. Methods declared without any explicit visibility
keyword are defined as public.
Method Declaration
MyPublic();
$this->MyProtected();
$this->MyPrivate();
}
}
$myclass = new MyClass;
$myclass->MyPublic(); // Works
$myclass->MyProtected(); // Fatal Error
$myclass->MyPrivate(); // Fatal Error
$myclass->Foo(); // Public, Protected and Private work
/**
* Define MyClass2
*/
class MyClass2 extends MyClass
{
// This is public
function Foo2()
{
$this->MyPublic();
$this->MyProtected();
$this->MyPrivate(); // Fatal Error
}
}
$myclass2 = new MyClass2;
$myclass2->MyPublic(); // Works
$myclass2->Foo2(); // Public and Protected work, not Private
class Bar
{
public function test() {
$this->testPrivate();
$this->testPublic();
}
public function testPublic() {
echo "Bar::testPublic\n";
}
private function testPrivate() {
echo "Bar::testPrivate\n";
}
}
class Foo extends Bar
{
public function testPublic() {
echo "Foo::testPublic\n";
}
private function testPrivate() {
echo "Foo::testPrivate\n";
}
}
$myFoo = new Foo();
$myFoo->test(); // Bar::testPrivate
// Foo::testPublic
?>
]]>
Visibility from other objects
Objects of the same type will have access to each others private and
protected members even though they are not the same instances. This is
because the implementation specific details are already known when inside
those objects.
Accessing private members of the same object type
foo = $foo;
}
private function bar()
{
echo 'Accessed the private method.';
}
public function baz(Test $other)
{
// We can change the private property:
$other->foo = 'hello';
var_dump($other->foo);
// We can also call the private method:
$other->bar();
}
}
$test = new Test('test');
$test->baz(new Test('other'));
?>
]]>
&example.outputs;