Object Iteration
PHP 5 provides a way for objects to be defined so it is possible to iterate
through a list of items, with, for example a foreach statement. By default,
all visible properties will be used
for the iteration.
Simple Object Iteration
$value) {
print "$key => $value\n";
}
}
}
$class = new MyClass();
foreach($class as $key => $value) {
print "$key => $value\n";
}
echo "\n";
$class->iterateVisible();
?>
]]>
&example.outputs;
value 1
var2 => value 2
var3 => value 3
MyClass::iterateVisible:
var1 => value 1
var2 => value 2
var3 => value 3
protected => protected var
private => private var
]]>
As the output shows, the foreach iterated through all
visible variables that can be
accessed. To take it a step further you can implement one
of PHP 5's internal interface named
Iterator. This allows the object to decide what and how
the object will be iterated.
Object Iteration implementing Iterator
var = $array;
}
}
public function rewind() {
echo "rewinding\n";
reset($this->var);
}
public function current() {
$var = current($this->var);
echo "current: $var\n";
return $var;
}
public function key() {
$var = key($this->var);
echo "key: $var\n";
return $var;
}
public function next() {
$var = next($this->var);
echo "next: $var\n";
return $var;
}
public function valid() {
$var = $this->current() !== false;
echo "valid: {$var}\n";
return $var;
}
}
$values = array(1,2,3);
$it = new MyIterator($values);
foreach ($it as $a => $b) {
print "$a: $b\n";
}
?>
]]>
&example.outputs;
You can also define your class so that it doesn't have to define
all the Iterator functions by simply implementing
the PHP 5 IteratorAggregate interface.
Object Iteration implementing IteratorAggregate
items);
}
public function add($value) {
$this->items[$this->count++] = $value;
}
}
$coll = new MyCollection();
$coll->add('value 1');
$coll->add('value 2');
$coll->add('value 3');
foreach ($coll as $key => $val) {
echo "key/value: [$key -> $val]\n\n";
}
?>
]]>
&example.outputs;
value 1]
next: value 2
current: value 2
valid: 1
current: value 2
key: 1
key/value: [1 -> value 2]
next: value 3
current: value 3
valid: 1
current: value 3
key: 2
key/value: [2 -> value 3]
next:
current:
valid:
]]>
For more examples of iterators, see the
SPL Extension.