Use constant as class name

Question

I need to use constant as class name for acces to this class static property, that is

class a {

    public static $name = \"Jon\";

}

define(\"CLASSNAME\",         


        

Answer 1

I was looking into this problem because the class is based on a certain context that has to be given. So I made a function in my class that will return the class you require like so:

/**
 * Instantiate a class by class name in variable
 *
 * @param string $className The name of the class
 * @return mixed The instantiated class
 */
protected function getClass($className)
{
    return new $className;
}

Therefore you can call it by using $class = new $this->getClass(static::CLASSNAME); when you defined a constant within the current class that holds the name of the class you want to instantiate. In your case you can use it without the 'static::' or with whatever variable you'd like to use. Do not forget to implement some error handling.

Answer 2

It's possible with reflection:

class a {

    public static $name = "Jon";

}

define("CLASSNAME", "a");

$obj = new ReflectionClass(CLASSNAME);
echo $obj->getStaticPropertyValue("name");

If it is a good design choice is another question...

Answer 3

Use PHP's absolute mess of dereferencing:

$CLASSNAME = 'a';
$a::$name;