Obtain a PHP class property with a string

Problem

In PHP, how can I get a property based on a string? I’m going to call it magic. So, what exactly is magic?

$obj->Name = 'something';
$get = $obj->Name;

would be like…

magic($obj, 'Name', 'something');
$get = magic($obj, 'Name');

Asked by Daniel A. White

Solution #1

Like this

<?php

$prop = 'Name';

echo $obj->$prop;

If you have control over the class, you can simply implement the ArrayAccess interface and perform this.

echo $obj['Name'];

Answered by Peter Bailey

Solution #2

Use the notation: to access the property without having to create an intermediate variable.

$something = $object->{'something'};

This also allows you to construct the property name in a loop, such as:

for ($i = 0; $i < 5; $i++) {
    $something = $object->{'something' . $i};
    // ...
}

Answered by laurent

Solution #3

Variable Variables is the term for what you’re asking about. All you have to do is save your string in a variable and use it as follows:

$Class = 'MyCustomClass';
$Property = 'Name';
$List = array('Name');

$Object = new $Class();

// All of these will echo the same property
echo $Object->$Property;  // Evaluates to $Object->Name
echo $Object->{$List[0]}; // Use if your variable is in an array

Answered by matpie

Solution #4

Something along these lines? I haven’t tried it yet, but it should be fine.

function magic($obj, $var, $value = NULL)
{
    if($value == NULL)
    {
        return $obj->$var;
    }
    else
    {
        $obj->$var = $value;
    }
}

Answered by Ólafur Waage

Solution #5

Simply save the property name in a variable and access the property using the variable. As an example:

$name = 'Name';

$obj->$name = 'something';
$get = $obj->$name;

Answered by Jon Benedicto

Post is based on https://stackoverflow.com/questions/804850/get-php-class-property-by-string