PHP class extend

Question

I have a problem understand how class extension work..

I'm trying to extend a class to split functions in different files to have it more organized..

But i have problems accessing variables and function of the main class into child class.

That is whats i have:

Parent class: it is the uFlex Class v 0.88 I do not write it all, because it is long..

class uFlex {
    //Constants
    const version = 0.88;
    const salt = "";
    //End of constants\\\\
    /**
     * PDO / database credentials
     */
    var $db = array(
        "host" => '',
        "user" => '',
        "pass" => '',
        "name" => '',   //Database name
        "dsn" => '' //Alterntive PDO DSN string
    );

        function connect(){
        if(is_object($this->db)) return true;

        /* Connect to an ODBC database using driver invocation */
        $user = $this->db['user'];
        $pass = $this->db['pass'];
        $host = $this->db['host'];
        $name = $this->db['name'];
        $dsn = $this->db['dsn'];

        if(!$dsn){
            $dsn = "mysql:dbname={$name};host={$host}";
        }

        $this->report("Connecting to database...");

        try{
            $this->db = new PDO($dsn, $user, $pass);
            $this->report("Connected to database.");
        }catch(PDOException $e){
            $this->error("Failed to connect to database, [SQLSTATE] " . $e->getCode());
        }

        if(is_object($this->db)) return true;
        return false;
    }
}

Then:

<?php
class admin extends uFlex {

    function adm_getUsers(){
            if(!$this->connect()) return false;

            $sql= "SELECT * from users LIMIT 30";
            $st = $this->db->prepare($sql);
        $out = $st->execute();
            $row = $st->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
            return $row;    
    }

    function adm_getSingleUser($id){
            if(!$this->connect()) return false;
        if(is_numeric($id)){
            $sql= "SELECT * from users WHERE id = '$id'";
            }else{
            $sql= "SELECT * from users WHERE username = '$id'";
            }
            $st = $this->db->prepare($sql);
        $out = $st->execute();
            $row = $st->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
            return $row;
    }
}

?>

I intiialize them in a config file i include in every page:

$user = new uFlex(false);
$admin = new admin();

But when using $admin->adm_getUsers(); $row array it's empty.

Before to try to split the functions between 2 classes, i was using the same function on the main class, and was working.

It is the first time i try to extend a class.. i searched on google, and also readed some question here, but it is just too complicated for me to understand, since i'm still learning PHP.

Answer 1

When you extend a class you are actually accessing the properties and methods of the parent class NOT EXECUTING THEM. So if you want to access some data from some method in the parent class, you've got to execute that particular method in the parent class and then access it.

For ex:

<?php
class parent{

    public function adm_getUsers(){
        //your code to get users
    }
}

class child extends class parent{
    public $adm_getUsers = array();

    public function getUsers(){
        if(!isset($this->adm_getUsers)){
            $this->adm_getUsers = $this->adm_getUsers();
        }
        return $this->adm_getUsers;
    }
}

$childObj = new child();
$users = $childObj->getUsers();

Answer 2

This is where inheritance is not really the best answer. Instead you can drop the inheritance and use composition instead. Pass your instance of uFlex through as a dependency of Admin as follows:

$user = new uFlex(false);
$admin = new Admin($user); // uFlex is being passed in

You will first need to update your PHP class as there are a couple of changes:

class Admin {

    // Added private variable that will hold the uFlex instance
    private $user;

    // Added a class constructor which will be called when we create a new Admin
    function __construct($user) { // Receives an instance of uFlex
        $this->user = $user;
    }

    function adm_getUsers(){
        if(!$this->user->connect()) return false; // Call connect on user
        $sql= "SELECT * from users LIMIT 30";
        $st = $this->user->db->prepare($sql); // Call prepare on db of user
        $out = $st->execute();
        $row = $st->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
        return $row;    
    }

    function adm_getSingleUser($id){
        if(!$this->user->connect()) return false; // Same here
        if(is_numeric($id)) {
            $sql= "SELECT * from users WHERE id = '$id'";
        } else {
            $sql= "SELECT * from users WHERE username = '$id'";
        }
        $st = $this->user->db->prepare($sql); // And here
        $out = $st->execute();
        $row = $st->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
        return $row;
    }
}

Answer 3

You should write $user = new admin() if you want to call adm_getUsers(). And you'll have to create _constuct() method in admin class, that will call parent::_construct($val).