CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpoopbase-class
jSherz
jSherz

Reputation: 927

PHP Classes - Better alternative to $this->base->class->method

At the moment, I have a main class Base that loads all other controllers and models and then each class that is loaded by Base has a similar structure:

class SomeClass {

    private $base;

    function __construct(&$base) {
        $this->base = $base;
    }

    function SomeMethod() { }

}

Then another class would have to use:

class AnotherClass {

    private $base;

    function __construct(&$base) {
        $this->base = $base;

        $this->base->SomeClass->SomeMethod();
    }

}

Is there a better way of accessing these other classes?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 480

Answers (2)

Alfredo Castaneda Garcia
Alfredo Castaneda Garcia

Reputation: 1659

Perhaps someMethod() could be static:

class SomeClass {

    private $base;

    function __construct(&$base) {
        $this->base = $base;
    }

    public static function SomeMethod() { }

}

And then just:

class AnotherClass {

    private $base;

    function __construct(&$base) {
        $this->base = $base;

        SomeClass::SomeMethod();
    }

}

Upvotes: 1

cmbuckley
cmbuckley

Reputation: 42547

It sounds like Base is an implementation of the Front Controller pattern. The Front Controller is a special case of a Mediator, which does exactly what you're doing. It essentially allows SomeClass and AnotherClass to be developed and maintained separately with fewer dependencies.

However, rather than directly accessing the classes from the Base class, it might be best to have SomeClass and AnotherClass register themselves with the Base class, and expose getter methods that the other objects call:

class Base {
    protected $_authenticator;

    public function setAuthenticator(Authenticator $auth) {
        $this->_authenticator = $auth;
    }

    public function getAuthenticator() {
        return $this->_authenticator;
    }
}

class Authenticator {
    protected $_base;

    public function __construct(Base $base) {
        $this->_base = $base;
        $this->_base->setAuthenticator($this);
    }
}

Upvotes: 1

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