CODEWITHSUNDEEP
php
Richard Rhyan
Richard Rhyan

Reputation: 213

How to delete an object from within itself?

I have an array of objects (A) which has an array of objects (B) inside it.
I'm trying to move B to a different object in array A.
I'm trying to use this:

public function killToken($a) {
    array_push($a->tokens,$this);  // Put this token in new array (works)
    unset($this);                  // Remove token from this array (does not work)
}

I call this function via: $b->killToken($a);

I've tried several variations on this, but I just can't figure out how to get rid of the object from inside itself.

Any help would be appreciated.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 224

Answers (1)

FtDRbwLXw6
FtDRbwLXw6

Reputation: 28889

In my opinion, you're breaking encapsulation by trying to do this:

array_push($a->tokens,$this);

You should not be modifying $a's state from within $b. You should only modify $b's state from within $b, and tell $a to modify its own state:

$b->killToken($a); // only removes $a from $b->tokens
$a->addToken($b); // adds $b to $a->tokens

This is one of the basic principles of OO design.

Edit: That being said, unset($foo) is not how you remove an element from an array. You can array_search() for the element, which will give you the index, and then you can unset the index like unset($array[$index]), and there are a few other different methods, as well.

Upvotes: 2

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