PHP/Class/ toString

Defining a class"s stringification

   <source lang="html4strict">

class Person {

   protected $name;
   protected $email;
   
   public function setName($name) {
       $this->name = $name;
   }
   public function setEmail($email) {
       $this->email = $email;
   }
   public function __toString() {
       return "$this->name <$this->email>";
   }

}

 </source>
   
  

__toString( ) set a string value for the object that will be used if the object is ever used as a string.

   <source lang="html4strict">

<?

   class Cat {
           public function _ _toString( ) {
                   return "This is a cat\n";
           }
   }
   $toby = new Cat;
   print $toby;

?>

 </source>
   
  

Using the __toString() Method

   <source lang="html4strict">

<?php

   class User {
           private $username;
           function __construct($name) {
                   $this->username = $name;
           }
           public function getUserName() {
                   return $this->username;
           }
           function __toString() {
                   return $this->getUserName();
           }
   }
   $user = new User("john");
   echo $user;

?>

 </source>