Object Cloning

Creating a copy of an object with fully replicated properties is not always the wanted behavior. A good example of the need for copy constructors, is if you have an object which represents a GTK window and the object holds the resource of this GTK window, when you create a duplicate you might want to create a new window with the same properties and have the new object hold the resource of the new window. Another example is if your object holds a reference to another object which it uses and when you replicate the parent object you want to create a new instance of this other object so that the replica has its own separate copy.

An object copy is created by using the clone keyword (which calls the object's __clone() method if possible).

$copy_of_object = clone $object;

When an object is cloned, PHP will perform a shallow copy of all of the object's properties. Any properties that are references to other variables will remain references.

__clone(): void

Once the cloning is complete, if a __clone() method is defined, then the newly created object's __clone() method will be called, to allow any necessary properties that need to be changed.

Example #1 Cloning an object

<?php
class SubObject
{
    static 
$instances 0;
    public 
$instance;

    public function 
__construct() {
        
$this->instance = ++self::$instances;
    }

    public function 
__clone() {
        
$this->instance = ++self::$instances;
    }
}

class 
MyCloneable
{
    public 
$object1;
    public 
$object2;

    function 
__clone()
    {
        
// Force a copy of this->object, otherwise
        // it will point to same object.
        
$this->object1 = clone $this->object1;
    }
}

$obj = new MyCloneable();

$obj->object1 = new SubObject();
$obj->object2 = new SubObject();

$obj2 = clone $obj;


print(
"Original Object:\n");
print_r($obj);

print(
"Cloned Object:\n");
print_r($obj2);

?>

The above example will output:

Original Object:
MyCloneable Object
(
    [object1] => SubObject Object
        (
            [instance] => 1
        )

    [object2] => SubObject Object
        (
            [instance] => 2
        )

)
Cloned Object:
MyCloneable Object
(
    [object1] => SubObject Object
        (
            [instance] => 3
        )

    [object2] => SubObject Object
        (
            [instance] => 2
        )

)

It is possible to access a member of a freshly cloned object in a single expression:

Example #2 Access member of freshly cloned object

<?php
$dateTime 
= new DateTime();
echo (clone 
$dateTime)->format('Y');
?>

The above example will output something similar to:

2016

Here you can write a comment


Please enter at least 10 characters.
Loading... Please wait.
* Pflichtangabe
There are no comments available yet.

Was genau bedeutet "Vibe Coding"? Ein tiefgehender Blick für Entwickler

In der Welt der Softwareentwicklung gibt es unzählige Wege, wie man an ein Projekt herangeht. Manche schwören auf strikte Planung, andere auf bewährte Algorithmen und wieder andere lassen sich von etwas ganz anderem leiten: ihrem Gefühl. ...

admin

Autor : admin
Category: Software & Web-Development

PHP cURL Tutorial: Using cURL to Make HTTP Requests

cURL is a powerful PHP extension that allows you to communicate with different servers using various protocols, including HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and more. ...

TheMax

Autor : TheMax
Category: PHP-Tutorials

Midjourney Tutorial - Instructions for beginners

There is an informative video about Midjourney, the tool for creating digital images using artificial intelligence, entitled "Midjourney tutorial in German - instructions for beginners" ...

Mike94

Autor : Mike94
Category: KI Tutorials

Publish a tutorial

Share your knowledge with other developers worldwide

Share your knowledge with other developers worldwide

You are a professional in your field and want to share your knowledge, then sign up now and share it with our PHP community

learn more

Publish a tutorial