php automated setter and getter

Question

I'm trying to implement some automated getter and setter for php objects.

My target is to automatically have for each properties the methods getProperty() and setProperty(value), that way if the method is not implemented for a property the script will simply set or get the value.

An example, to make myself clear:

class Foo {
    public $Bar;
}

$A = new A();
$A->setBar("bar");
$A->getBar(); // -> output "bar"

or

class Foo {
    public $Bar;
    public function setBar($bar) { $Bar = $bar; }
    public function getBar($bar) { return 'the value is: ' . $bar; }
}

$A = new A();
$A->setBar("bar");
$A->getBar(); // -> output "the value is: bar"

Any idea/hints on how to accomplish this?

Answer 1

read the magic functions of php and your need you can use __get and __set functions

read this

Answer 2

If you want to simulate the getXy and setXy functions for arbitrary properties, then use the magic __call wrapper:

function __call($method, $params) {

     $var = lcfirst(substr($method, 3));

     if (strncasecmp($method, "get", 3) === 0) {
         return $this->$var;
     }
     if (strncasecmp($method, "set", 3) === 0) {
         $this->$var = $params[0];
     }
}

This would be a good opportunity to do something useful for once, by adding a typemap or anything. Otherwise eschewing getters and setters alltogether might be advisable.