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Object Iteration

PHP 5 provides a way for objects to be defined so it is possible to iterate through a list of items, with, for example a foreach statement. By default, all visible properties will be used for the iteration.

Example #1 Simple Object Iteration

 <?php
class MyClass
{
    public $var1 = 'value 1';
    public $var2 = 'value 2';
    public $var3 = 'value 3';

    protected $protected = 'protected var';
    private   $private   = 'private var';

    function iterateVisible() {
       echo "MyClass::iterateVisible:\n";
       foreach($this as $key => $value) {
           print "$key => $value\n";
       }
    }
}

$class = new MyClass();

foreach($class as $key => $value) {
    print "$key => $value\n";
}
echo "\n";


$class->iterateVisible();

?>

The above example will output:

 var1 => value 1 var2 => value 2 var3 => value 3  MyClass::iterateVisible: var1 => value 1 var2 => value 2 var3 => value 3 protected => protected var private => private var

As the output shows, the foreach iterated through all visible variables that can be accessed. To take it a step further you can implement one of PHP 5's internal interface named Iterator. This allows the object to decide what and how the object will be iterated.

Example #2 Object Iteration implementing Iterator

 <?php
class MyIterator implements Iterator
{
    private $var = array();

    public function __construct($array)
    {
        if (is_array($array)) {
            $this->var = $array;
        }
    }

    public function rewind()
    {
        echo "rewinding\n";
        reset($this->var);
    }
  
    public function current()
    {
        $var = current($this->var);
        echo "current: $var\n";
        return $var;
    }
  
    public function key() 
    {
        $var = key($this->var);
        echo "key: $var\n";
        return $var;
    }
  
    public function next() 
    {
        $var = next($this->var);
        echo "next: $var\n";
        return $var;
    }
  
    public function valid()
    {
        $key = key($this->var);
        $var = ($key !== NULL && $key !== FALSE);
        echo "valid: $var\n";
        return $var;
    }

}

$values = array(1,2,3);
$it = new MyIterator($values);

foreach ($it as $a => $b) {
    print "$a: $b\n";
}
?>

The above example will output:

 rewinding valid: 1 current: 1 key: 0 0: 1 next: 2 valid: 1 current: 2 key: 1 1: 2 next: 3 valid: 1 current: 3 key: 2 2: 3 next: valid:

You can also define your class so that it doesn't have to define all the Iterator functions by simply implementing the PHP 5 IteratorAggregate interface.

Example #3 Object Iteration implementing IteratorAggregate

 <?php
class MyCollection implements IteratorAggregate
{
    private $items = array();
    private $count = 0;

    // Required definition of interface IteratorAggregate
    public function getIterator() {
        return new MyIterator($this->items);
    }

    public function add($value) {
        $this->items[$this->count++] = $value;
    }
}

$coll = new MyCollection();
$coll->add('value 1');
$coll->add('value 2');
$coll->add('value 3');

foreach ($coll as $key => $val) {
    echo "key/value: [$key -> $val]\n\n";
}
?>

The above example will output:

 rewinding current: value 1 valid: 1 current: value 1 key: 0 key/value: [0 -> value 1]  next: value 2 current: value 2 valid: 1 current: value 2 key: 1 key/value: [1 -> value 2]  next: value 3 current: value 3 valid: 1 current: value 3 key: 2 key/value: [2 -> value 3]  next: current: valid:

Note:
For more examples of iterators, see the SPL Extension.