How to implement a read-only member variable in PHP?

Question

When trying to change it,throw an exception.

Answer 1

I suppose a solution, for class properties, would be to :

• not define a property with the name that interests you
• use the magic __get method to access that property, using the "fake" name
• define the __set method so it throws an exception when trying to set that property.
• See Overloading, for more informations on magic methods.

For variables, I don't think it's possible to have a read-only variable for which PHP will throw an exception when you're trying to write to it.

For instance, consider this little class :

class MyClass {
    protected $_data = array(
        'myVar' => 'test'
    );

    public function __get($name) {
        if (isset($this->_data[$name])) {
            return $this->_data[$name];
        } else {
            // non-existant property
            // => up to you to decide what to do
        }
    }

    public function __set($name, $value) {
        if ($name === 'myVar') {
            throw new Exception("not allowed : $name");
        } else {
            // => up to you to decide what to do
        }
    }
}

Instanciating the class and trying to read the property :

$a = new MyClass();
echo $a->myVar . '<br />';

Will get you the expected output :

test

While trying to write to the property :

$a->myVar = 10;

Will get you an Exception :

Exception: not allowed : myVar in /.../temp.php on line 19

Answer 2

class test {
   const CANT_CHANGE_ME = 1;
}

and you refer it as test::CANT_CHANGE_ME

Answer 3

Use a constant. Keyword const

Answer 4

The short answer is you can't create a read-only object member variable in PHP.

In fact, most object-oriented languages consider it poor form to expose member variables publicly anyway... (C# being the big, ugly exception with its property-constructs).

If you want a class variable, use the const keyword:

class MyClass {
    public const myVariable = 'x';
}

This variable can be accessed:

echo MyClass::myVariable;

This variable will exist in exactly one version regardless of how many different objects of type MyClass you create, and in most object-oriented scenarios it has little to no use.

If, however, you want a read-only variable that can have different values per object, you should use a private member variable and an accessor method (a k a getter):

class MyClass {
    private $myVariable;
    public function getMyVariable() {
        return $this->myVariable;
    }
    public function __construct($myVar) {
        $this->myVariable = $myVar;
    }
}

The variable is set in the constructor, and it's being made read-only by not having a setter. But each instance of MyClass can have its own value for myVariable.

$a = new MyClass(1);
$b = new MyClass(2);

echo $a->getMyVariable(); // 1
echo $b->getMyVariable(); // 2

$a->setMyVariable(3); // causes an error - the method doesn't exist
$a->myVariable = 3; // also error - the variable is private

Answer 5

I cooked up a version, too, using a trait.

Though in this case, the property can still be set by its declaring class.

Declare a class like:

class Person {
    use Readonly;

    protected $name;
    //simply declaring this means "the 'name' property can be read by anyone"
    private $r_name;
}

And this is the trait I made:

trait Readonly {

    public function readonly_getProperty($prop){
        if (!property_exists($this,$prop)){
            //pretty close to the standard error if a protected property is accessed from a public scope
            // throw new \Error("Property '{$prop}' on class '".get_class($this)."' does not exist");
            trigger_error('Undefined property: '.get_class($this).'::\$'.$prop,E_USER_NOTICE);
        }
        
        $allow_read = property_exists($this, 'r_'.$prop );

        if ($allow_read){
            $actual = $this->$prop;
            return $actual;
        }
        
        throw new \Error("Cannot access non-public property '{$prop}' of class '".get_class($this)."'");
    }

    public function __get($prop){
        return $this->readonly_getProperty($prop);
    }
    
}

See the source code & test on my gitlab

Answer 6

I made another version that uses @readonly in the docblock instead of private $r_propname. This still doesn't stop the declaring class from setting the property, but will work for public readonly access.

Sample Class:

class Person {
    use Readonly;

    /**
     * @readonly
     */
    protected $name;

    protected $phoneNumber;

    public function __construct($name){
        $this->name = $name;
        $this->phoneNumber = '123-555-1234';
    }
}

The ReadOnly trait

trait Readonly {

    public function readonly_getProperty($prop){
        if (!property_exists($this,$prop)){
            //pretty close to the standard error if a protected property is accessed from a public scope
            trigger_error('Undefined property: '.get_class($this).'::\$'.$prop,E_USER_NOTICE);
        }
        
        $refProp = new \ReflectionProperty($this, $prop);
        $docblock = $refProp->getDocComment();
        // a * followed by any number of spaces, followed by @readonly
        $allow_read = preg_match('/\*\s*\@readonly/', $docblock);

        if ($allow_read){
            $actual = $this->$prop;
            return $actual;
        }
        
        throw new \Error("Cannot access non-public property '{$prop}' of class '".get_class($this)."'");
    }

    public function __get($prop){
        return $this->readonly_getProperty($prop);
    }
    
}

See the source code & test on my gitlab

Answer 7

I know this is an old question, but PASCAL's answer really helped me and I wanted to add to it a bit.

__get() fires not only on nonexistent properties, but "inaccessible" ones as well, e.g. protected ones. This makes it easy to make read-only properties!

class MyClass {
    protected $this;
    protected $that;
    protected $theOther;

    public function __get( $name ) {
        if ( isset( $this->$name ) ) {
            return $this->$name;
        } else {
            throw new Exception( "Call to nonexistent '$name' property of MyClass class" );
            return false;
        }
    }

    public function __set( $name ) {
        if ( isset( $this->$name ) ) {
            throw new Exception( "Tried to set nonexistent '$name' property of MyClass class" );
            return false;
        } else {
            throw new Exception( "Tried to set read-only '$name' property of MyClass class" );
            return false;
        }
    }
}