Return a specific value from a class

Question

class Member
{
    private $_member_id;
    private $_first_name;
    private $_last_name;

    public function __construct($member_id, $first_name, $last_name)
    {
        $this->_member_id  = $member_id;
        $this->_first_name = $first_name;
        $this->_last_name  = $last_name;

    }

    public function changeFirstName($new_first_name)
    {
        $this->_first_name = $new_first_name;

    }

    public function changeLastName($new_last_name)
    {
        $this->_last_name = $new_last_name;
    }

    public function returnData()
    {

        return $this->_first_name;
        return $this->_last_name;

    }

}

$person1 = new Member(43, "Tom", "Jones");
$person1->changeFirstName("James");

echo $person1->returnData();

Quick question, I'm learning PHP Classes, I'm trying to return _first_name and _last_name separately from this class.

So echoing echo $person1->returnData(); will return the first name, how do I return the second name too separately? echo $person1->returnData("_last_name"); something like that? But I know its wrong!

Use a specific getter instead. – tereško May 31 '17 at 17:33 — tereško, May 31 '17 at 17:33

u_mulder · Answer 1 · 2017-05-31T09:05:36.347

2

Popular approach is using getters in class:

public function getFirstName()
{
    return $this->_first_name;
}

public function getLastName()
{
    return $this->_last_name;
}

Example:

echo $person1->getLastName() . ' ' . $person1->getFirstName();

If you want to return several values at a time, then use array:

public function returnData()
{
    return [         
        'first_name' => $this->_first_name,
        'last_name' => $this->_last_name,
    ];
}

Example:

$personData = $person1->returnData();
echo $personData['first_name'] . ' ' . $personData['last_name'];

edited May 31 '17 at 09:05

answered May 31 '17 at 09:02

u_mulder

54,101
5
48
64

exactly what i was thinking! `+1` – Rotimi May 31 '17 at 09:04

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 31 '17 at 09:05

1

You can return value for specific variable using this way.

public function returnData($name)
{

    return $this->$name;

}

To get value of any variable, you can get it by $person1->returnData("_last_name");

For first name,

echo $person1->returnData("_first_name");

For second name,

echo $person1->returnData("_last_name");

answered May 31 '17 at 09:05

Ghanshyam Katriya

1,071
1
11
37

I like this method the most as it reduces code than having to do an array, so thanks! :-D – yetteh May 31 '17 at 09:15

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 31 '17 at 09:02

0

You can try this:

public function returnData()
{

    return array($this->_first_name, $this->_last_name);

}

// ...

list($firstName, $lastName) = $person1->returnData();
echo $firstName . ' ' . $lastName;

answered May 31 '17 at 09:02

T. AKROUT

1,719
8
18

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered May 31 '17 at 09:03

You can't return 2 values in same functions like this.

You must return an array or object:

public function returnData(){
    return [
        'first_name' => $this->_first_name,
        'last_name' => $this->_last_name
    ];
}

$first_name = $person1->returnData()['first_name'];

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered May 31 '17 at 09:04

You have two returns in the returnData() function:

public function returnData()
    {

        return $this->_first_name;
        return $this->_last_name;

    }

The second one will not get executed, because the function exits after the frist. Please have a look at getters and setters - you need separate functions for the separate properties - or return them as an Array.

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered May 31 '17 at 09:06

You can't directly do as you want. Cause the first return will exit from the function. However there are multiple ways to work around that limitation, infact such question was already answered here:

Multiple returns from function

I'm sure it will help you.

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered May 31 '17 at 09:07

Your function returnData() stops after the first return it encounters. You should create two separate functions getFirstName and getLastName:

public function getFirstName() {
    return $this->_first_name;
}
public function getLastName() {
    return $this->_last_name;
}

You can also create one function with parameter and if statements to return the value needed, but i do not recommend it since it would be an unecessary test.

Return a specific value from a class

7 Answers7