Php/docs/reflection.extending

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Extending

If you want to create specialized versions of the built-in classes (say, for creating colorized HTML when being exported, having easy-access member variables instead of methods or having utility methods), you may go ahead and extend them.

Example #1 Extending the built-in classes

<?php/** * My Reflection_Method class */class My_Reflection_Method extends ReflectionMethod{    public $visibility = array();    public function __construct($o, $m)    {        parent::__construct($o, $m);        $this->visibility = Reflection::getModifierNames($this->getModifiers());    }}/** * Demo class #1 * */class T {    protected function x() {}}/** * Demo class #2 * */class U extends T {    function x() {}}// Print out informationvar_dump(new My_Reflection_Method('U', 'x'));?>

The above example will output something similar to:


object(My_Reflection_Method)#1 (3) {
  ["visibility"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(6) "public"
  }
  ["name"]=>
  string(1) "x"
  ["class"]=>
  string(1) "U"
}

Caution If you're overwriting the constructor, remember to call the parent's constructor before any code you insert. Failing to do so will result in the following: Fatal error: Internal error: Failed to retrieve the reflection object