get_class

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

get_classReturns the name of the class of an object

Description

string get_class ([ object $object = NULL ] )

Gets the name of the class of the given object.

Parameters

object

The tested object. This parameter may be omitted when inside a class.

Return Values

Returns the name of the class of which object is an instance. Returns FALSE if object is not an object.

If object is omitted when inside a class, the name of that class is returned.

Errors/Exceptions

If get_class() is called with anything other than an object, an E_WARNING level error is raised.

Changelog

Version Description
5.3.0 NULL became the default value for object, so passing NULL to object now has the same result as not passing any value.
5.0.0 The class name is returned in its original notation.
5.0.0 The object parameter is optional if called from the object's method.

Examples

Example #1 Using get_class()

<?php

class foo {
    function 
name()
    {
        echo 
"My name is " get_class($this) , "\n";
    }
}

// create an object
$bar = new foo();

// external call
echo "Its name is " get_class($bar) , "\n";

// internal call
$bar->name();

?>

The above example will output:

Its name is foo
My name is foo

Example #2 Using get_class() in superclass

<?php

abstract class bar {
    public function 
__construct()
    {
        
var_dump(get_class($this));
        
var_dump(get_class());
    }
}

class 
foo extends bar {
}

new 
foo;

?>

The above example will output:

string(3) "foo"
string(3) "bar"

See Also