creating and using an object

trying to write to a file in an object

[tekomp]

I'm trying to create an object from a class I built that will write to a file. I've been trying forever now, but I cannot get it to work at all. I think it may have something to do with the scope of the variables, but not sure.

Here's what I have so far:

<?php
class Banner
{
 var $startX;
 var $startY;
 var $textColor;
 var $textSize;
 var $text;
 var $dataFile;
 //var $delim = "¦";
 function Banner($x1, $y1, $tc, $ts, $t, $df)
 {
  $this -> startX = $x1;
  $this -> startY = $y1;
  $this -> textColor = $tc;
  $this -> textSize = $ts;
  $this -> text = $t;
  $this -> dataFile = $df;
 }
 function createFile()
 {
  $fh = fopen($dataFile, "a");
  if(!$fh)
  {
   die("unable to open $dataFile);
  }
  fwrite($fh, $startX.$startY.$textColor.$textSize.$text);
  fclose($fh);
 }
}
$object = new Banner(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6);
object.createFile();
?>

Any tips?

[tekomp]

Ok, I'm pretty sure it's a variable scope problem, but still can't figure it out.

I changed the code to just display what values are in the object and not try to write anything to a file, and the values are showing up fine. This is what I changed to:

class Banner
{
 var $startX;
 var $startY;
 var $textColor;
 var $textSize;
 var $text;
 var $dataFile;
 //var $delim = "¦";
 function Banner($x1, $y1, $tc, $ts, $t, $df)
 {
 $this -> startX = $x1;
 $this -> startY = $y1;
 $this -> textColor = $tc;
 $this -> textSize = $ts;
 $this -> text = $t;
 $this -> dataFile = $df;
 }
}
$object = new Banner(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6);
echo "<pre>";
print_r($object);
echo "</pre>";
?>

And this is what it outputs:

banner Object
(
[startX] => 1
[startY] => 2
[textColor] => 3
[textSize] => 4
[text] => 5
[dataFile] => 6
)

I just can't figure out how to get the methods in the object to do stuff with the properties in the class (which are storing properly). Any help is appreciated!

[tekomp]

Nevermind. This was screwing everything up for some reason:

if(!$fh)
{
die("unable to open $dataFile);
}

[coopster]

Actually, there is a scope issue (more like a variable refernce issue though) as well as a method syntax issue. First, the createFile() method of your class is referencing a variable incorrectly. Use the $this-> syntax instead of trying to reference the variable name directly as it is indeed outside the scope of the method:

function createFile() 
{ 
 $fh = fopen($this->dataFile, "a"); 
 if(!$fh) { 
  die("unable to open $this->dataFile); 
 } 
 fwrite($fh, $startX.$startY.$textColor.$textSize.$text); 
 fclose($fh); 
}

Next, have a look at how you are trying to invoke that method ... incorrect syntax here ...

$object = new Banner(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6); 
//object.createFile(); <-- this is not correct syntax 
$object->createFile();

Also, I like to turn error_reporting() [php.net] on in my classes when developing and troubleshooting. Errors like these come to the surface quite quickly and make it easier during development.