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The ReflectionProperty class

(PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

Introduction

The ReflectionProperty class reports information about class properties.

Class synopsis

class ReflectionProperty implements Reflector {
/* Constants */
public const int IS_STATIC;
public const int IS_READONLY;
public const int IS_PUBLIC;
public const int IS_PROTECTED;
public const int IS_PRIVATE;
public const int IS_ABSTRACT;
public const int IS_PROTECTED_SET;
public const int IS_PRIVATE_SET;
public const int IS_VIRTUAL;
public const int IS_FINAL;
/* Properties */
public string $name;
public string $class;
/* Methods */
public __construct(object|string $class, string $property)
private __clone(): void
public static export(mixed $class, string $name, bool $return = ?): string
public getAttributes(?string $name = null, int $flags = 0): array
public getModifiers(): int
public getName(): string
public getValue(?object $object = null): mixed
public hasType(): bool
public isDefault(): bool
public isInitialized(?object $object = null): bool
public isLazy(object $object): bool
public isPrivate(): bool
public isPromoted(): bool
public isProtected(): bool
public isPublic(): bool
public isReadOnly(): bool
public isStatic(): bool
public setAccessible(bool $accessible): void
public setValue(object $object, mixed $value): void
public __toString(): string
}

Properties

name

Name of the property. Read-only, throws ReflectionException in attempt to write.

class

Name of the class where the property is defined. Read-only, throws ReflectionException in attempt to write.

Predefined Constants

ReflectionProperty Modifiers

ReflectionProperty::IS_STATIC int

Indicates static properties. Prior to PHP 7.4.0, the value was 1.

ReflectionProperty::IS_READONLY int

Indicates readonly properties. Available as of PHP 8.1.0.

ReflectionProperty::IS_PUBLIC int

Indicates public properties. Prior to PHP 7.4.0, the value was 256.

ReflectionProperty::IS_PROTECTED int

Indicates protected properties. Prior to PHP 7.4.0, the value was 512.

ReflectionProperty::IS_PRIVATE int

Indicates private properties. Prior to PHP 7.4.0, the value was 1024.

ReflectionProperty::IS_ABSTRACT int
Indicates the property is abstract. Available as of PHP 8.4.0.
ReflectionProperty::IS_PROTECTED_SET int
Available as of PHP 8.4.0.
ReflectionProperty::IS_PRIVATE_SET int
Available as of PHP 8.4.0.
ReflectionProperty::IS_VIRTUAL int
Available as of PHP 8.4.0.
ReflectionProperty::IS_FINAL int
Indicates the property is final. Available as of PHP 8.4.0.

Note:

The values of these constants may change between PHP versions. It is recommended to always use the constants and not rely on the values directly.

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User Contributed Notes 1 note

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rasmus at mindplay dot dk
14 years ago
I think a more accurate explanation is this:

The Reflection classes are designed to reflect upon the source code of an application, not on any runtime information.

I think you misunderstand the ReflectionProperty constructor in your example above. The fact that it accepts an object as argument is just a convenience feature - you are actually inspecting the class of that object, not the object itself, so it's basically equivalent to:

<?php

// works fine
$Reflection = new ReflectionProperty(get_class($a), 'a');

// throws exception
$Reflection = new ReflectionProperty(get_class($a), 'foo');

?>

Getting the class of the object you're passing in is implied, since inspecting a defined property is the purpose of this class.

In your example, $a->foo is a dynamic member - it is not defined as a member of class, so there is no defining class reference, line number, default value, etc. - which means, there is nothing to reflect upon.

Clearly this very useful library could use some real documentation...
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