PHP get_class_vars() Function

The PHP get_class_vars() function is used to get the default properties of the given class.

Syntax

get_class_vars(class)

Parameters

class Required. Specify the class name.

Return Value

Returns an associative array of declared properties visible from the current scope, with their default value. The returned array contains elements in the form of variable_name => variable_value. In case of an error, it returns false.

Example: get_class_vars() example

The example below shows the usage of get_class_vars() function.

<?php
class myClass {
  var $var1; //no default value
  var $var2 = "xyz";
  var $var3 = 100;
  private $var4 = 500;

  //class constructor
  function __construct() {
    //change some properties
    $this->var1 = "foo";
    $this->var2 = "bar";
    return true;
  }
}

//getting the default properties
print_r(get_class_vars('myclass'));
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Array
(
    [var1] => 
    [var2] => xyz
    [var3] => 100
)

Example: using with derived class

Consider the example below where this function is used with a derived class.

<?php
class myClass {
  var $var1 = "xyz";
  var $var2 = 100;
  private $var3 = 500;

  //class constructor
  function __construct() {
    //codes
  }
}

class newClass extends myClass {
  var $var4 = 1000;
  private $var5 = 5000;
}

//getting the default properties of newClass
print_r(get_class_vars('newClass'));
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Array
(
    [var4] => 1000
    [var1] => xyz
    [var2] => 100
)

Example: get_class_vars() and scoping behavior

Consider one more example which illustrates on scoping behavior while using this function.

<?php
function format($array) {
  return implode('|', array_keys($array))."\r\n";
}

class TestCase {
  public $a    = 1;
  protected $b = 2;
  private $c   = 3;

  public static function expose() {
    echo format(get_class_vars(__CLASS__));
  }
}

TestCase::expose();
echo format(get_class_vars('TestCase'));
?>

The output of the above code will be:

a|b|c
a

❮ PHP Classes/Objects Reference