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get_class

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

get_class -- Returns the name of the class of an object

Description

string get_class ( [object obj] )

This function returns the name of the class of which the object obj is an instance. Returns FALSE if obj is not an object.

Note: A class defined in a PHP extension is returned in its original notation. In PHP 4 get_class() returns a user defined class name in lowercase, but in PHP 5 it will return the class name in it's original notation too, just like class names from PHP extensions.

Note: Since PHP 5, obj is optional if called from the object's method.

Example 1. Using get_class()

<?php

class foo {
    function foo() 
    {
    // implements some logic
    }

    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

See also get_parent_class(), gettype(), and is_subclass_of().

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