Use the PHP5 "magic" __get() method. It would work like so:
public class TestClass { private $data = array(); // Since you're using PHP5, you should be using PHP5 style constructors. public function __construct() { $this->data['firstValue'] = "cheese"; } /** * This is the magic get function. Any class variable you try to access from * outside the class that is not public will go through this method. The variable * name will be passed in to the $param parameter. For this example, all * will be retrieved from the private $data array. If the variable doesn't exist * in the array, then the method will return null. * * @param string $param Class variable name * * @return mixed */ public function __get($param) { if (isset($this->data[$param])) { return $this->data[$param]; } else { return null; } } /** * This is the "magic" isset method. It is very important to implement this * method when using __get to change or retrieve data members from private or * protected members. If it is not implemented, code that checks to see if a * particular variable has been set will fail even though you'll be able to * retrieve a value for that variable. * * @param string $param Variable name to check * * @return boolean */ public function __isset($param) { return isset($this->data[$param]); } /** * This method is required if you want to be able to set variables from outside * your class without providing explicit setter options. Similar to accessing * a variable using $foo = $object->firstValue, this method allows you to set * the value of a variable (any variable in this case, but it can be limited * by modifying this method) by doing something like: * $this->secondValue = 'foo'; * * @param string $param Class variable name to set * @param mixed $value Value to set * * @return null */ public function __set($param, $value) { $this->data[$param] = $value; } }
Using the magic __get, __set, and __isset constructors will allow you to control how you want variables to be set on a class while still storing all the values in a single array.
Hope this helps :)
