How to implement __isset() magic method in PHP?

Question

I'm trying to make functions like empty() and isset() work with data returned by methods.

What I have so far:

abstract class FooBase{

  public function __isset($name){
    $getter = 'get'.ucfirst($name);
    if(method_exists($this, $getter))
      return isset($this->$getter()); // not working :(
      // Fatal error: Can't use method return value in write context 
  }

  public function __get($name){
    $getter = 'get'.ucfirst($name);
    if(method_exists($this, $getter))
      return $this->$getter();
  }

  public function __set($name, $value){
    $setter = 'set'.ucfirst($name);
    if(method_exists($this, $setter))
      return $this->$setter($value);
  }

  public function __call($name, $arguments){
    $caller = 'call'.ucfirst($name);
    if(method_exists($this, $caller)) return $this->$caller($arguments);   
  }

}

the usage:

class Foo extends FooBase{
  private $my_stuff;

  public function getStuff(){
    return $this->my_stuff;
  }

  public function setStuff($stuff){
    $this->my_stuff = $stuff;
  }
}


$foo = new Foo();

if(empty($foo->stuff)) echo "empty() works! \n"; else "empty() doesn't work:( \n";
$foo->stuff = 'something';
if(empty($foo->stuff)) echo "empty() doesn't work:( \n"; else "empty() works! \n";

http://codepad.org/QuPNLYXP

How can I make it so empty/isset return true/false if:

• my_stuff above is not set, or has a empty or zero value in case of empty()
• the method doesn't exist (not sure if neeed, because I think you get a fatal error anyway)

?

Answer 1

public function __isset($name){
    $getter = 'get'.ucfirst($name);
    return method_exists($this, $getter) && !is_null($this->$getter());
}

This check whether or not $getter() exists (if it does not exist, it's assumed that the property also does not exist) and returns a non-null value. So NULL will cause it to return false, as you would expect after reading the php manual for isset().