Best practice accessing an array set within a class
- by user350599
I have created a basic class for a customer.
I haven't done this before and want to know the best way to access the data.
Should I have a get() method for every field in the customer array or should I simply pass the customer array back and access with the page.
i.e. Just return the array
class Customer {
protected $id;
protected $customer;
public function __construct($customer_id) {
$this->id = $customer_id;
$this->set_customer();
}
protected function set_customer() {
$query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM customer WHERE id = '$this->id'");
$this->customer = mysql_fetch_row($query);
}
public function get_customer() {
return $this->customer;
}
}
versus create a method for each item in the array
class Customer {
protected $id;
protected $customer;
public function __construct($customer_id) {
$this->id = $customer_id;
$this->set_customer();
}
protected function set_customer() {
$query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM customer WHERE id = '$this->id'");
$this->customer = mysql_fetch_row($query);
}
public function get_customer_name() {
return $this->customer->customer_name;
}
...
...
}
versus option 3 based on Tobias' feedback: (not sure if syntax is correct)
class Customer {
protected $id;
protected $customer;
public function __construct($customer_id) {
$this->id = $customer_id;
return $this->set_customer();
}
protected function set_customer() {
$query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM customer WHERE id = '$this->id'");
return mysql_fetch_row($query);
}
}
