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<title>Returns the name of the class of an object</title>
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<div class="refnamediv">
<h1 class="refname">get_class</h1>
<p class="verinfo">(PHP 4, PHP 5)</p><p class="refpurpose"><span class="refname">get_class</span> — <span class="dc-title">Returns the name of the class of an object</span></p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 description" id="refsect1-function.get-class-description">
<h3 class="title">Description</h3>
<div class="methodsynopsis dc-description">
<span class="type">string</span> <span class="methodname"><strong>get_class</strong></span>
([ <span class="methodparam"><span class="type">object</span> <code class="parameter">$object</code><span class="initializer"> = <strong><code>NULL</code></strong></span></span>
] )</div>
<p class="para rdfs-comment">
Gets the name of the class of the given <em><code class="parameter">object</code></em>.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 parameters" id="refsect1-function.get-class-parameters">
<h3 class="title">Parameters</h3>
<p class="para">
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="term"><em><code class="parameter">object</code></em></span>
<dd>
<p class="para">
The tested object. This parameter may be omitted when inside a class.
</p>
</dd>
</dt>
</dl>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 returnvalues" id="refsect1-function.get-class-returnvalues">
<h3 class="title">Return Values</h3>
<p class="para">
Returns the name of the class of which <em><code class="parameter">object</code></em> is an
instance. Returns <strong><code>FALSE</code></strong> if <em><code class="parameter">object</code></em> is not an
object.
</p>
<p class="para">
If <em><code class="parameter">object</code></em> is omitted when inside a class, the
name of that class is returned.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 errors" id="refsect1-function.get-class-errors">
<h3 class="title">Errors/Exceptions</h3>
<p class="para">
If <span class="function"><strong>get_class()</strong></span> is called with anything other than an
object, an <strong><code>E_WARNING</code></strong> level error is raised.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 changelog" id="refsect1-function.get-class-changelog">
<h3 class="title">Changelog</h3>
<p class="para">
<table class="doctable informaltable">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Version</th>
<th>Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr>
<td>5.3.0</td>
<td>
<strong><code>NULL</code></strong> became the default value for <em><code class="parameter">object</code></em>,
so passing <strong><code>NULL</code></strong> to <em><code class="parameter">object</code></em> now has the same
result as not passing any value.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5.0.0</td>
<td>
The class name is returned in its original notation.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5.0.0</td>
<td>
The <em><code class="parameter">object</code></em> parameter is optional if called
from the object's method.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 examples" id="refsect1-function.get-class-examples">
<h3 class="title">Examples</h3>
<p class="para">
<div class="example" id="example-5051">
<p><strong>Example #1 Using <span class="function"><strong>get_class()</strong></span></strong></p>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #007700">class </span><span style="color: #0000BB">foo </span><span style="color: #007700">{<br /> function </span><span style="color: #0000BB">name</span><span style="color: #007700">()<br /> {<br /> echo </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"My name is " </span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">get_class</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$this</span><span style="color: #007700">) , </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"\n"</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /> }<br />}<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">// create an object<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$bar </span><span style="color: #007700">= new </span><span style="color: #0000BB">foo</span><span style="color: #007700">();<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">// external call<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">echo </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Its name is " </span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">get_class</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$bar</span><span style="color: #007700">) , </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"\n"</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">// internal call<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$bar</span><span style="color: #007700">-></span><span style="color: #0000BB">name</span><span style="color: #007700">();<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents"><p>The above example will output:</p></div>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
Its name is foo
My name is foo
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="example" id="example-5052">
<p><strong>Example #2 Using <span class="function"><strong>get_class()</strong></span> in superclass</strong></p>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #007700">abstract class </span><span style="color: #0000BB">bar </span><span style="color: #007700">{<br /> public function </span><span style="color: #0000BB">__construct</span><span style="color: #007700">()<br /> {<br /> </span><span style="color: #0000BB">var_dump</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">get_class</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$this</span><span style="color: #007700">));<br /> </span><span style="color: #0000BB">var_dump</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">get_class</span><span style="color: #007700">());<br /> }<br />}<br /><br />class </span><span style="color: #0000BB">foo </span><span style="color: #007700">extends </span><span style="color: #0000BB">bar </span><span style="color: #007700">{<br />}<br /><br />new </span><span style="color: #0000BB">foo</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents"><p>The above example will output:</p></div>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
string(3) "foo"
string(3) "bar"
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 seealso" id="refsect1-function.get-class-seealso">
<h3 class="title">See Also</h3>
<p class="para">
<ul class="simplelist">
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.get-called-class.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">get_called_class()</a> - the "Late Static Binding" class name</span></li>
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.get-parent-class.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">get_parent_class()</a> - Retrieves the parent class name for object or class</span></li>
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.gettype.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">gettype()</a> - Get the type of a variable</span></li>
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.is-subclass-of.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">is_subclass_of()</a> - Checks if the object has this class as one of its parents</span></li>
</ul>
</p>
</div>
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