parent::parent in PHP

Question

I search a way to access to the parent, parent function of a class without to call the parent... Hmmm, that sound a bit weird explanation so i will give an example:

class myclass {   public function test() { return 'level 1'; } } class myclass2 extends myclass {   public function test() { return parent::test() . '-level 2'; } } class myclass3 extends myclass2 {   public function test() { return parent::test() . '-level 3'; } } $example = new myclass3(); echo $example->test(); // should display "level 1-level 2-level 3" 

I would like to display "level 1-level 3" then doing something like that:

class myclass3 extends myclass2 {   public function test() { return parent::parent::test() . '-level 3'; } } 

Do you have an idea how I can do this? (I am not allow to edit myclass and myclass2, they are part of a framework...)

Answer 1

Simple solution. Use the root object myclass directly:

class myclass3 extends myclass2 {   public function test() { return myclass::test() . '-level 3'; } } 

If you need a more general approach have a look at outis answer.

Answer 2

You could do it using get_parent_class

function get_grandparent_class($thing) {     if (is_object($thing)) {         $thing = get_class($thing);     }     return get_parent_class(get_parent_class($thing)); }  class myclass3 extends myclass2 {     public function test() {       $grandparent = get_grandparent_class($this);       return $grandparent::test() . '-level 3';      } } 

Or you could use reflection:

function get_grandparent_class($thing) {     if (is_object($thing)) {         $thing = get_class($thing);     }     $class = new ReflectionClass($thing);     return $class->getParentClass()->getParentClass()->getName(); } 

However, it may not be a good idea, depending on what you're trying to achieve.