PHP - constructor function doesn't return false

Question

How can I let the $foo variable below know that foo should be false?

class foo extends fooBase{    private     $stuff;    function __construct($something = false){     if(is_int($something)) $this->stuff = &getStuff($something);     else $this->stuff = $GLOBALS['something'];      if(!$this->stuff) return false;   }  }  $foo = new foo(435);  // 435 does not exist if(!$foo) die(); // <-- doesn't work :( 

Answer 1

You cannot return a value from the constructor. You can use exceptions for that.

function __construct($something = false){     if(is_int($something)) $this->stuff = &getStuff($something);     else $this->stuff = $GLOBALS['something'];      if (!$this->stuff) {         throw new Exception('Foo Not Found');     } } 

And in your instantiation code:

try {     $foo = new foo(435); } catch (Exception $e) {     // handle exception } 

You can also extend exceptions.

Answer 2

Constructor is not supposed to return anything.

If you need to validate data before using the to create an object, you should use a factory class.

Edit: yeah , exceptions would do the trick too, but you should not have any logic inside the constructor. It becomes a pain for unit-testing.