PHP Using $this->variable as Class Method Parameter Default Value

Question

Ok so this seems like a pretty dumb question but PHP Is telling me I can't do this, or rather my IDE...

In the below example its telling me I can't use $this->somevar as the default value for the method.

ie...

class something {

public somevar = 'someval';

private function somefunc($default = $this->somevar) {

}



}

Answer 1

I'm afraid your IDE is correct. This is because "the default value must be a constant expression, not (for example) a variable, a class member or a function call." — Function arguments

You'll need to do something like this:

class something {

    public $somevar = 'someval';

    private function somefunc($default = null) {
        if ($default === null) {
            $default = $this->somevar;
        }
    }
}

This can also be written using the ternary operator:

$default = $default ?: $this->somevar;