I am expecting this to be a basic syntax error I overlooked, but I can't figure it out.
In a PHP script, I keep getting the following error.
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_VARIABLE, expecting T_FUNCTION in [path]/scripts/users/database_connection.php on line 4
This occurs when my script to connect to the database is called with an include_once()
. I stripped my script down to the most basic code (leaving in what is required by other code), and it still is calling this error.
<?php
class UserDatabaseConnection
{
$connection = sqlite_open("[path]/data/users.sqlite", 0666);
public function lookupUser($username)
{
// rest of my code...
}
}
$udb = new UserDatabaseConnection;
?>
I have struggled with this for a while, and just wondered if anyone else could spot somewhere I went wrong.
You can not put
$connection = sqlite_open("[path]/data/users.sqlite", 0666);
outside the class construction. You have to put that line inside a function or the constructor but you can not place it where you have now.
You cannot use function calls in a class construction, you should initialize that value in the constructor function.
From the PHP Manual on class properties:
This declaration may include an initialization, but this initialization must be a constant value--that is, it must be able to be evaluated at compile time and must not depend on run-time information in order to be evaluated.
A working code sample:
<?php
class UserDatabaseConnection
{
public $connection;
public function __construct()
{
$this->connection = sqlite_open("[path]/data/users.sqlite", 0666);
}
public function lookupUser($username)
{
// rest of my code...
// example usage (procedural way):
$query = sqlite_exec($this->connection, "SELECT ...", $error);
// object oriented way:
$query = $this->connection->queryExec("SELECT ...", $error);
}
}
$udb = new UserDatabaseConnection;
?>
Depending on your needs, protected
or private
might be a better choice for $connection
. That protects you from accidentally closing or messing with the connection.
Use access modifier before the member definition:
private $connection;
As you cannot use function call in member definition in PHP, do it in constructor:
public function __construct() {
$this->connection = sqlite_open("[path]/data/users.sqlite", 0666);
}
put public, protected or private before the $connection.
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