New to OOP, how do I set a classes public variables to a global variable for use in static methods?

Question

I wrote a class to set and expire browser cookies. I'm trying to set the classes public variables to the value of a global variable in a way that would allow me to use the classes methods statically. Basically all I want to do is remove the duplicate global $settings, and the $expire and $domain variables.

Here's my code as it sits:

<?php

    class cookies {
        public static function set($name, $value, $date = false) {
            global $settings;

            $expire = ($date) ? $date : $settings['expire'];
            $domain = str_replace('www.', '', $settings['domain']);
            setcookie($name, $value, $expire, '/', $domain);
        }

        public static function clear() {
            global $settings;

            $domain = str_replace('www.', '', $settings['domain']);
            setcookie('test1', '', 1, '/', $domain);
            setcookie('test2', '', 1, '/', $domain);
        }
    }

?>

If you're going to use a class statically - [use static class variables](http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.static.php). — AD7six, Apr 30 '14 at 13:20
[How Not To Kill Your Testability Using Statics](http://kunststube.net/static/) — deceze, Apr 30 '14 at 13:21
Yes, but I can't set them to something like `$settings['expire']`, that's my problem. — Coffee'd Up Hacker, Apr 30 '14 at 13:22
Neither global variables nor static methods are part of OOP paradigm. — tereško, Apr 30 '14 at 13:22
best approach make them non-static, make a constructor either pass the setting value when you instantiate the class or the way you want and set it to a member variable and access across the class — Abhik Chakraborty, Apr 30 '14 at 13:24
`$settings` isn't dynamic, however, I want the expiration date to be adjustable if set, and if not set fallback to the default in the settings. — Coffee'd Up Hacker, Apr 30 '14 at 13:38

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:32

Using global variables is very bad for the flexibility, modularity and sanity of your app. Using static method is very bad for the modularity and flexibility of your app. Using both together is an abomination. How about you write a class that can be used like this:

$cookies = new Cookies($settings['expire'], $settings['domain']);
$cookies->set(.., .., ..);
$cookies->clear();

You'd start with a proper class structure like this:

class Cookies {

    protected $expire,
              $domain;

    public function __construct($expire, $domain) {
        $this->expire = $expire;
        $this->domain = $domain;
    }

    ...

}

Then you use $this->expire and $this->domain instead of global variables.

Thanks! I'll avoid statics and globals from now on ;) – Coffee'd Up Hacker Apr 30 '14 at 13:44 — Coffee'd Up Hacker, Apr 30 '14 at 13:44

New to OOP, how do I set a classes public variables to a global variable for use in static methods?

1 Answers1