class UpcomingEvents {
//Variable I'm trying to make accessible and modify throughout the class methods
private static $postObjArr = array();
private static $postIdArr = array();
private static $pinnedPost;
//My attempt at a get method to solve this issue, it did not
private static function getPostObjArr() {
$postObjArr = static::$postObjArr;
return $postObjArr;
}
private static function sortByDateProp($a, $b) {
$Adate = strtotime(get_field('event_date',$a->ID));
$Bdate = strtotime(get_field('event_date',$b->ID));
if ($Adate == $Bdate) {
return 0;
}
return ($Adate < $Bdate) ? -1 : 1;
}
private static function queryDatesAndSort($args) {
$postQuery = new WP_Query( $args );
if( $postQuery->have_posts() ) {
while( $postQuery->have_posts() ) {
$postQuery->the_post();
//Trying to push to the array, to no avail
array_push(static::getPostObjArr(), get_post());
}
}
//Trying to return the array after pushing to it, comes back empty
return(var_dump(static::getPostObjArr()));
//Trying to sort it
usort(static::getPostObjArr(), array(self,'sortByDateProp'));
foreach (static::getPostObjArr() as $key => $value) {
array_push(static::$postIdArr, $value->ID);
}
}
}
I'm trying to access $postObjArr within the class, and push to it with the queryDatesAndSort(); method. I've tried a couple of things, most recent being to use a get method for the variable. I don't want to make it global as it's bad practice I've heard. I've also tried passing by reference I.E
&static::$postObjArr;
But when it hits the vardump, it spits out an empty array. What would be the solution and best practice here? To allow the class methods to access and modify a single static array variable.
static::$postObjArr[] = get_post()I didn't think it would of made a difference, but it worked. Can you explain to me why that worked but array.push(); Did not?
Arrays are always copy-on-write in PHP. If you assign an array to another variable, pass it into a function, or return it from a function, it's for all intents and purposes a different, new array. Modifying it does not modify the "original" array. If you want to pass an array around and continue to modify the original array, you'll have to use pass-by-reference everywhere. Meaning you will have to add a & everywhere you assign it to a different variable, pass it into a function, or return it from a function. If you forget your & anywhere, the reference is broken.
Since that's rather annoying to work with, you rarely use references in PHP and you either modify your arrays directly (static::$postObjArr), or you use objects (stdClass or a custom class) instead which can be passed around without breaking reference.