Well I've been wanting to get a generic class done for a while and I think I've finally finished one that covers the basics, and I'd like some input on which functions to optimize and the such...all help is appreciated

This is my accompanying MySQL class

One problem that immediately springs up is the fact that you haven't used any scopes on your functions. For instance, you've prefixed some functions, such as _query, with the underscore, which tends to be indicative of a private function by Zend Framework standards. However, no scope has been set.

The scopes consist of the following:

• Private: Only members in the same class has access.
• Protected: Only members of the same class and those extended have access.
• Public: Everybody has access (default)

I'll have myself a good read through tomorrow though and see what I can pick out. It does look like a good attempt nonetheless.

__________________
The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out.

Thanks, wild. I never bothered learning any standards, I should look into that.

Nice start TlcAndres, you seem to have grasped the basic concepts of classes just fine. Now for the problems - I'm analyising the design and structure of your classes here, not the code it contains (I'll let someone else comment on that)

The first problem would be the cohesiveness of the "core" class - that class has so many different tasks it's near impossible to see what the object is responsible for. Good object orientated design suggests that your classes should be loosely coupled and cohesive. A good rule of thumb is "one class, one task". I'm not saying you should stick to these strictly, just being aware of them will improve your code which will in turn make the code easier for other people to understand.

I only flicked through, but I noticed you have separated different parts of the core class into "groups" - indicated by the comments. I would suggest splitting these groups into separate classes, for example, you have some methods specific to members, I would refactor the code and take these methods out of the core class, placing them into their own class.

It just makes things easier and more logical. I also find it helps to think of things in terms of responsibilities, for example, what is the core class responsible for? Each class should have a clear cut responsibility, if you can't figure out what that is (or if the class has many responsibilities) then you should reconsider your object design.

So, my first suggestion for improvement would be to refactor the class, that is, pull out all the "method groups" and place them in their own class.

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Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.

The only thing i can see is the 'var' keyword, which in php5 was deprecated in favor of visibility scope identifiers (as pointed out by wildhoney) but left in php5 for backward compatibility.

Also as Karl says your core does seem a little confused about its purpose, i.e. having the function inside the core, whereas it could be in the mysql class and also templating functions within the core too, but a good start I'd say

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mysql> SELECT * FROM `users` WHERE `users`.`clue` > 0;
Empty set (0.00 sec)

I agree with Karl ... You need to step back and look at the individual roles/responsibilities you are trying to accomplish.

I typically follow the following breakdown when it comes to data drive web site classes:

1. configuration - a place to store constant data (db connection info, etc)
2. Generic database access class (something I can pass queries to and will return results, errors, etc)
3. Data access objects (these are classes that typically represent tables in the database: tags, page_content, users,etc)
the DAOs have a common interface that allows for:
- Make() returns an empty dao object ( not a datarow yet)
- Save( $obj ) inserts or updates the dao object
- Load( $id ) returns a dao object that does represent a datarow based on the primary key (Id) passed
- Delete( $id ) deletes the data row
4. Finally I create a business object to pull things together
you may have methods such as: GetTags( $pageId ) or LoadPageContent( $pageId )
this business object utilizes the multiple daos and provides more automated methods for the webpage to use instead of dealing with daïs and all the logic in the actual web page.

This approach is good practice and is generically, although not strictly, described by MVC: Model, View, Control be describes the separation of application logic into separate layers.

I hope this helps you continue on your quest for the Generic Class!

Brad

bmicallef: Could you tell me more about your database class?

To the OP: Try sticking to a consistent coding style. I see a bunch of different variables, function names and code logic with different conventions. :)

gcbdm,

I'd be happy to share what I am doing!

I create a CLASS that will act as a generic database interface

public class myDB()
{}

NOTE: I'm pretty sure DB() is defined in the Zend framework and should be considered reserved ...

The class contains a number of private attributes:

private $_connection = null;
private $_rows_affected = 0;
private $_last_inserted_id = 0;
private $_results = null;
private $_error_message = null;
private $_error_number = null;

I use the __construct() method to set the connection string (I pull login and server variables from a separate configuration class e.g. myConfig::dbUsername, etc.) and I open the connection.

The __construct() method contains error handling that will SET the $_error_number and $_error_message attributes in the event of a failure.

I then have a public method called Query( $sql ) that allows me to pass SQL statements directly.

The Query() CLASS returns a bool (True or False) if the query was successful, but sets the above mentioned private attributes.

NOTE: Like __construct(), this method also contains error handling logic.

Finally, I have a series of Accessors that allow me to GET the values from my private attributes:

public function GetResults()
{
results $this->_results;
}

... etc.

So to use this you do something like this:

$sql = "SELECT * FROM mytable WHERE somevalue = 1";

$db = new myDB();

if ( $db->Query( $sql ) )
{
doSomething( $db->GetResults() );
}

I hope this helps!

Brad