PHP Manual: Returns the name of the class of an object

Description

string get_class ([ object $object = NULL ] )

Gets the name of the class of the given object.

Parameters

object: The tested object. This parameter may be omitted when inside a class.

Return Values

Returns the name of the class of which object is an instance. Returns FALSE if object is not an object.

If object is omitted when inside a class, the name of that class is returned.

Errors/Exceptions

If get_class is called with anything other than an object, an E_WARNING level error is raised.

Changelog

Version	Description
5.3.0	`NULL` became the default value for `object`, so passing `NULL` to `object` now has the same result as not passing any value.
5.0.0	The class name is returned in its original notation.
5.0.0	The `object` parameter is optional if called from the object's method.

Examples

Example #1 Using get_class


<?php

class foo {
    function name()
    {
        echo "My name is " , get_class($this) , "\n";
    }
}

// create an object
$bar = new foo();

// external call
echo "Its name is " , get_class($bar) , "\n";

// internal call
$bar->name();

?>

The above example will output:

Its name is foo
My name is foo

Example #2 Using get_class in superclass


<?php

abstract class bar {
    public function __construct()
    {
        var_dump(get_class($this));
        var_dump(get_class());
    }
}

class foo extends bar {
}

new foo;

?>