Calling another constructor from a constructor in PHP

Question

I want some constructors defined in the PHP class. However, my code for the constructors is currently very similar. I would prefer not to repeat the code if possible. Is there a way to call other constructors from the same constructor in the php class? Is there a way to have multiple constructors in a PHP class?

function __construct($service, $action)
{
    if(empty($service) || empty($action))
    {
        throw new Exception("Both service and action must have a value");
    }
    $this->$mService = $service;
    $this->$mAction = $action;

    $this->$mHasSecurity = false;
}
function __construct($service, $action, $security)
    {
        __construct($service, $action); // This is what I want to be able to do, so I don't have to repeat code

        if(!empty($security))
        {
            $this->$mHasSecurity = true;
            $this->$mSecurity = $security;
        }
    }

I know that I can solve this by creating, for example, some Init methods. But is there a way around this?

Answer 1

You cannot overload such functions in PHP. If you do this:

class A {
  public function __construct() { }
  public function __construct($a, $b) { }
}

your code will not compile with an error that you cannot update __construct().

A way to do this with optional arguments.

function __construct($service, $action, $security = '') {
  if (empty($service) || empty($action)) {
    throw new Exception("Both service and action must have a value");
  }
  $this->$mService = $service;
  $this->$mAction = $action;
  $this->$mHasSecurity = false;
  if (!empty($security)) {
    $this->$mHasSecurity = true;
    $this->$mSecurity = $security;
  }
}

Answer 2

, Factory.

class Car {       
   public static function createCarWithDoors($intNumDoors) {
       $objCar = new Car();
       $objCar->intDoors = $intNumDoors;
       return $objCar;
   }

   public static function createCarWithHorsepower($intHorsepower) {
       $objCar = new Car();
       $objCar->intHorses = $intHorsepower;
       return $objCar;
   }
}

$objFirst = Car::createCarWithDoors(3);
$objSecond = Car::createCarWithHorsePower(200);