PHP Fatal error: Using $this when not in object context

I've got a problem:

I'm writing a new WebApp without a Framework.

In my index.php I'm using: require_once('load.php');

And in load.php I'm using require_once('class.php'); to load my class.php.

In my class.php I've got this error:

Fatal error: Using $this when not in object context in class.php on line ... (in this example it would be 11)

An example how my class.php is written:

class foobar {

    public $foo;

    public function __construct() {
        global $foo;

        $this->foo = $foo;
    }

    public function foobarfunc() {
        return $this->foo();
    }

    public function foo() {
        return $this->foo;
    }
}

In my index.php I'm loading maybe foobarfunc() like this:

foobar::foobarfunc();

but can also be

$foobar = new foobar;
$foobar->foobarfunc();

Why is the error coming?

Solution 1:

In my index.php I'm loading maybe foobarfunc() like this:

 foobar::foobarfunc();  // Wrong, it is not static method

but can also be

$foobar = new foobar;  // correct
$foobar->foobarfunc();

You can not invoke method this way because it is not static method.

foobar::foobarfunc();

You should instead use:

foobar->foobarfunc();

If however you have created a static method something like:

static $foo; // your top variable set as static

public static function foo() {
    return self::$foo;
}

then you can use this:

foobar::foobarfunc();

Solution 2:

You are calling a non-static method :

public function foobarfunc() {
    return $this->foo();
}

Using a static-call :

foobar::foobarfunc();

When using a static-call, the function will be called (even if not declared as static), but, as there is no instance of an object, there is no $this.

So :

You should not use static calls for non-static methods
Your static methods (or statically-called methods) can't use $this, which normally points to the current instance of the class, as there is no class instance when you're using static-calls.

Here, the methods of your class are using the current instance of the class, as they need to access the $foo property of the class.

This means your methods need an instance of the class -- which means they cannot be static.

This means you shouldn't use static calls : you should instanciate the class, and use the object to call the methods, like you did in your last portion of code :

$foobar = new foobar();
$foobar->foobarfunc();

For more informations, don't hesitate to read, in the PHP manual :

The Classes and Objects section
And the Static Keyword page.

Also note that you probably don't need this line in your __construct method :

global $foo;

Using the global keyword will make the $foo variable, declared outside of all functions and classes, visibile from inside that method... And you probably don't have such a $foo variable.

To access the $foo class-property, you only need to use $this->foo, like you did.

PHP Fatal error: Using $this when not in object context

Solution 1:

Solution 2:

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