Type casting for user defined objects

Question

Just like we do with __ToString, is there a way to define a method for casting?

$obj = (MyClass) $another_class_obj;

Answer 1

Here's a function to change the class of an object:

/**
 * Change the class of an object
 *
 * @param object $obj
 * @param string $class_type
 * @author toma at smartsemantics dot com
 * @see http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.types.type-juggling.php#50791
 */
function changeClass(&$obj,$new_class)
{
    if(class_exists($class_type,true))
    {
        $obj = unserialize(preg_replace("/^O:[0-9]+:\"[^\"]+\":/i",
            "O:".strlen($class_type).":\"".$new_class."\":", serialize($obj)));
    }
}

In case it's not clear, this is not my function, it was taken from a post by "toma at smartsemantics dot com" on http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.types.type-juggling.php#50791