How to delete a PHP object from its class?

Question

I know that for some that might sound stupid, but I was thinking if I hava a delete() method in a class that removes all the object data (from DB and file system), how can I

Answer 1

You cannot unset $this. Or more correctly: unset() on $this only has local effect on the variable. unset() removes the variable from the local scope, which reduces the ref count for the object. If the object is still referenced somewhere else, it will stay in memory and work.

Typically, the value of an ID property is used to determine if an object is stored in the back end. If the ID has a proper value, that object is stored. If the ID is null, it is not stored, yet. On successful storage you then set the ID accordingly. On delete you set the ID property to null again.