PHP: empty doesn't work with a getter method

Question

I have a \"getter\" method like

function getStuff($stuff){
  return \'something\';
}

if I check it with empty($this->stuff)

Answer 1

empty() will call __isset() first, and only if it returns true will it call __get().

Implement __isset() and make it return true for every magic property that you support.

function __isset($name)
{
    $getter = 'get' . ucfirst($name);
    return method_exists($this, $getter);
}

Answer 2

PHP's magic get method is named __get(). $this->stuff will not call getStuff(). Try this:

public function __get($property) {
    if ($property == 'stuff') {
        return $this->getStuff();
    }
}

Answer 3

Magic getters are not called when checking with empty. The value really does not exist, so empty returns true. You will need to implement __isset as well to make that work correctly.

__isset() is triggered by calling isset() or empty() on inaccessible properties.

http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.overloading.php#language.oop5.overloading.members