(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)
is_subclass_of — Checks if the object has this class as one of its parents or implements it
Checks if the given object_or_class has the class
class as one of its parents or implements it.
object_or_classA class name or an object instance. No error is generated if the class does not exist.
classThe class name
allow_string
If this parameter set to false, string class name as object_or_class
is not allowed. This also prevents from calling autoloader if the class doesn't exist.
This function returns true if the object object_or_class,
belongs to a class which is a subclass of
class, false otherwise.
Example #1 is_subclass_of() example
<?php
// define a class
class WidgetFactory
{
var $oink = 'moo';
}
// define a child class
class WidgetFactory_Child extends WidgetFactory
{
var $oink = 'oink';
}
// create a new object
$WF = new WidgetFactory();
$WFC = new WidgetFactory_Child();
if (is_subclass_of($WFC, 'WidgetFactory')) {
echo "yes, \$WFC is a subclass of WidgetFactory\n";
} else {
echo "no, \$WFC is not a subclass of WidgetFactory\n";
}
if (is_subclass_of($WF, 'WidgetFactory')) {
echo "yes, \$WF is a subclass of WidgetFactory\n";
} else {
echo "no, \$WF is not a subclass of WidgetFactory\n";
}
if (is_subclass_of('WidgetFactory_Child', 'WidgetFactory')) {
echo "yes, WidgetFactory_Child is a subclass of WidgetFactory\n";
} else {
echo "no, WidgetFactory_Child is not a subclass of WidgetFactory\n";
}
?>
The above example will output:
yes, $WFC is a subclass of WidgetFactory no, $WF is not a subclass of WidgetFactory yes, WidgetFactory_Child is a subclass of WidgetFactory
Example #2 is_subclass_of() using interface example
<?php
// Define the Interface
interface MyInterface
{
public function MyFunction();
}
// Define the class implementation of the interface
class MyClass implements MyInterface
{
public function MyFunction()
{
return "MyClass Implements MyInterface!";
}
}
// Instantiate the object
$my_object = new MyClass;
// Works since 5.3.7
// Test using the object instance of the class
if (is_subclass_of($my_object, 'MyInterface')) {
echo "Yes, \$my_object is a subclass of MyInterface\n";
} else {
echo "No, \$my_object is not a subclass of MyInterface\n";
}
// Test using a string of the class name
if (is_subclass_of('MyClass', 'MyInterface')) {
echo "Yes, MyClass is a subclass of MyInterface\n";
} else {
echo "No, MyClass is not a subclass of MyInterface\n";
}
?>
The above example will output:
Yes, $my_object is a subclass of MyInterface Yes, MyClass is a subclass of MyInterface
Note:
Using this function will use any registered autoloaders if the class is not already known.