How to assign multiple variables inside a class?

Question

How can I assign multiple variables at once in PHP? This is basically what I'm trying to achieve but it throws a parsing error on private $from = private $to saying syntax error, unexpected 'private' :

<?php
namespace Library;

class Localize
  {
  // Default data for both fields. Localization must be specified.
  private $from = private $to = array(
    'language' => 'en',     // Language: English
    'country'  => 'usa',    // Country: USA
    'currency' => 'dollar', // Currency: dollar $
    'units'    => 'is',     // Units: International System[meter, kelvin, etc]
    'timezone' => '-5'      // Timezone: UTC -5 hours [America/New_York]
    );

  // ...
  }

I've tried private $from = private $to and private $from = $to but both would throw an error. What's the proper syntax for assigning multiple properties at once inside a PHP class?

Note: I know there are many ways of dealing with this like the constructor, but I'd like to know if what I'm trying to achieve exactly is possible or not.

Answer 1

Why would you like to do it that way? Think of a class as a pattern of an entity. This entity usually does not define any data. Data is handled with at the time you create a concrete object of your class. You usually assign values to your class members in the constructor of the class. So I would do the initialization in the constructor.

Answer 2

Php syntax doesn't allow that, but you can do that in constructor:

public function __construct() {
    $this->to = clone $this->from;
}

Answer 3

A better idea would be to use a single array to store all the properties of the class

private $_arLoc = array();

Then, assign values in constructor

$_arLoc[ 'from' ] = array(
    'language' => 'en',     // Language: English
    'country'  => 'usa',    // Country: USA
    'currency' => 'dollar', // Currency: dollar $
    'units'    => 'is',     // Units: International System[meter, kelvin, etc]
    'timezone' => '-5'      // Timezone: UTC -5 hours [America/New_York]
);

$_arLoc[ 'to' ] = $_arLoc[ 'from' ];

Answer 4

In short, no, you cannot. You will have to define them at instantiation.

Answer 5

Does this help?Depends on what you want to use it for.

class Localize
    {
    // Default data for both fields. Localization must be specified.


    private $to = array(
    'language' => 'en',     // Language: English
    'country'  => 'usa',    // Country: USA
    'currency' => 'dollar', // Currency: dollar $
    'units'    => 'is',     // Units: International System[meter, kelvin, etc]
    'timezone' => '-5'      // Timezone: UTC -5 hours [America/New_York]
    );
    private $from ;

    function __construct(){
            $this->from = $this->to;
    }
    function __destruct(){

    }

    // ...
}

$var = new Localize();

var_dump($var);

Answer 6

I think you are already saying the $to array is private!

Try: private $from = $to = array(