Bug #62359 [Opn->Nab]: __call not called for private __construct when creating a new instance

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=62359&edit=1 ID: 62359 Updated by: cataphract@php.net Reported by: vogliadifarniente at gmail dot com Summary: __call not called for private __construct when creating a new instance -Status: Open +Status: Not a bug Type: Bug Package: Scripting Engine problem Operating System: Linux (Debian) PHP Version: 5.4.4 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: You can't override the creation of an object in that sense. No such feature exists. Hence, not a bug. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2012-06-18 21:18:36] mail+php at requinix dot net __construct isn't just some special method: it's the constructor. By making it private you are disabling construction outside the class - __call can't be executed because the object can't even be created in the first place. So now you think "Okay, well allow construction if there's a __call". But that's not an option because then any class that has a __call can be constructed regardless of whether the constructor is private. "Okay, then only allow it if __call handles the '__construct' method". But how is PHP supposed to know that? It can't. Plus, now __call doesn't know whether the object has been fully instantiated yet or whether it's executing before then, and that's a headache all by itself. Next idea is making __call execute both statically and as an instance method, but that's not a good idea either: how is __call supposed to know when it's static or not? Don't forget there's __callStatic too. And now we arrive at the idea of making a static method that acts as a special kind of constructor. Which is what getSingleton() does. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2012-06-18 21:00:02] vogliadifarniente at gmail dot com Description: ------------ I'm trying to override the creation of a class instance making __construct private and using the __call method (like the operatornew method of C++). Test script: --------------- http://pastebin.com/D0k20NiV Expected result: ---------------- No error and like other example print 32 then 45 then 32. Actual result: -------------- Fatal error: Call to private MyClass::__construct() from invalid context ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=62359&edit=1