Typecasting objects with __toString function

Hi! I was testing typecasting of objects to different types. Discovered that if you try to cast an object to other types except string you get a PHP notice that it isn't allowed. I'm using PHP 5.3, and it would be nice if PHP would call my __toString function BEFORE trying to typecast. This way one can, e.g. have an own string class and use the variables in the same way as you would use an ordinary string variable. Some code: <?php class CastTest { private $value; public function __construct($value) {

       $this->value = (string)$value;

} public function __toString() {

       return (string)$this->value;

} } $test1 = new CastTest('10'); $test2 = new CastTest(11); echo "Test 1 [String: $test1, Int: " . (int)$test1 . ", Float: " . (float)$test1 . "]\n"; echo "Test 2 [String: $test2, Int: " . (int)$test2 . ", Float: " . (float)$test2 . "]\n"; ?> Result (excluding the PHP Notices): Test 1 [String: 10, Int: 1, Float: 1] Test 2 [String: 11, Int: 1, Float: 1] Nice to have result (no notices): Test 1 [String: 10, Int: 10, Float: 10] Test 2 [String: 11, Int: 11, Float: 11] Can this be fixed, or can a more generic magic function be added that provides this functionality? Regards, Thomas Vanhaniemi