How should I lay-out my PHP login class?

Question

So, there is going to be one login form; however 1 of 3 types of members will be signing in member_type_a, member_type_b, member_type_c all of whom have some of the same properties, and some whom may have specific methods and/or properties to them. I want the class to be saved to a session variable for use with member area pages.

Any suggestions on applicable design patterns?

Gordon: Access control isn't my issue... I understand how to control where a user is allowed to go. My question is on how to structure my login class; when a user signs in, a method will search 3 tables for a valid username and password. When it is found, I will know what type of user they are and will be able to redirect them to their member page accordingly. I'm just trying to debate how I can keep my classes loosely coupled in such a way, that if we had to add more member types down the line, it would be endlessly scalable.

For example, one difference would be the redirect URL

Answer 1

So I've determined I'll be using the strategy pattern. I'll have one login class that determines the type of user being signed in. If it is a user of typeA, I'll set my strategy property to the typeAStrategy object, and all the proper methods and properties will then reside within my base class.

Additionally, when I pass $this to my strategy object... I'll be able to use the ID and whatever other variables I need to construct the redirect link

Answer 2

Perhaps I misread, but you say you look in three different tables for the user - are you putting users of each type in their own table? Would it simplify things at all to use a single users table with a column identifying the user type (or role)? Then, you just have one login class that could create user objects based on the user type.

Answer 3

I feel like your problem is not with the login class but with the user class. Why don't you just use inheritance and create a parent User class, then create 3 sub-user classes. For example:

class User {
    $email;
    $password;
    $etc;
}

class UserTypeA extends User {
    $specific_property_1;
    $specific_property_2;
    $specific_property_3;
}

class UserTypeB extends User {
    $specific_property_1;
    $specific_property_2;
    $specific_property_3;
}

class UserTypeC extends User {
    $specific_property_1;
    $specific_property_2;
    $specific_property_3;
}

Keep all the common attributes and methods in the parent user class, and all the unique attributes and methods in the child classes.