In PHP 5.x, how can I detect if a class is abstract or not at run time?

Question

I'm looping through an array of class names in PHP, fetched via get_declared_classes().

How can I check each class name to detect whether or not that particular class is an abstract class or not?

Answer 1

Use reflection. ReflectionClass->isAbstract()

Use it like this:

$class = new ReflectionClass('NameOfTheClass');
$abstract = $class->isAbstract();

Answer 2

You can use Reflection on the class.

Answer 3

If you need to check this in runtime, I'd suggest you re-evaluate your application architecture.

You should never try to do this unless you're building an extremely complex application to inspect other code you cannot change.

Answer 4

<?php 

abstract class Picasso
{
    public function __construct()
    {

    }
} 

$class = new ReflectionClass('Picasso');

if($class->isAbstract())
{
    echo "Im abstract";
}
else
{
    echo "Im not abstract";
}

?>

See the manual : www.php.net/oop5.reflection