PHP Magic Methods in JavaScript

readme.md

JavaScript Magic Methods

This script implements some of PHP's magic methods for JavaScript classes, using a Proxy.

Example

You can use it like this:

const Foo = magicMethods(class Foo {
  constructor () {
    this.bar = 'Bar'
  }
  
  __get (name) {
    return `[[${name}]]`
  }
})

const foo = new Foo
foo.bar // "Bar"
foo.baz // "[[baz]]"

If you're using a JavaScript transpiler like Babel with decorators enabled, you can also use the magicMethods function as a decorator:

@magicMethods
class Foo {
  // ...
}

Supported Magic Methods

Given a class Class and an instance of it, the following are the magic methods supported by this script:

__get(name)

Called when trying to access instance[name] where name is not an existing property of instance.

Attention: As in PHP, the check if name exists in instance does not use any custom __isset() methods.

__set(name, value)

Called when trying to do instance[name] = ... where name is neither set as a property of instance.

__isset(name)

Called when trying to check existance of name by calling name in instance.

__unset(name)

Called when trying to unset property name by calling delete instance[name].

Additional Methods

The following magic methods are made available by this script, but are not supported in PHP:

static __getStatic(name)

Like __get(), but in the Class instead of the instance.

static __setStatic(name, value)

Like __set(), but in the Class instead of the instance.

Why is Magic Method X not supported?

They are either not necessary or not practical:

• __construct() is not needed, there's JavaScript's constructor already.
• __destruct(): There is no mechanism in JavaScript to hook into object destruction.
• __call(): As opposed to PHP, methods are just like properties in JavaScript and are first obtained via __get(). To implement __call(), you simply return a function from __get().
• __callStatic(): As in __call(), but with __getStatic().
• __sleep(), __wakeup(): There's no builtin serialization/unserialization in JavaScript. You could use JSON.stringify()/JSON.parse(), but there's no mechanism to automatically trigger any methods with that.
• __toString() is already present in JavaScript's toString()
• __invoke(): JavaScript will throw an error if you'll try to invoke a non-function object, no way to avoid that.
• __set_state(): There's nothing like var_export() in JavaScript.
• __clone(): There's no builtin cloning functionality in JavaScript that can be hooked into.
• __debugInfo(): There's no way to hook into console.log() output.

Can I extend a class with Magic Methods on it?

Yes, to a certain extent:

class Bar extends Foo {}

// Or, if class Bar contains Magic Methods itself:

const Bar = magicMethods(class Bar extends Foo {
  // ...
})

Unfortunately though, you cannot access properties from the child class in the parent class:

const Foo = magicMethods(class Foo {
  __get() {
    return this.bar()
  }
})

class Bar extends Foo {
  bar() {
    return 'value'
  }
}

// This will *not* call B's bar() method but instead throw a TypeError:
(new Bar).something

magic-methods.js

function magicMethods (clazz) {
  // A toggle switch for the __isset method
  // Needed to control "prop in instance" inside of getters
  let issetEnabled = true

  const classHandler = Object.create(null)

  // Trap for class instantiation
  classHandler.construct = (target, args) => {
    // Wrapped class instance
    const instance = new clazz(...args)

    // Instance traps
    const instanceHandler = Object.create(null)
    
    // __get()
    // Catches "instance.property"
    const get = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(clazz.prototype, '__get')
    if (get) {
      instanceHandler.get = (target, name) => {
        // We need to turn off the __isset() trap for the moment to establish compatibility with PHP behaviour
        // PHP's __get() method doesn't care about its own __isset() method, so neither should we
        issetEnabled = false
        const exists = name in target
        issetEnabled = true
        
        if (exists) {
          return target[name]
        } else {
          return get.value.call(target, name)
        }
      }
    }

    // __set()
    // Catches "instance.property = ..."
    const set = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(clazz.prototype, '__set')
    if (set) {
      instanceHandler.set = (target, name, value) => {
        if (name in target) {
          target[name] = value
        } else {
          return target.__set.call(target, name, value)
        }
      }
    }

    // __isset()
    // Catches "'property' in instance"
    const isset = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(clazz.prototype, '__isset')
    if (isset) {
      instanceHandler.has = (target, name) => {
        if (!issetEnabled) return name in target
        
        return isset.value.call(target, name)
      }
    }

    // __unset()
    // Catches "delete instance.property"
    const unset = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(clazz.prototype, '__unset')
    if (unset) {
      instanceHandler.deleteProperty = (target, name) => {
        return unset.value.call(target, name)
      }
    }

    return new Proxy(instance, instanceHandler)
  }

  // __getStatic()
  // Catches "class.property"
  if (Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(clazz, '__getStatic')) {
    classHandler.get = (target, name, receiver) => {
      if (name in target) {
        return target[name]
      } else {
        return target.__getStatic.call(receiver, name)
      }
    }
  }

  // __setStatic()
  // Catches "class.property = ..."
  if (Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(clazz, '__setStatic')) {
    classHandler.set = (target, name, value, receiver) => {
      if (name in target) {
        return target[name]
      } else {
        return target.__setStatic.call(receiver, name, value)
      }
    }
  }

  return new Proxy(clazz, classHandler)
}