Factory Method: Prevent a class from Direct Instancing - php

Question

I have a Factory Method to instance a class. Is there a way to prevent this class from direct instancing?
The only option I see is to use an argument passed into the __construct(), but that's not something I'm looking for.
On the other hand, making the __construct() private would be ideal, but I don't want MyClass to extend the Factory without actual need.
What do you guys think?
Factory Method:
class Factory
{
public static function instance()
{
return new MyClass(true);
}
}
MyClass:
class MyClass
{
public function __construct($isFactory = false)
{
if (!$isFactory) {
throw new Exception('Use Factory::instance() to create an object');
}
}
}

Answer 1

There are hacks to do that:
abusing inheritance to use a protected constructor
putting the factory method inside the class so that it can call the private constructor, which is actually not a hack. But then why not using the constructor in the first place?
using reflection to access the private constructor
I'm not promoting anything of that. What I personally do is documenting the API with things like #internal and leave it to the client following that contract.

Answer 2

In essence, your code should have read something like this:
THE FACTORY
<?php
class Factory {
public static function instance(){
return new MyClass(true); //HERE YOU ARE INSTANTIATING
}
}
THE CLASS TO BE INSTANTIATED VIA THE FACTORY
<?php
//NOT MyClass() <--- YOU ARE DEFINING.... NOT INSTANTIATING...
class MyClass {
public function __construct($isFactory = false) {
if (!$isFactory) {
throw new Exception('Use Factory::instance() to create an object');
}
}
//...MORE METHODS
}
Could you try this instead?
<?php
class Factory
{
private static $FACTORY_GUARANTOR; //ONLY SET DURING INSTANTIATION
public static function instance($type) {
if (class_exists($type)) {
self::$FACTORY_GUARANTOR = 1;
$instance = new $type();
self::$FACTORY_GUARANTOR = null;
return $instance;
}
else {
throw new Exception("Class not found...");
}
}
//YOU CAN GET $FACTORYGUARANTOR EXTERNALLY BUT NEVER SET IT;
public static function getGuarantor(){
return self::$FACTORY_GUARANTOR;
}
}
class MyClass {
protected $property1;
protected $property3;
protected $property2;
public function __construct() {
// IF SOMEONE TRIES TO INSTANTIATE THE CLASS OUTSIDE OF THE FACTORY... BLOW A WHISTLE
if(!Factory::getGuarantor()){
throw new Exception('Use Factory::instance() to create an object');
}
// IF THE PROGRAM MADE IT TO THIS POINT;
// JUST INSTANTIATE THE CLASS BECAUSE MOST LIKELY IT IS COMING FROM THE FACTORY
var_dump($this); // A LITTLE CONFIRMATION....
}
//...MORE METHODS
}
// TRY IT OUT:
/*INSTANCE A: RIGHT*/ $theClass = Factory::instance("MyClass"); //INSTANTIATES THE CLASS
/*INSTANCE B: WRONG*/ $theClass = new MyClass(); //THROWS AN EXCEPTION

Answer 3

The easiest way is to define your base class as abstract. The abstract classes cannot be directly instanced, so you will have to redefine their abstract members in the inherited classes:
abstract class Factory
{
abstract public function foo();
}
class InheritedClass extends Factory
{
public function foo()
{
// Do something
}
}
// $obj1 = new Factory(); // Will produce an error
$obj1 = new InheritedClass(); // Will be executed successfully
You can read more for the abstract classes here: PHP: Class Abstraction - Manual.

Answer 4

For me, the best way is to use ReflectionClass:
class MyClass
{
public const FRIEND_CLASSES = [Factory::class];
protected function __construct() {}
}
trait Constructor
{
protected function createObject(string $className, array $args = [])
{
if (!in_array(static::class, $className::FRIEND_CLASSES)) {
throw new \Exception("Call to private or protected {$className}::__construct() from invalid context");
}
$reflection = new ReflectionClass($className);
$constructor = $reflection->getConstructor();
$constructor->setAccessible(true);
$object = $reflection->newInstanceWithoutConstructor();
$constructor->invokeArgs($object, $args);
return $object;
}
}
class Factory
{
use Constructor;
public function MyClass(): MyClass
{
return $this->createObject(MyClass::class);
}
}
In constant FRIEND_CLASSES you can define in which classes the class can be instanced.
trait is used because this functionality can be used in different factories that are not related.
If you need to put parameters into constructor of the class, put them as second parameter of createObject.
Details I described in the article "Forbidding of creating objects outside factory in PHP"