PHP - can Require_Once be used as an Object? - php

Question

I am trying integrate a way of a user being able to store there configuration settings into a blank PHP file like this:
<?php // Configuration.php
$con = array(
'host' => 'host'
'user' => 'username',
'pass' => 'password',
'name' => 'dbname'
);
?>
What I have tried:
class Configuration{
public $database = require_once 'Configuration.php';
}
$config = new Configuration;
print_r($config->database->con);
Is this possible or not? There will be a display on the Configuration.php page when accessed so I don't want to include the page in the site, only require its properties.
Thanks in advance.
Updated working code for viewers - Use of Class and Constructors by #Yoshi
Config.php -
if(defined('DFfdcxc58xasdGJWdfa5hDFG')): // Random unique security key
return array(
'host' => 'localhost',
'user' => 'bob',
'pass' => '123',
'name' => 'data'
);
endif;
Database Class:
interface Dashboard{
public function initialize($actual);
}
define('DFfdcxc58xasdGJWdfa5hDFG',0); // Random unique security key
class Configuration{
protected $config = require_once('Config.php');
protected $api_key = "Xc4FeSo09PxNcTTd3793XJrIiK";
}
class DashboardSettings{
public $alerts = array();
protected $comments = true;
protected $read_only = false;
protected $safe_mode = false;
}
class Database extends Configuration extends DashboardSettings implements Dashboard{
public function __construct(){
$this->db = mysqli_connect($this->config[0],$this->config[1],$this->config[2],$this->config[3]);
if(mysqli_connect_errno){ array_push($this->alerts, 'Error connecting to Database...'); $this->safe_mode = true; }
}
public function initialize($actual = null){
if($actual != null){
// Handle incomming setting - reference DashboardSettings
} else {
// Handle all settings - reference DashboardSettings
}
}
}

Answer 1

The answer is no. When you assign require_once(); to a variable, the variable turns into a boolean with 1 in case the file was included successfully, or 0 otherwise (useless in require_once() as it returns a fatal error if it fails.
So, doing:
<?php
$hello = require_once("./hello.php");
echo $hello; // Prints 1.
?>
Anyway, if you create a php file that returns something, as for example:
FILE: require.php
<?php
$hello = "HELLO";
return $hello;
?>
In this case, the previous example would be different:
<?php
$hello = require_once("./require.php");
echo $hello; // Prints HELLO.
?>
So, you cannot store the function itself to execute it later, but you can store returned values from the required or included files. Anyway, if you explain better what are you using it for, I maybe able to help you better.
Answer By #David Álvarez