Array reference in a class error in php - php

Question

I have this class which populates and prints an array
<?php
class testArray
{
private $myArr;
public function __construct() {
$myArr = array();
}
public static function PopulateArr() {
$testA = new testArray();
$testA->populateProtectedArr();
return $testA;
}
protected function populateProtectedArr()
{
$this->myArr[0] = 'red';
$this->myArr[1] = 'green';
$this->myArr[2] = 'yellow';
print_r ($this->myArr);
}
public function printArr() {
echo "<br> 2nd Array";
print_r ($this->myArr);
}
}
?>
I instantiate this class from another file and try to print the array in different function.
<?php
require_once "testClass.php";
$u = new testArray();
$u->PopulateArr();
$u->printArr();
?>
I am not able to print the array in the printArr() function. I want to get reference to the array that I had set the values in .

Answer 1

You just missed one thing, you have to assign result of $u->PopulateArr(); to $u again, otherwise you will not get the object you created from that method call, so:
$u = new testArray();
$u = $u->PopulateArr(); // this will work
$u->printArr();
This also can be done like this:
$u = testArray::PopulateArr();
$u->printArr();

Answer 2

It seems that your $u object never populates the private array.
Instead you create a new object $testA and populate its array.

Answer 3

This might help you understanding the way
class testArray
{
private $myArr;
public function __construct() {
$this->myArr = array();
}
public static function PopulateArr() {
$testA = new testArray();
$testA->populateProtectedArr();
return $testA;
}
protected function populateProtectedArr()
{
$this->myArr[0] = 'red';
$this->myArr[1] = 'green';
$this->myArr[2] = 'yellow';
return $this->myArr;
}
public function printArr() {
echo "<br> 2nd Array";
return $this->PopulateArr();
}
}
another.php
require_once "testClass.php";
$u = new testArray();
print_r($u->PopulateArr());
print_r($u->printArr());
Here we are accessing the values of protected function PopulateArr instead of printing within function I just replaced it with return and print it over another file and within printArr function just call the PopulateArr function and that's it