Classes: Methods With Predefined Semantics

If a class contains a definition for a method having one of the following names, that method must have the prescribed visibility, signature, and semantics:

Method __construct

See Constructors.

Method __dispose

This public instance method is required if the class implements the interface IDisposable; the method is intended to perform object cleanup. The method's signature is, as follows:

public function __dispose(): void;

This method is called implicitly by the runtime when the instance goes out of scope, provided the attributes <<__ReturnDisposable>> and <<__AcceptDisposable>> are not present.

See object disposal for an example of its use and a discussion of these attributes.

Method __disposeAsync

This public instance method is required if the class implements the interface IAsyncDisposable; the method is intended to perform object cleanup. The method's signature is, as follows:

public async function __disposeAsync(): Awaitable<void>;

This method is called implicitly by the runtime when the instance goes out of scope, provided the attributes <<__ReturnDisposable>> and <<__AcceptDisposable>> are not present.

See object disposal for a discussion of disposal and these attributes.

Method __toString

This public instance method is intended to create a string representation of the instance on which it is called. For example:

class Point {
  private static int $pointCount = 0; // static property with initializer
  private float $x; // instance property
  private float $y; // instance property

  public function __construct(num $x = 0, num $y = 0) { // instance method
    $this->x = (float)$x; // access instance property
    $this->y = (float)$y; // access instance property
    ++Point::$pointCount; // include new Point in Point count
  }

  public function __toString(): string { // instance method
    return '('.$this->x.','.$this->y.')';
  }
  // ...
}

<<__EntryPoint>>
function main(): void {
  $p1 = new Point(20, 30);
  /* HH_FIXME[4067] implicit __toString() is now deprecated */
  echo $p1."\n"; // implicit call to __toString() returns "(20,30)"
}

(20,30)

As shown, echo calls __toString to convert the value of a Point to string. Such implicit conversions also occur in other places in Hack. That said, __toString can be called directly.

If the instance's class is derived from a class that has or inherits a __toString method, the result of calling that method should be prepended to the returned string. For example:

class MyRangeException extends \Exception {
  public function __toString(): string {
    return parent::__toString().">>MyRangeException stuff<<";
  }
  // ...
}

As base class Exception has a __toString method, we should preserve the work it does.