On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:33:35 +0100, wswilson <wswilson@gmail.com> wrote:

> Suppose I have:
>
> class A {
> function __construct() {
> $this->val = true;
> }
> }
>
> $a = new A();
>
> if ($a) {
> echo 'some text';
> }
>
> When I test "if ($a)", I want the class A to respond with the value of
> $this->val, which is true at the moment.
>
> Is this possible?

Nope, that kind of overloading cannot be done in PHP atm.
What you can do is:
- control how an object is evaluated in a string context with the magic
__toString() function.
- you can have some control over how an object is evaluated in an array
context with for instance
<http://www.php.net/~helly/php/ext/spl/classArrayIterator.html>

.... however, for boolean castings default type casting applies, see
<http://nl2.php.net/manual/en/language.types.boolean.php#language.types.boolean. casting>

Given no further context, I see no clear reason why you can't call
if($a->val) instead of if($a).
--
Rik Wasmus