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Iterator in PHP
Iterator is a behavioral design pattern that allows sequential traversal through a complex data structure without exposing its internal details.
Thanks to the Iterator, clients can go over elements of different collections in a similar fashion using a single iterator interface.
Complexity:
Popularity:
Usage examples: The pattern is very common in PHP code. Many frameworks and libraries use it to provide a standard way for traversing their collections.
PHP has a built-in Iterator interface that can be used for building custom iterators compatible with the rest of the PHP code.
Identification: Iterator is easy to recognize by the navigation methods (such as next, previous and others). Client code that uses iterators might not have direct access to the collection being traversed.
Conceptual Example
This example illustrates the structure of the Iterator design pattern and focuses on the following questions:
- What classes does it consist of?
- What roles do these classes play?
- In what way the elements of the pattern are related?
After learning about the pattern’s structure it’ll be easier for you to grasp the following example, based on a real-world PHP use case.
index.php: Conceptual example
<?php
namespace RefactoringGuru\Iterator\Conceptual;
/**
* Concrete Iterators implement various traversal algorithms. These classes
* store the current traversal position at all times.
*/
class AlphabeticalOrderIterator implements \Iterator
{
/**
* @var WordsCollection
*/
private $collection;
/**
* @var int Stores the current traversal position. An iterator may have a
* lot of other fields for storing iteration state, especially when it is
* supposed to work with a particular kind of collection.
*/
private $position = 0;
/**
* @var bool This variable indicates the traversal direction.
*/
private $reverse = false;
public function __construct($collection, $reverse = false)
{
$this->collection = $collection;
$this->reverse = $reverse;
}
public function rewind()
{
$this->position = $this->reverse ?
count($this->collection->getItems()) - 1 : 0;
}
public function current()
{
return $this->collection->getItems()[$this->position];
}
public function key()
{
return $this->position;
}
public function next()
{
$this->position = $this->position + ($this->reverse ? -1 : 1);
}
public function valid()
{
return isset($this->collection->getItems()[$this->position]);
}
}
/**
* Concrete Collections provide one or several methods for retrieving fresh
* iterator instances, compatible with the collection class.
*/
class WordsCollection implements \IteratorAggregate
{
private $items = [];
public function getItems()
{
return $this->items;
}
public function addItem($item)
{
$this->items[] = $item;
}
public function getIterator(): Iterator
{
return new AlphabeticalOrderIterator($this);
}
public function getReverseIterator(): Iterator
{
return new AlphabeticalOrderIterator($this, true);
}
}
/**
* The client code may or may not know about the Concrete Iterator or Collection
* classes, depending on the level of indirection you want to keep in your
* program.
*/
$collection = new WordsCollection();
$collection->addItem("First");
$collection->addItem("Second");
$collection->addItem("Third");
echo "Straight traversal:\n";
foreach ($collection->getIterator() as $item) {
echo $item . "\n";
}
echo "\n";
echo "Reverse traversal:\n";
foreach ($collection->getReverseIterator() as $item) {
echo $item . "\n";
}
Output.txt: Execution result
Straight traversal:
First
Second
Third
Reverse traversal:
Third
Second
First
Real World Example
Since PHP already has a built-in Iterator interface, which provides convenient integration with foreach loops, it’s very easy to create your own iterators for traversing almost every imaginable data structure.
This example of the Iterator pattern provides easy access to CSV files.
index.php: Real world example
<?php
namespace RefactoringGuru\Iterator\RealWorld;
/**
* CSV File Iterator.
*
* @author Josh Lockhart
*/
class CsvIterator implements \Iterator
{
const ROW_SIZE = 4096;
/**
* The pointer to the CSV file.
*
* @var resource
*/
protected $filePointer = null;
/**
* The current element, which is returned on each iteration.
*
* @var array
*/
protected $currentElement = null;
/**
* The row counter.
*
* @var int
*/
protected $rowCounter = null;
/**
* The delimiter for the CSV file.
*
* @var string
*/
protected $delimiter = null;
/**
* The constructor tries to open the CSV file. It throws an exception on
* failure.
*
* @param string $file The CSV file.
* @param string $delimiter The delimiter.
*
* @throws \Exception
*/
public function __construct($file, $delimiter = ',')
{
try {
$this->filePointer = fopen($file, 'rb');
$this->delimiter = $delimiter;
} catch (\Exception $e) {
throw new \Exception('The file "' . $file . '" cannot be read.');
}
}
/**
* This method resets the file pointer.
*/
public function rewind(): void
{
$this->rowCounter = 0;
rewind($this->filePointer);
}
/**
* This method returns the current CSV row as a 2-dimensional array.
*
* @return array The current CSV row as a 2-dimensional array.
*/
public function current(): array
{
$this->currentElement = fgetcsv($this->filePointer, self::ROW_SIZE, $this->delimiter);
$this->rowCounter++;
return $this->currentElement;
}
/**
* This method returns the current row number.
*
* @return int The current row number.
*/
public function key(): int
{
return $this->rowCounter;
}
/**
* This method checks if the end of file has been reached.
*
* @return bool Returns true on EOF reached, false otherwise.
*/
public function next(): bool
{
if (is_resource($this->filePointer)) {
return !feof($this->filePointer);
}
return false;
}
/**
* This method checks if the next row is a valid row.
*
* @return bool If the next row is a valid row.
*/
public function valid(): bool
{
if (!$this->next()) {
if (is_resource($this->filePointer)) {
fclose($this->filePointer);
}
return false;
}
return true;
}
}
/**
* The client code.
*/
$csv = new CsvIterator(__DIR__ . '/cats.csv');
foreach ($csv as $key => $row) {
print_r($row);
}
Output.txt: Execution result
Array
(
[0] => Name
[1] => Age
[2] => Owner
[3] => Breed
[4] => Image
[5] => Color
[6] => Texture
[7] => Fur
[8] => Size
)
Array
(
[0] => Steve
[1] => 3
[2] => Alexander Shvets
[3] => Bengal
[4] => /cats/bengal.jpg
[5] => Brown
[6] => Stripes
[7] => Short
[8] => Medium
)
Array
(
[0] => Siri
[1] => 2
[2] => Alexander Shvets
[3] => Domestic short-haired
[4] => /cats/domestic-sh.jpg
[5] => Black
[6] => Solid
[7] => Medium
[8] => Medium
)
Array
(
[0] => Fluffy
[1] => 5
[2] => John Smith
[3] => Maine Coon
[4] => /cats/Maine-Coon.jpg
[5] => Gray
[6] => Stripes
[7] => Long
[8] => Large
)
