Mastering PHP 7

Using __unset()

The __unset() magic method is triggered by calling the unset() language constructs on inaccessible properties. The method accepts a single parameter, as per the following synopsis:

public bool __unset(string $name)

The $name argument is the name of the property being interacted with.

Let's take a look at the following object context example:

<?phpclass User{  private $data = [    'name' => 'John',    'age' => 34,  ];  public function __unset($name)  {    unset($this->data[$name]);  }}$user = new User();var_dump($user);unset($user->age);unset($user->salary);var_dump($user);

The User class declares a single private $data array property, alongside the __unset() magic method. The method itself is quite simple; it merely calls for the