It’s best to explain by an example.
I look for a function “theFunctionILookFor” that will make the code work.
$myClassName = "someName";
$parentOrInterfaceName = "someParent";
if ( theFunctionILookFor ($myClassName)) echo "is parrent";
edit: I try to avoid instantiating the class just to perform this check. I would like to be able to pass 2 string parameters to the checking function
Looks like this is my answer: is_subclass_of
It can accept both parameters as strings
Answer：
Try is_subclass_of(). It can accept both parameters as strings. http://php.net/manual/en/function.is-subclass-of.php
Answer：
I think that instanceof is a lot faster and more clear to read.
instanceof does not work on strings, because it can be used as a “identifier” for a class:
$temp = 'tester';
$object = new sub();
var_dump($object instanceof $temp); //prints "true" on php 5.3.8
class tester{}
class sub extends \tester{
}
Also, it works on interfaces – you just need a variable to contain the absolute class name (including namespace, if you want to be 100% sure).
Answer：
Using the Reflection API, you can construct a ReflectionClass object using the name of the class as well as an object.
Answer：
You might use this?
http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.get-parent-class.php
From the page:
get_parent_class
(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)
get_parent_class — Retrieves the parent class
name for object or classDescription
string get_parent_class ([ mixed $object ] )Retrieves the parent
class name for object or class.
Answer：
This is an old thread, but still for future reference, you can use the functions is_a and is_subclass_of to accomplish this in a more efficient way.
No need to instantiate anything, you can just pass your string like:
if (is_subclass_of($myObject, 'SomeClass')) // is_a(...)
echo "yes, $myObject is a subclass of SomeClass\n";
else
echo "no, $myObject is not a subclass of SomeClass\n";
PHP Docs:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.is-a.php
http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.is-subclass-of.php
