another developer brought to my attention the spl method spl_object_hash() method which afforded a mod in the previously posted class whereby foreach could be used properly. also, it allows a more efficient internal implementation. however, to my dismay, it appears that implementing ArrayAccess does not (not just in this scenario, but in any) allow the class which does so to hook into the global array methods such as array_keys() or array_key_exists(). in this sense, i see it as being only about halfway as useful as it could (or should) be. what i see ArrayAccess in php as, is something quite similar to properties in vb.net, if anyones familiar w/ that. http://www.vbdotnetheaven.com/Uploadfile/rajeshvs/PropertiesInVbDotNet04192005060237AM/PropertiesInVbDotNet.aspx this is the second scenario where i think there could be c code in php itself that would override standard behavior provided an spl definition in user space. sure, the internal code would run a bit slower but imagine wrapping it in #ifdef directives and mapping those to a configure flag whereby if spl wasnt enabled that code wasnt included. i think that would be adequate and it would allow spl to be even more powerful, giving php programmers the ability to more dramatically, semantically modify the core w/o writing a scrap of low-level code. if anybody cares, im happy to send the code for the revision of ObjectArray that allows usage of the foreach construct over instances of it. -nathan
