JetBrains WebIDE: PHP variable type hinting?

Question

Is there a way to hint WebIDE that a variable has some type? I have to iterate an array of objects, and there's no auto-completion available. This helps in ZendStudio:

/* @var ClassName $object */

I know there's a feature in JetBrains to declare an array of objects:

/**
 * @return ClassName[]
 */

But this works only with function's return type.

Spurt

It works with arrays. Does it work with ArrayIterators which iterate over a specific type? – Deactivate

Answer 1

/* @var ClassName $object */ is a non-valid PHPDOC comment and is not parsed in the current version of Web IDE. Use double asterisks to make it work:

/** @var ClassName $object */

Also, you can annotate $array in foreach($array as $var) with /** @var ClassName[] $array */ and $var type will be deduced automatically.

Pleura

didn't know about the square brackets notation – Pastiness

Related question: My PHP class uses magic getter for a variable and I want to bind that getter variable to a Class object, any idea how to do that? As I cannot define the variable in my class. – Windowlight

Wow.. just googled for fun and really no hope that this will actually be a thing.. I never was so wrong in my life and I am happy that I was wrong! This feature is so cool, thanks! :) – Substantialism

Very relevant for $this->getUser() inside a controller in a Symfony app – Yiyid

Answer 2

As already pointed out, PhpStorm will use regular phpdoc blocks:

/** @var ClassName $object */

However, since 2.1 it also supports Netbeans/Eclipse/Zend @var annotations:

/* @var $object ClassName */

Please note the comment starts with /* rather than /** (thus it won't show up if you generate actual documentation with phpdoc). Also, the arguments are swapped, though PhpStorm accepts any order:

/* @var ClassName $object */

Last but not least, they can precede almost any arbitrary line of code (technically, phpdoc blocks are restricted to certain items).

---

Edit: as of 2019, Netbeans/Eclipse/Zend @var annotations seem to be mostly abandoned. NetBeans 11 no longer supports them and in general they aren't supported by other IDEs. I suggest to use the other syntax.

Papyrology

Last archive of the introduction of this annotation style on former Netbeans owner Oracle's blog: web.archive.org/web/20200921104605/https://blogs.oracle.com/… – Sort

@ReinState Answer updated, thank you! – Melanimelania