CodeIgniter: system/core/Model.php - Undefined Property

I just ran into a problem where, for whatever reason, the core/Model’s __get() function calling an unknown property and it was fairly hard to track down what was causing the problem.

The current develop __get() function reads:

    public function __get($key)
    {
        return get_instance()->$key;
    }

A very simple quick fix is to use the @ operator in front of the call - this does not inform the programer of where the error is and suppresses it. Although, this could cause some unexpected problems of it’s own.

    public function __get($key)
    {
        // works but doesn't help the user find where the error is happening.
        return @get_instance()->$key or NULL; 
    }

Reference: http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.operators.errorcontrol.php

To resolve this, and any, undefined property errors the function should read:

    function __get($name) {
        if (ENVIROMENT != 'production') {
            return get_instance()->$name;
        }

        $CI = & get_instance();

        if (isset($CI->name) || property_exists($CI, $name)) {
            return $CI->$name;
        }

        $trace = debug_backtrace();
        trigger_error(
                'Undefined property via __get(): ' . $name .
                ' in ' . $trace[0]['file'] .
                ' on line ' . $trace[0]['line'], E_USER_NOTICE);
        return null;
    }

Note: switched name of var from $key to $name due to PHP5’s documentation: http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.overloading.php#object.get

EDIT: At the suggestion from @ivantcholakov I’ve changed the above to include (1) an ENVIROMENT check as well as optimized the isset and property_exists for speed.