$name == null) { if($name == "item") { $this->item = new Workflowitem($this->item_id); return $this->item; } $classname = ucfirst($name); $idfield = $name."_id"; $this->$name = new $classname($this->$idfield); if($this->$name->id) { return $this->$name; } else { return null; } } return $this->$name; } }