Global object in phtml or block - how does it work and how can i create one?

Question

In the following file, I found this code:

<?php echo $countries->toHtmlOptions($data->getCountryId()) ?>

app/design/frontend/base/default/template/customer/form/address.phtml

$countries has not been instantiated in this phtml file and it kinds of looks like a global object. Typically, we just use $this-> to access methods and some other info in phtml files. I was also trying to find the related block for this global object($countries) and could not find it so easily. They also have few more variables in this template file.

How did they do it? May be, I can do something similar when it is necessary.

Answer 1

In Magento 1.9 I don't find any usage of this template anymore, but it's possible to create variables for templates with assign():

$block->assign('countries', $countries);

or in layout XML

<action method="assign"><var>countries</var><value>A,B,C</value></action>

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However this method is seldomly used and I would not consider it good practice. The preferred method is to add and retrieve data to the block with magic setters and getters:

$block->setCountries($countries);

and in the template:

$this->getCountries()