Since forever, I miss my using() block statement, which I had in Pascal/Delphi, and lately have been addicted to anew while working with C# 
Here’s what I came up with:
<?php
class UsingStack
{
private $_objects=array();
public static function instance()
{
static $instance;
if (!isset($instance))
$instance = new self;
return $instance;
}
public function using($object)
{
if (is_object($object))
$this->_objects[] = $object;
else
$this->_objects[] = $this->current($object);
}
public function done($object=null)
{
if (count($this->_objects)==0)
throw new Exception(__CLASS__."::end() without matching begin()");
if ($object!==null)
if (array_pop($this->_objects)!==$object)
throw new Exception(__CLASS__."::end() with mismatching begin()");
array_pop($this->_objects);
}
public function current($name=null)
{
if ($name===null)
return end($this->_objects);
else
return end($this->_objects)->$name;
}
}
// a class-less API for convenience:
function using($object)
{
UsingStack::instance()->using($object);
}
function done($object=null)
{
UsingStack::instance()->done($object);
}
function this($name=null)
{
return UsingStack::instance()->current($name);
}
// sample object:
$test = (object) array(
'name' => 'Rasmus',
'age' => '35',
'projects' => (object) array(
'work'=>'Building websites',
'home'=>'Fencing the lawn',
),
);
?>
<html>
<head></head>
<body>
<pre><? var_dump($test); ?></pre>
<table>
<? using($test) ?>
<tr><td>Name:</td><td><?=this('name')?></td></tr>
<? using('projects') ?>
<tr><td>Work Project:</td><td><?=this()->work?></td></tr>
<tr><td>Home Project:</td><td><?=this()->home?></td></tr>
<? done(); ?>
<tr><td>Age:</td><td><?=this()->age?></td></tr>
<? done($test) ?>
</table>
</body>
</html>
So the "block" consists of a pair of using($object)…done() statements, and in between those, you can reference the current object with this(), or a property of the current object with this($name).
It’s not quite the same as a real using statement, but you do get the benefit of being able to refer to the current object in a uniform manner, and the ability to walk back up the stack, restoring the reference to the previous object.
Sort of pointless, maybe - but pointless fun!
