get_parent_class
    (PHP 4 , PHP 5)
get_parent_class -- Retrieves the parent class name for object or class
Description
string 
get_parent_class ( mixed obj)
     If obj is an object, returns the name of the
     parent class of the class of which obj is an
     instance.
    
     If obj is a string, returns the name of the parent
     class of the class with that name. This functionality was added in PHP
     4.0.5.
    
     
Example 1. Using get_parent_class() 
<?php
  class dad {     function dad()      {     // implements some logic     } }
  class child extends dad {     function child()      {         echo "I'm " , get_parent_class($this) , "'s son\n";     } }
  class child2 extends dad {     function child2()      {         echo "I'm " , get_parent_class('child2') , "'s son too\n";     } }
  $foo = new child(); $bar = new child2();
  ?>
 |  
 
       The output is:
       I'm dad's son
I'm dad's son too  |  
  | 
    
     See also get_class() and
     is_subclass_of().