Components and variables can now be accessed in the page code section via `$this->foo` in addition to `$this['foo']`.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-* **Build 13x** (2014-08-xx)
+* **Build 14x** (2014-08-xx)
+  - Components and variables can now be accessed in the page code section via `$this->foo` in addition to `$this['foo']`.
+
+* **Build 139** (2014-08-18)
   - List widget has been refactored to improve efficiency.
   - Added new list column type `nameFrom` (take name from X attribute) as an alternative to `select`.
 

modules/cms/classes/CodeBase.php

@@ -107,13 +107,21 @@ class CodeBase extends Extendable implements ArrayAccess
 
     /**
      * This object is referenced as $this->page in Cms\Classes\ComponentBase,
-     * so to avoid $this->page->page this method will proxy there.
+     * so to avoid $this->page->page this method will proxy there. This is also
+     * used as a helper for accessing controller variables/components easier
+     * in the page code, eg. $this->foo instead of $this['foo']
      * @param  string  $name
      * @return void
      */
     public function __get($name)
     {
-        return $this->page->{$name};
+        if (($value = $this->page->{$name}) !== null)
+            return $value;
+
+        if (array_key_exists($name, $this->controller->vars))
+            return $this[$name];
+
+        return null;
     }
 
     /**