PHP method chaining or fluent interface?
PhpOopMethod ChainingFluent InterfacePhp Problem Overview
I am using PHP 5 and I've heard of a new featured in the object-oriented approach, called 'method chaining'. What is it exactly? How do I implement it?
Php Solutions
Solution 1 - Php
It's rather simple, really. You have a series of mutator methods that all return the original (or other) object. That way, you can keep calling methods on the returned object.
<?php
class fakeString
{
private $str;
function __construct()
{
$this->str = "";
}
function addA()
{
$this->str .= "a";
return $this;
}
function addB()
{
$this->str .= "b";
return $this;
}
function getStr()
{
return $this->str;
}
}
$a = new fakeString();
echo $a->addA()->addB()->getStr();
This outputs "ab"
[Try it online!](https://tio.run/##lZBBDoIwEEX3PUVDuoAFXgDF6BU8ABlLgUZTmnbQhfHsOLSSYIwa/6KTzO/7kxnb2XG9tfTKM3jPGzipAzptWnZjnGSdvgAqLjy6InSawUjUveFVJXtD7UFimgUrIpMEdtrnJbl8w5Mkknf2GgB1vftGrgiFJzvJKRyciT8@Ju5/JR7/SmwV0j3eMpdgiJ5p4pkAWtqo6@KaaVaQoWTXcwF5GTcPdT/VeUoxjg8 "PHP – Try It Online")
Solution 2 - Php
Basically, you take an object:
$obj = new ObjectWithChainableMethods();
Call a method that effectively does a return $this;
at the end:
$obj->doSomething();
Since it returns the same object, or rather, a reference to the same object, you can continue calling methods of the same class off the return value, like so:
$obj->doSomething()->doSomethingElse();
That's it, really. Two important things:
-
As you note, it's PHP 5 only. It won't work properly in PHP 4 because it returns objects by value and that means you're calling methods on different copies of an object, which would break your code.
-
Again, you need to return the object in your chainable methods:
public function doSomething() { // Do stuff return $this; } public function doSomethingElse() { // Do more stuff return $this; }
Solution 3 - Php
Try this code:
<?php
class DBManager
{
private $selectables = array();
private $table;
private $whereClause;
private $limit;
public function select() {
$this->selectables = func_get_args();
return $this;
}
public function from($table) {
$this->table = $table;
return $this;
}
public function where($where) {
$this->whereClause = $where;
return $this;
}
public function limit($limit) {
$this->limit = $limit;
return $this;
}
public function result() {
$query[] = "SELECT";
// if the selectables array is empty, select all
if (empty($this->selectables)) {
$query[] = "*";
}
// else select according to selectables
else {
$query[] = join(', ', $this->selectables);
}
$query[] = "FROM";
$query[] = $this->table;
if (!empty($this->whereClause)) {
$query[] = "WHERE";
$query[] = $this->whereClause;
}
if (!empty($this->limit)) {
$query[] = "LIMIT";
$query[] = $this->limit;
}
return join(' ', $query);
}
}
// Now to use the class and see how METHOD CHAINING works
// let us instantiate the class DBManager
$testOne = new DBManager();
$testOne->select()->from('users');
echo $testOne->result();
// OR
echo $testOne->select()->from('users')->result();
// both displays: 'SELECT * FROM users'
$testTwo = new DBManager();
$testTwo->select()->from('posts')->where('id > 200')->limit(10);
echo $testTwo->result();
// this displays: 'SELECT * FROM posts WHERE id > 200 LIMIT 10'
$testThree = new DBManager();
$testThree->select(
'firstname',
'email',
'country',
'city'
)->from('users')->where('id = 2399');
echo $testThree->result();
// this will display:
// 'SELECT firstname, email, country, city FROM users WHERE id = 2399'
?>
Solution 4 - Php
Another Way for static method chaining :
class Maker
{
private static $result = null;
private static $delimiter = '.';
private static $data = [];
public static function words($words)
{
if( !empty($words) && count($words) )
{
foreach ($words as $w)
{
self::$data[] = $w;
}
}
return new static;
}
public static function concate($delimiter)
{
self::$delimiter = $delimiter;
foreach (self::$data as $d)
{
self::$result .= $d.$delimiter;
}
return new static;
}
public static function get()
{
return rtrim(self::$result, self::$delimiter);
}
}
Calling
echo Maker::words(['foo', 'bob', 'bar'])->concate('-')->get();
echo "<br />";
echo Maker::words(['foo', 'bob', 'bar'])->concate('>')->get();
Solution 5 - Php
Method chaining means that you can chain method calls:
$object->method1()->method2()->method3()
This means that method1() needs to return an object, and method2() is given the result of method1(). Method2() then passes the return value to method3().
Good article: http://www.talkphp.com/advanced-php-programming/1163-php5-method-chaining.html
Solution 6 - Php
There are 49 lines of code which allows you to chain methods over arrays like this:
$fruits = new Arr(array("lemon", "orange", "banana", "apple"));
$fruits->change_key_case(CASE_UPPER)->filter()->walk(function($value,$key) {
echo $key.': '.$value."\r\n";
});
See this article which shows you how to chain all the PHP's seventy array_ functions.
http://domexception.blogspot.fi/2013/08/php-magic-methods-and-arrayobject.html
Solution 7 - Php
A fluent interface allows you to chain method calls, which results in less typed characters when applying multiple operations on the same object.
class Bill {
public $dinner = 20;
public $desserts = 5;
public $bill;
public function dinner( $person ) {
$this->bill += $this->dinner * $person;
return $this;
}
public function dessert( $person ) {
$this->bill += $this->desserts * $person;
return $this;
}
}
$bill = new Bill();
echo $bill->dinner( 2 )->dessert( 3 )->bill;
Solution 8 - Php
I think this is the most relevant answer.
<?php
class Calculator
{
protected $result = 0;
public function sum($num)
{
$this->result += $num;
return $this;
}
public function sub($num)
{
$this->result -= $num;
return $this;
}
public function result()
{
return $this->result;
}
}
$calculator = new Calculator;
echo $calculator->sum(10)->sub(5)->sum(3)->result(); // 8
Solution 9 - Php
Below is my model that is able to find by ID in the database. The with($data) method is my additional parameters for relationship so I return the $this which is the object itself. On my controller I am able to chain it.
class JobModel implements JobInterface{
protected $job;
public function __construct(Model $job){
$this->job = $job;
}
public function find($id){
return $this->job->find($id);
}
public function with($data=[]){
$this->job = $this->job->with($params);
return $this;
}
}
class JobController{
protected $job;
public function __construct(JobModel $job){
$this->job = $job;
}
public function index(){
// chaining must be in order
$this->job->with(['data'])->find(1);
}
}
Solution 10 - Php
If you mean method chaining like in JavaScript (or some people keep in mind jQuery), why not just take a library that brings that dev. experience in PHP? For example Extras - https://dsheiko.github.io/extras/ This one extends PHP types with JavaScript and Underscore methods and provides chaining:
You can chain a particular type:
<?php
use \Dsheiko\Extras\Arrays;
// Chain of calls
$res = Arrays::chain([1, 2, 3])
->map(function($num){ return $num + 1; })
->filter(function($num){ return $num > 1; })
->reduce(function($carry, $num){ return $carry + $num; }, 0)
->value();
or
<?php
use \Dsheiko\Extras\Strings;
$res = Strings::from( " 12345 " )
->replace("/1/", "5")
->replace("/2/", "5")
->trim()
->substr(1, 3)
->get();
echo $res; // "534"
Alternatively you can go polymorphic:
<?php
use \Dsheiko\Extras\Any;
$res = Any::chain(new \ArrayObject([1,2,3]))
->toArray() // value is [1,2,3]
->map(function($num){ return [ "num" => $num ]; })
// value is [[ "num" => 1, ..]]
->reduce(function($carry, $arr){
$carry .= $arr["num"];
return $carry;
}, "") // value is "123"
->replace("/2/", "") // value is "13"
->then(function($value){
if (empty($value)) {
throw new \Exception("Empty value");
}
return $value;
})
->value();
echo $res; // "13"