Chaining Static Methods in PHP?

Question

Is it possible to chain static methods together using a static class? Say I wanted to do something like this:

$value = TestClass::toValue(5)::add(3)::subtrac         


        

Answer 1

The most easiest way i have ever found for method chaining from new Instance or Static method of class is as below. I have used Late Static Binding here and i really loved this solution.

I have created a utility to send multiple User Notification on next page using tostr in Laravel.

<?php

namespace App\Utils;

use Session;

use Illuminate\Support\HtmlString;

class Toaster
{
    private static $options = [

        "closeButton" => false,

        "debug" => false,

        "newestOnTop" => false,

        "progressBar" => false,

        "positionClass" => "toast-top-right",

        "preventDuplicates" => false,

        "onclick" => null,

        "showDuration" => "3000",

        "hideDuration" => "1000",

        "timeOut" => "5000",

        "extendedTimeOut" => "1000",

        "showEasing" => "swing",

        "hideEasing" => "linear",

        "showMethod" => "fadeIn",

        "hideMethod" => "fadeOut"
    ];

    private static $toastType = "success";

    private static $instance;

    private static $title;

    private static $message;

    private static $toastTypes = ["success", "info", "warning", "error"];

    public function __construct($options = [])
    {
        self::$options = array_merge(self::$options, $options);
    }

    public static function setOptions(array $options = [])
    {
        self::$options = array_merge(self::$options, $options);

        return self::getInstance();
    }

    public static function setOption($option, $value)
    {
        self::$options[$option] = $value;

        return self::getInstance();
    }

    private static function getInstance()
    {
        if(empty(self::$instance) || self::$instance === null)
        {
            self::setInstance();
        }

        return self::$instance;
    }

    private static function setInstance()
    {
        self::$instance = new static();
    }

    public static function __callStatic($method, $args)
    {
        if(in_array($method, self::$toastTypes))
        {
            self::$toastType = $method;

            return self::getInstance()->initToast($method, $args);
        }

        throw new \Exception("Ohh my god. That toast doesn't exists.");
    }

    public function __call($method, $args)
    {
        return self::__callStatic($method, $args);
    }

    private function initToast($method, $params=[])
    {
        if(count($params)==2)
        {
            self::$title = $params[0];

            self::$message = $params[1];
        }
        elseif(count($params)==1)
        {
            self::$title = ucfirst($method);

            self::$message = $params[0];
        }

        $toasters = [];

        if(Session::has('toasters'))
        {
            $toasters = Session::get('toasters');
        }

        $toast = [

            "options" => self::$options,

            "type" => self::$toastType,

            "title" => self::$title,

            "message" => self::$message
        ];

        $toasters[] = $toast;

        Session::forget('toasters');

        Session::put('toasters', $toasters);

        return $this;
    }

    public static function renderToasters()
    {
        $toasters = Session::get('toasters');

        $string = '';

        if(!empty($toasters))
        {
            $string .= '<script type="application/javascript">';

            $string .= "$(function() {\n";

            foreach ($toasters as $toast)
            {
                $string .= "\n toastr.options = " . json_encode($toast['options'], JSON_PRETTY_PRINT) . ";";

                $string .= "\n toastr['{$toast['type']}']('{$toast['message']}', '{$toast['title']}');";
            }

            $string .= "\n});";

            $string .= '</script>';
        }

        Session::forget('toasters');

        return new HtmlString($string);
    }
}

This will work as below.

Toaster::success("Success Message", "Success Title")

    ->setOption('showDuration', 5000)

    ->warning("Warning Message", "Warning Title")

    ->error("Error Message");

Answer 2

This is more accurate, easier, and read-friendly (allows code-completion)

class Calculator
{   
    public static $value = 0;

    protected static $onlyInstance;

    protected function __construct () 
    {
        // disable creation of public instances 
    }

    protected static function getself()
    {
        if (static::$onlyInstance === null) 
        {
            static::$onlyInstance = new Calculator;
        }

        return static::$onlyInstance;
    }

    /**
     * add to value
     * @param numeric $num 
     * @return \Calculator
     */
    public static function add($num) 
    {
        static::$value += $num;
        return static::getself();
    }

    /**
     * substruct
     * @param string $num
     * @return \Calculator
     */
    public static function subtract($num) 
    {
        static::$value -= $num;
        return static::getself();
    }

    /**
     * multiple by
     * @param string $num
     * @return \Calculator
     */
    public static function multiple($num) 
    {
        static::$value *= $num;
        return static::getself();
    }

    /**
     * devide by
     * @param string $num
     * @return \Calculator
     */
    public static function devide($num) 
    {
        static::$value /= $num;
        return static::getself();
    }

    public static function result()
    {
        return static::$value;
    }
}

Example:

echo Calculator::add(5)
        ->subtract(2)
        ->multiple(2.1)
        ->devide(10)
    ->result();

result: 0.63

Answer 3

Little crazy code on php5.3... just for fun.

namespace chaining;
class chain
    {
    static public function one()
        {return get_called_class();}

    static public function two()
        {return get_called_class();}
    }

${${${${chain::one()} = chain::two()}::one()}::two()}::one();

Answer 4

With php7 you will be able to use desired syntax because of new Uniform Variable Syntax

<?php

abstract class TestClass {

    public static $currentValue;

    public static function toValue($value) {
        self::$currentValue = $value;
        return __CLASS__;
    }

    public static function add($value) {
        self::$currentValue = self::$currentValue + $value;
        return __CLASS__;
    }

    public static function subtract($value) {
        self::$currentValue = self::$currentValue - $value;
        return __CLASS__;
    }

    public static function result() {
        return self::$currentValue;
    }

}

$value = TestClass::toValue(5)::add(3)::subtract(2)::add(8)::result();
echo $value;

Demo

Answer 5

You could always use the First method as a static and the remaining as instance methods:

$value = Math::toValue(5)->add(3)->subtract(2)->add(8)->result();

Or better yet:

 $value = Math::eval(Math::value(5)->add(3)->subtract(2)->add(8));

class Math {
     public $operation;
     public $operationValue;
     public $args;
     public $allOperations = array();

     public function __construct($aOperation, $aValue, $theArgs)
     {
       $this->operation = $aOperation;
       $this->operationValue = $aValue;
       $this->args = $theArgs;
     }

     public static function eval($math) {
       if(strcasecmp(get_class($math), "Math") == 0){
            $newValue = $math->operationValue;
            foreach ($math->allOperations as $operationKey=>$currentOperation) {
                switch($currentOperation->operation){
                    case "add":
                         $newvalue = $currentOperation->operationValue + $currentOperation->args;
                         break;
                    case "subtract":
                         $newvalue = $currentOperation->operationValue - $currentOperation->args;
                         break;
                }
            }
            return $newValue;
       }
       return null;
     }

     public function add($number){
         $math = new Math("add", null, $number);
         $this->allOperations[count($this->allOperations)] &= $math;
         return $this;
     }

     public function subtract($number){
         $math = new Math("subtract", null, $number);
         $this->allOperations[count($this->allOperations)] &= $math;
         return $this;
     }

     public static function value($number){
         return new Math("value", $number, null);
     }
 }

Just an FYI.. I wrote this off the top of my head (right here on the site). So, it may not run, but that is the idea. I could have also did a recursive method call to eval, but I thought this may be simpler. Please let me know if you would like me to elaborate or provide any other help.

Answer 6

No, this won't work. The :: operator needs to evaluate back to a class, so after the TestClass::toValue(5) evaluates, the ::add(3) method would only be able to evaluate on the answer of the last one.

So if toValue(5) returned the integer 5, you would basically be calling int(5)::add(3) which obviously is an error.