How to pass a parameter in a variable - php

Question

I'm using ACF within a WordPress theme.
<div class="hero">
<?php
$landscape_image_1x = wp_get_attachment_image_url( get_field('landscape_image'), 'hero-landscape-1x' );
$landscape_image_2x = wp_get_attachment_image_url( get_field('landscape_image'), 'hero-landscape-2x' );
$portrait_image_1x = wp_get_attachment_image_url( get_field('portrait_image'), 'hero-portrait-1x' );
$portrait_image_2x = wp_get_attachment_image_url( get_field('portrait_image'), 'hero-portrait-2x' );
$image_alt = get_post_meta( $hero_landscape, '_wp_attachment_image_alt', true);
?>
<picture>
<source
media="(orientation: landscape)"
srcset="
<?= $landscape_image_1x; ?> 1x,
<?= $landscape_image_2x; ?> 2x"
>
<source
media="(orientation: portrait)"
srcset="
<?= $portrait_image_1x; ?> 1x,
<?= $portrait_image_2x; ?> 2x"
>
<img src="<?= $landscape_image; ?>" alt="<?= $image_alt; ?>">
</picture>
</div>
The first code block works perfectly.
At the moment, I'm repeating a lot of code. All that's changing for each variable is the field name e.g. landscape_image and the size parameter e.g. hero-landscape-1x.
How within PHP do you pass values when echoing variables? Here's my very wrong way of explaining what I mean.
<?php
$image = wp_get_attachment_image_url( get_field( $field ), $parameter );
echo $image('landscape_image', 'hero_landscape_1x');
echo $image('landscape_image', 'hero_landscape_2x');
<?

Answer 1

If I understand correctly, you’re annoyed with the verbosity of
<?php
$landscape_image_1x = wp_get_attachment_image_url( get_field('landscape_image'), 'hero-landscape-1x' );
$landscape_image_2x = wp_get_attachment_image_url( get_field('landscape_image'), 'hero-landscape-2x' );
$portrait_image_1x = wp_get_attachment_image_url( get_field('portrait_image'), 'hero-portrait-1x' );
$portrait_image_2x = wp_get_attachment_image_url( get_field('portrait_image'), 'hero-portrait-2x' );
$image_alt = get_post_meta( $hero_landscape, '_wp_attachment_image_alt', true);
?>
There are a few ways you could go; I see repetition of get_field(), but even more than that I see repetition of wp_get_attachment_image_url(get_field())
TBH, aside from the loooong function names, this isn’t a big deal unless you find yourself repeating this block.
So one option is to assign repeated values, such as
$landscape = get_field('landscape_image');
$portrait = get_field('portrait_image');
but that doesn’t really help much.
Another idea is to encapsulate getting the url with a function. Notice that you can eliminate the one-time use variables.
function image_url($orientation, $location) {
return wp_get_attachment_image_url( get_field($orientation), $location );
}
?>
<picture>
<source
media="(orientation: landscape)"
srcset="<?= image_url('landscape_image', 'hero-landscape-1x' ?>" 1x,
<?= image_url('landscape_image','landscape_image_2x') ?> 2x"
>
It’s still kinda wordy, but you have eliminated unnecessary assignments while at the same time remaining descriptive in the view.
If you’re worried about collision with existing function name, you could also make it a closure:
$url = function ($orientation, $location) {
return wp_get_attachment_image_url( get_field($orientation), $location );
}
?>
<picture>
<source
media="(orientation: landscape)"
srcset="<?= $url('landscape_image', 'hero-landscape-1x' ?>" 1x,
<?= $url('landscape_image','landscape_image_2x') ?> 2x"
>