PHP Classes function inside function? - php

Question

I'm self-studying the PHP language. And I'm focused on the latest PHP OOP language.
I search for some "ready-to-install" PHP software and as I scan for some references to search and know, I saw lines of code with a structure like this (can't remember so I'll create my own):
$myapp->settings->getValue('openforum');
$myapp->settings->setValue('closeformaintenance', '1');
So my question is, how can I reproduce the code above? I don't know what term to use that line of code (objects, I guess?).
Something like this:
$newLogin->search($uid)->setLogin($dateToday);
Like that. I really need to do that way so I can organize my coding structure. Thanks by the way.
And also for the final question, IS THAT POSSIBLE?

Answer 1

Here's a fairly straight forward way of looking at it, using dependency injection.
Try it out: https://3v4l.org/iSJgL
Note, the below requires PHP 7 due to the string type hint. Remove that and I believe it should work in 5.6 just fine.
<?php
$myapp = new MyApp(new SettingsBag([
'works' => false,
'random' => rand(),
]));
var_dump($myapp->settings()->get('random'));
var_dump($myapp->settings()->get('works'));
// Let's change it up...
$myapp->settings()->set('works', true);
// Now it should be true.
var_dump($myapp->settings()->get('works'));
These would normally have namespaces like \App and/or \App\Configuration, but I ignore that here so it's easier to follow:
class MyApp {
private $settings_bag = null;
function __construct(SettingsBag $settings_bag)
{
$this->settings_bag = $settings_bag;
}
public function settings()
{
return $this->settings_bag;
}
}
class SettingsBag {
private $settings = null;
function __construct(array $settings = [])
{
$this->settings = $settings;
}
public function set(string $key, $value)
{
return $this->settings[$key] = $value;
}
public function get(string $key)
{
return $this->settings[$key];
}
}

Answer 2

What you try to achieve is called method chaining. You can get this by the following:
<?php
class TestClass {
private $val = '';
public function test1($val) {
$this->val = $val;
return $this;
}
public function test2() {
echo 'Hello '.$this->val;
}
}
$test->test1('World')->test2(); // Hello World
You have simply to return the instance of the object on the method to allow the method chaining.

Answer 3

You can read more here.
It's method chaining.
See code below:
class T {
public function test() {
// do something
return $this;
}
}
$x = new T;
$x->test()->test();