Consistent implementation functions in a logical order - php

Question

Maybe I'm wrong to expressed it in the title, but I just do not understand how in the class like this.
<?php
class sample{
public $data = [];
public function pushIndex($index){
array_push($this->data, $index);
}
public function pushValue($value){
array_push($this->data["index"], $value);
// Some magic
}
public function forIndex($index){
return $this->data[$index];
// Some magic
}
}
To realize scheme like in Symfony, where will be spaghetti like this
<?php
$a = new sample;
$a->pushIndex("index")->pushValue("value");
$a->forIndex("index2")->pushValue("value2");
Maybe someone knows how to do it?

Answer 1

What you're talking about is called Fluent interface.
Returns the current object by using $this.
public function pushIndex($index){
array_push($this->a,$index);
return $this;
}
But what you want is to do something like this:
class sample
{
protected $a = [];
protected $currentIndex = null;
public function pushIndex($index)
{
$this->currentIndex = $index;
return $this;
}
public function pushValue($value)
{
if ($this->currentIndex === null) {
throw new LogicException('You need to call "pushIndex" or "forIndex" first.');
}
$this->a[$this->currentIndex] = $value;
return $this;
}
public function forIndex($index)
{
if (!isset($this->a[$index])) {
throw new RuntimeException(sprintf('Index "%s" doesn\'t exists', $index));
}
$this->currentIndex = $index;
return $this;
}
public function getArray()
{
return $this->a;
}
}
$a = new sample;
$a->pushIndex("index")->pushValue("value");
$a->forIndex("index2")->pushValue("value2"); // exception?
var_dump($a->getArray());
But what you want is pretty unclear.

Answer 2

I think what you're trying to achieve is something like this:
class sample{
public $a = [];
public $index = null;
public function pushIndex($index){
$this->index = $index;
$this->a[$index] = null;
return $this;
}
public function pushValue($value){
$this->a[$this->index] = $value;
return $this;
}
public function forIndex($index){
$this->index = $index;
return $this;
}
}
$a = new sample;
$a->pushIndex("index")->pushValue("value");
$a->forIndex("index2")->pushValue("value2");
echo "<pre>";
var_dump($a);
echo "</pre>";
This is called "method chaining". By returning a reference to the called object, you're able to perform further methods on the object, essentially "chaining" the methods.
I've had to adjust your code a little to get it the work I believe the way you want it to. It should provide a working example to help you understand method chaining.