Static method that calls itself on an object - php

Question

I want to have a class that i can use it this way:
Thing::doThis()->doThat()->doImportantThing();
OR
Thing::doThat()->doImportantThing();
OR
Thing::doImportantThing();
But currently i can only use it this way:
$thing = new Thing();
$thing->doThis()->doThat()->doImportantThing();
What do i have to change in the class so i can use it the way i want? I already return a Thing instance in every function call.
I want to use that for a simple reason, imagine a mail class, in the constructor you define a default from and to, but you might want to change it, so you do Mail::setFrom()->send(). If you want to change the to, you use Mail::setTo()->send(). It just makes it easier to use if it's going to be used in different projects by different people.
I want by calling Mail::{something} to have like a constructor call and then run the {something} function.

Answer 1

You can do this
class Thing {
public static function __callStatic($name, $arguments){
$thing = new self;
return $thing->$name($arguments);
}
public function __call($name, $arguments){
return $this->$name($arguments);
}
private function doThis(){
echo 'this'.PHP_EOL;
return $this;
}
private function doThat(){
echo 'that'.PHP_EOL;
return $this;
}
private function doImportantThing(){
echo 'Important'.PHP_EOL;
return $this;
}
}
Thing::doThis()->doThat();
Thing::doThat()->doImportantThing();
It is a really ugly work-around, though. And it disables you to have private methods.
DEMO

Answer 2

One great thing for static methods is that they can work in object context, and can be called like this: $instance->staticMethod()
Here it is (even you get code completion in ide, and works as axpected as you want):
class Mail
{
public static $from;
public static $to;
public static $subject;
public static $message;
protected static $onlyInstance;
protected function __construct ()
{
// disable creation of public instances
}
protected static function getself()
{
if (static::$onlyInstance === null)
{
static::$onlyInstance = new Mail;
}
return static::$onlyInstance;
}
/**
* set from
* #param string $var
* #return \Mail
*/
public static function from($var)
{
static::$from = $var;
return static::getself();
}
/**
* set to
* #param string $var
* #return \Mail
*/
public static function to($var)
{
static::$to = $var;
return static::getself();
}
/**
* set subject
* #param string $var
* #return \Mail
*/
public static function subject($var)
{
static::$subject = $var;
return static::getself();
}
/**
* set message
* #param string $var
* #return \Mail
*/
public static function message($var)
{
static::$message = $var;
return static::getself();
}
public static function send()
{
echo "<pre><b>Hurrah mail sent</b>"
. "\nFrom:\t ".static::$from.""
. "\nTo:\t ".static::$to." "
. "\nSubject: ".static::$subject.""
. "\nMessage: ".static::$message;
echo "</pre>";
}
}
Example usage:
Mail::from('george#garcha')
->to('michel#tome')
->subject('hehe works')
->message('your welcome')
->send();
Output
Hurrah mail sent
From: george#garcha
To: michel#tome
Subject: hehe works
Message: your welcome
Example 2 (this also works):
Mail::from('george#garcha')
->to('michel#tome');
Mail::subject('hehe works')
->message('your welcome')
->send();