Design pattern for repetitive switch in getters? - php

Question

I've an ORM model (PHP Active Record), say, for a blogging system. I've something that's a post model that stores the number of likes. The post could either be a picture or quote (say), and they are different tables (and hence models).
The schema is that a post holds data like number of shares, likes, description, etc. along with either a picture or a quote.
So when writing getters for the post model I'm having to write
public function getX() {
if ($this->isPicture()) {
return $this->picture->getX();
}
else if ($this->isQuote()) {
return $this->quote->getX()
}
else {
return self::DEFAULT_X
}
}
I'm currently having to write this structure for many getter. Is there something I can do to avoid that?
PS: Tagged as PHP because that's my code in.
EDIT
Changed comments to code.
This is a model (and a corresponding table in the DB) that has more data than just a picture and quote. Example, description that's part of the post and doesn't reside on either the picture or the quote.
There's tables for pictures and quotes.
Using PHP Active Record and each of the three classes extends the generic model class provided by PHP Active Record.
The picture model has it's own data. Same for quote.

Answer 1

To expand on the idea of the Strategy pattern mentioned in the comments:
class Post {
// get the correct 'strategy'
public function getModel() {
if ($this->isPicture()) {
return $this->picture;
}
if ($this->isQuote()) {
return $this->quote;
}
return null;
}
// using the strategy
public function getX() {
$model = $this->getModel();
if (null === $model) {
return self::DEFAULT_X;
}
return $model->getX();
}
}
Each strategy would presumably implement the same interface as the Post class for exposing those getters. Even better would be to provide a default strategy (rather than returning null) and have that return the default values. That way, the null check in each getter becomes redundant.

Answer 2

An alternative approach to this is a very basic form of metaprogramming. The idea is that you go a level higher than calling your methods by hand, and let the code do it for you.
(Assume that the method definitions are all part of Post)
public function getX($model = null) {
if ($model) return $model->getX();
else return self::DEFAULT_X;
}
// usage
$postModel->getX($pictureModel);
What's happening here is that, in this single instance of getX in your Post model, you're passing in the name of another class, and executing the `getX' method on that instance (if it exists and is callable).
You can extend this in other ways. For example, maybe you don't want to pass an instance in, when the method can do it anyway:
public function getX($model_name = null) {
if ($model_name && $class_exists($model_name) && is_callable(array($model_name, 'getX')) {
$model = new $model_name;
return $model->getX();
} else {
return self::DEFAULT_X;
}
}
// usage
$postModel->getX('Picture');
In this instance, you pass the model in as a string, and the method will do the rest. While this makes it quicker to get what you want, you might find that you don't want to work with fresh instances all the time (or you can't), so there's a bit of a trade-off with this 'convenient' way.
That still doesn't fully solve your problem, though, since you still have to repeat that for each getter, over and over again. Instead, you can try something like this:
public function __call($method, $args) {
$class = $args[0];
if (class_exists($class) && is_callable(array($class, $method))) {
$model = new $class;
return $model->$method();
}
}
// usage
$postModel->getX('Picture');
$postModel->getY('Quote');
$postModel->getZ('Picture');
If you call a function that doesn't exist on the Post model, that magic method will be called, and it'll fire up a new instance of the model name you supply as an argument, and call the getWhatever method on it, if it exists.
It's important to note that you must not define these getters in Post, unless you want to override the methods in the other classes.
There is still the problem of this creating new instances all the time, though, and to remedy this you can use a bit of dependency injection. This means that you let the Post class contains a list of other instances of classes that it wants to use in future, so you can add and remove them at will.
This is what I would consider the actual solution, with the other examples hopefully showing how I've got here (will edit to clarify things, of course).
public $models = array();
public function addModel($instance) {
$this->models[get_class($instance)] = $instance;
}
public function __call($method, $args) {
$class = $args[0];
if (array_key_exists($class, $this->models)) {
$model = $this->models[$class];
if (is_callable(array($model, $method)) {
return $model->$method();
}
}
}
// usage
$this->addModel($pictureModel);
$this->addModel($quoteModel);
$this->getX('Picture');
$this->getY('Quote');
Here, you're passing in your existing instances of models into the Post class, which then stores them in an array, keyed by the name of the class. Then, when you use the class as described in the last example, instead of creating a new instance, it will use the instance it has already stored. The benefit of this is that you might do things to your instances that you'd want reflected in the Post model.
This means that you can add as many new models as you like that need to plug into Post, and the only thing you need to do is inject them with addModel, and implement the getters on those models.
They all require you to tell the class what models to call at some point or another. Since you have an array of dependent models, why not add a way to get everything?
public function __call($method, $args) {
$class = $args[0];
if (array_key_exists($class, $this->models)) {
$model = $this->models[$class];
if (is_callable(array($model, $method)) {
return $model->$method();
}
} elseif ($class === 'all') {
// return an array containing the results of each method call on each model
return array_map(function($model) use ($method) {
if (is_callable(array($model, $method) return $model->$method();
}, $this->models);
}
}
// usage
$postModel->getX('all');
Using this, you'll get an array containing the return values of each getX method on each model you added with addModel. You can create pretty powerful functions and classes that do all this stuff without you having to repeat tedious logic.
I have to mention that these examples are untested, but at the very least I hope the concept of what you can do has been made clear.
Note:
The same thing can be applied to __GET and __SET methods, too, which are used for accessing properties. It's also worth saying that there may be the slight risk of a library already using these magic methods, in which case you'll need to make the code a little more intelligent.