PHPDoc and late (static or dynamic) binding - php

Question

Most PHP IDEs rely on phpdoc to get hints about the type of an expression. Yet, I use frequently this pattern, which doesn't seem to be covered:
class Control {
private $label = '';
/** #return ??? */
public static function Make(){ return new static(); }
/** #return ??? */
public function WithLabel($value){ $this->label = $value; return $this; }
/** #return void */
public function Render(){ /* ... */ }
}
class Textbox extends Control {
private $text = '';
/** #return ??? */
public function WithText($text){ $this->width = $text; return $this; }
}
Now I can use the classes like this:
Textbox::Make() // <-- late static binding, returns Textbox
->WithLabel('foo') // <-- late dynamic binding, returns Textbox
->WithText('bar') // <-- normal binding, returns Textbox
->Render();
Is there any way to replace the '???'s with something so that the typing information is correct?

Answer 1

For static methods in classes that may be extended:
/** #return static */
For final-static methods:
/** #return Control */
For non-static methods:
/** #return $this */
but it's not documented in phpdoc manual
Note that nowadays any Intelij IED (like PhpStorm 2019), does support all three static, $this, and self (as return type in PhpDoc).

Answer 2

Updated answer taking as reference the most popular PHP IDE (PHPStorm 8):
For #return you can use:
self
$this
For #method you can use:
$this
Example:
/**
* Class Model
* #method $this parentMethodA
*/
class Model
{
/**
* #return $this
*/
public function parentMethodB()
{
return $this;
}
/**
* #return self
*/
public function parentMethodC()
{
return $this;
}
}
/**
* Class Person
* #method $this childMethodA
*/
class Person extends Model
{
/**
* #return $this
*/
public function childMethodB()
{
return $this;
}
/**
* #return self
*/
public function childMethodC()
{
return $this;
}
}
$p = new Person();
//In the following lines IDE will recognize those variables as:
$t1 = $p->parentMethodA(); //Instance of Person
$t2 = $p->parentMethodB(); //Instance of Person
$t3 = $p->parentMethodC(); //Instance of Model
$t4 = $p->parentMethodA(); //Instance of Person
$t5 = $p->parentMethodB(); //Instance of Person
$t6 = $p->parentMethodC(); //Instance of Person
Update for PHPStorm 10 (EAP)
It seems that now static can be used too, but only for #return.

Answer 3

Updated cvsguimaraes' answer to include static options:
/**
* Class Bar
* #method $this parentMethodA
*/
class Bar
{
/**
* #return $this
*/
public function parentMethodB()
{
return $this;
}
/**
* #return self
*/
public function parentMethodC()
{
return $this;
}
/**
* #return static
*/
public static function staticMethod()
{
return new static();
}
/**
* #param $id
*
* #return bool
*/
public function load($id)
{
// test
return $id ? true : false;
}
/**
* #param null $id
*
* #return static
*/
public static function get($id = NULL){
$obj = static::staticMethod();
if (is_null($id)) {
return $obj;
}
if ($obj->load($id)) {
return $obj;
}
return false;
}
}
/**
* Class Foo
* #method $this childMethodA
*/
class Foo extends Bar
{
/**
* #return $this
*/
public function childMethodB()
{
return $this;
}
/**
* #return self
*/
public function childMethodC()
{
return $this;
}
}
/**
* Class Bar
*/
class Baz extends Bar
{
}
$p = new Foo();
/** #var Foo $Foo */
$Foo = 'Foo';
$Baz = 'Bar';
// IntelliJ recognizes the following as:
$t1 = $p->parentMethodA(); //Instance of Foo
$t2 = $p->parentMethodB(); //Instance of Foo
$t3 = $p->parentMethodC(); //Instance of Model
$t4 = $p->childMethodA(); //Instance of Foo
$t5 = $p->childMethodB(); //Instance of Foo
$t6 = $p->childMethodC(); //Instance of Foo
$t7 = $Foo::staticMethod(); //Instance of Foo
$t8 = Foo::staticMethod(); //Instance of Foo
$t9 = $p::staticMethod(); //Instance of Foo
$t10 = $Foo::get(); //Instance of Foo
$t12 = Bar::get(); //Instance of Bar
$t11 = $Baz::get(); // Unknown