How this class and sub methods use works? - php

Question

I have been browsing some php source code and need to know how the following class and sub methods use works:
<?php
$me = new Person;
$me->name("Franky")->surname("Chanyau")->phone("+22", "456 789");
?>
I have pretty solid knowledge of OOP so I don't want a 101. I just need to know how to make the above code possible.

Answer 1

Method chaining is possible, by
return $this;
at the end of the method.
Explained here:
phpandstuff: Method Chaining Plus Magic Setters
These methods usually set an instance variable and then just return $this.
public function phone($param) {
$this->phone = $param;
return $this;
}

Answer 2

methods name() surname() and phone() return an instance of Person. you can accomplish this by
return $this;
most probably these methods look like this:
public function name($name) {
$this->name = $name;
return $this;
}

Answer 3

like some others said, its a fluid interface http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluent_interface#PHP the Basic Idea is that a methof of a class always returns the object itself
class Car {
private $speed;
private $color;
private $doors;
public function setSpeed($speed){
$this->speed = $speed;
return $this;
}
public function setColor($color) {
$this->color = $color;
return $this;
}
public function setDoors($doors) {
$this->doors = $doors;
return $this;
}
}
// Fluent interface
$myCar = new Car();
$myCar->setSpeed(100)->setColor('blue')->setDoors(5);
(via wiki)

Answer 4

It's called method chaining. Basically each class function returns the object itself ($this) so that the user can call more functions on the returned object.
public function name() {
//other stuff...
return $this;
}
http://www.talkphp.com/advanced-php-programming/1163-php5-method-chaining.html
http://www.electrictoolbox.com/php-method-chaining

Answer 5

The idea is if we return $this then we can chain the object method calls together. Here's the solution:
<?php
class Person
{
private $strName;
private $strSurname;
private $ArrPhone = array();
public function name($strName)
{
$this->strName = $strName;
return $this; // returns $this i.e Person
}
public function surname($strSurname)
{
$this->strSurname = $strSurname;
return $this; // returns $this i.e Person
}
public function phone()
{ $this->ArrPhone = func_get_args(); //get arguments as array
return $this; // returns $this i.e Person
}
public function __toString()
{
return $this->strName." ".$this->strSurname.", ".implode(" ",$this->ArrPhone);
}
}
$me = new Person;
echo $me->name("Franky")->surname("Chanyau")->phone("+22", "456 789");
?>

Answer 6

Correct answers, but to make the code work you should write:
$me = new Person();
instead of
$me = new Person;