How do I chain methods in PHP? [duplicate]

Question

jQuery lets me chain methods. I also remember seeing the same in PHP so I wrote this:

class cat {  function meow() {  echo "meow!";  }  function purr() {  echo "purr!";  } }  $kitty = new cat;  $kitty->meow()->purr(); 

I cannot get the chain to work. It generates a fatal error right after the meow.

Answer 1

To answer your cat example, your cat's methods need to return $this, which is the current object instance. Then you can chain your methods:

class cat {  function meow() {   echo "meow!";   return $this;  }   function purr() {   echo "purr!";   return $this;  } } 

Now you can do:

$kitty = new cat; $kitty->meow()->purr(); 

For a really helpful article on the topic, see here: http://www.talkphp.com/advanced-php-programming/1163-php5-method-chaining.html

Answer 2

Place the following at the end of each method you wish to make "chainable":

return $this;