Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=60372&edit=1

 ID:                 60372
 Comment by:         ninzya at inbox dot lv
 Reported by:        ninzya at inbox dot lv
 Summary:            Context call feature
 Status:             Open
 Type:               Feature/Change Request
 Package:            Scripting Engine problem
 Operating System:   Any
 PHP Version:        Irrelevant
 Block user comment: N
 Private report:     N

 New Comment:

So basically if the feature gets support from the community, I could then 
prepare 
an RFC describing the proposal in detail.


Previous Comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2011-11-24 14:59:23] ninzya at inbox dot lv

An example on how the proposed syntactic sugar would improve code readability.

Before:

if( $user->hasPermission( $user::PERM_EDIT, $user->getProfile())) {
  // has access to edit own profile
}

After:

if( $user->hasPermission( :PERM_EDIT, :getProfile())) {
  // has access to edit own profile
}


Before:
$config->setSettings([
  $config::SOME_TTL =>10,
  $config::SOME_PATH =>"/var/www/...",
  $config::SOMETHING_OTHER =>0xFF
]);

After:
$config->setSettings([
  :SOME_TTL =>10,
  :SOME_PATH =>"/var/www/...",
  :SOMETHING_OTHER =>0xFF
]);

Note that use of ":" inside array definition contextually resolves arguments as 
well. In the last example the ":SOME_TTL" syntax refers to the "SOME_TTL" class 
constant of $config object (i.e. same as "$config::SOME_TTL")

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2011-11-24 14:50:08] ninzya at inbox dot lv

Description:
------------
I'd like to propose an extension to PHP syntax, that would allow programmer to 
avoid code duplication in some cases and, therefore, would make PHP code more 
readable.

My idea is to extend dynamic call operator ("->method()") add a "context" 
syntax 
to it's arguments. The syntax would mean that the argument's value is located 
in 
context of a specific object - the argument is either a property or method. The 
syntax could be as follows:

$obj->area( :$x, :$y);

Note the ":" (colon) character in front of argument. The colon means that the 
argument for the call is a property of object that the invoked method belongs 
to. In this case both arguments are actually "$obj->x" and "$obj->y" values. 
Syntax for method calls is as follows:

$obj->area( :x(), :y());

In this case both arguments are "$obj->x()" and "$obj->x()".

The following more complex example:

$obj->area( :mt_rand( 1, :$x), $y);

Here mt_rand() is a method of $obj (i.e. "$obj->mt_rand()", because colon 
character is preceding the function name)) and since ":mt_rand()" is resolved 
to 
"$obj->mt_rand()", it's ":$x" argument is resolved to "$obj->x" as well.

However, a call like this:

mt_rand( :$x);

should yield a runtime error because this is not a dynamic call and the 
argument 
can not be resolved.



Test script:
---------------
class Test {

        public $x =5;
        
        public function y() {
                return 10;
        }

        public function area( $x, $y, $name) {
                echo $name .': ' .$x .' x ' .$y;
        }
        
        public function makeName( $name) {
                return '#' .$name;
        }
}

$test =new Test;
$test->area( :$x, :y(), :makeName( 'test'));

Expected result:
----------------
#test: 5 x 10

Actual result:
--------------
Not implemented yet.


------------------------------------------------------------------------



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