PHP Cookbook

7.6. Calling Methods on an Object Returned by Another Method

Problem

You need to call a method on an object returned by another method.

Solution

Assign the object to a temporary variable, and then call the method of that temporary variable:

$orange = $fruit->get('citrus');
$orange->peel( );

Discussion

This is necessary because a parse error results from:

$fruit->get('citrus')->peel( );

Zend Engine 2 supports direct dereferencing of objects returned from a method so this workaround is no longer necessary.