PHP & Java, calling a static method

I need to convert this Java code to PHP: DAOFactory udFactory = DAOFactory.getDAOFactory(); 'getDAOFactory' is a static method. It is called directly on the 'DAOFactory' class. It is not possible to construct an instance of DAOFactory (the constructor is private) so I can't write: $udFactory = new Java( "dao.DAOFactory" ); Does PHP 4.3.1 support static methods in Java? I'm hoping that I just haven't happened upon an example of the syntax yet. The docs talk about being able to call static methods on an instance, but that's not what I need. Be gentle, I'm a Java programmer and have only been working in PHP since the weekend. I searched the list archives and didn't find an answer, but if one of the other lists is more appropriate for Java questions, please let me know! -- Wendy Smoak Chandler, AZ