note 52849 added to language.oop5.patterns

I struggled a few hours on writing a simple Generic factory method for dynamic object factoring. I initially went for call_user_func_array() to create the object but that obviously didn't work. An anonymous function was what I needed. Here's the result (PHP5): <?php /** * Name: Factory * Author: Ezku * Contact: dmnEe0 at gmail dot com */ class Factory { /** * Generic factory method * @param string Path to class definition * @param string Basic class name * @param string Derived class name * @param array Class constructor arguments, optional */ public static function Generic($filename, $base, $derived, $args = array()) { /** * Check that the file exists */ if(file_exists($filename)) { include_once $filename; /** * Check that the file contained the appropriate class definition */ if(class_exists($derived)) { /** * Create argument list for constructor */ $arglist = array(); for($i = 0, $n = count($args); $i < $n; $i++) $arglist[] = '$args['.$i.']'; $arglist = implode(',',$arglist); /** * Create new instance via an anonymous function */ $new_class = create_function('$name, $args', 'return new $name('.$arglist.');'); return $new_class($derived, $args); } else throw new Exception("Definition file ($filename) did not contain definition for the $base class <code>$derived</code>"); } else throw new Exception("Definition file ($filename) for the $base class <code>$derived</code> was not found"); } } /** * Useless usage example: */ function createCat($name, $scary_eyes = FALSE, $whiskers = TRUE) { $path = PATH_ANIMALS.'/'.$name.'.php'; $base = 'Cat'; $derived = $name.$base; $args = array($scary_eyes, $whiskers); return Factory::Generic($path, $base, $derived, $args); } // Create a MeowCat with scary eyes and whiskers $cat = createCat('Meow', TRUE); // Do whatever ?> ---- Manual Page -- http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.patterns.php Edit -- http://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php?action=edit+52849 Delete: added to the manual -- http://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php?action=delete+52849&report=yes&reason=added+to+the+manual Delete: bad code -- http://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php?action=delete+52849&report=yes&reason=bad+code Delete: spam -- http://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php?action=delete+52849&report=yes&reason=spam Delete: useless -- http://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php?action=delete+52849&report=yes&reason=useless Delete: other reasons -- http://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php?action=delete+52849&report=yes Reject -- http://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php?action=reject+52849&report=yes Search -- http://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php