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Chain

Fluent method chaining & context switching utility for PHP. Call methods across objects, transform or branch chains, and conditionally execute logic in a concise style.

Quick Example

Installation

Core Concepts

• Start with Chain::of($object) or Chain::of(ClassName::class, ...$args)
• Every method call stays fluent; if a method returns an object, the chain context switches to it automatically
• Use change($idOrObject) to jump to another object (resolved via PSR-11 container if configured)
• Use get() to read the last result (or the current instance if there is no last result)

API Overview

Core Methods:

• of(string|object $target, ...$args): Chain - Start a chain from an object or instantiate a class
• get(): mixed - Get final result
• value(): mixed - Alias for get(), more semantic
• instance(): object - Get current wrapped object

Transformation:

• tap(callable $fn): Chain - Execute side effects
• map(callable $fn): Chain - Transform to another object
• pipe(callable ...$pipes): Chain - Functional pipeline

Enhanced Control Flow:

• whenAll(callable ...$conditions): Chain - Execute when ALL conditions are true
• whenAny(callable ...$conditions): Chain - Execute when ANY condition is true
• whenNone(callable ...$conditions): Chain - Execute when NO conditions are true
• when(bool|callable $cond, callable $cb, ?callable $else = null): Chain - Conditional execution
• unless(bool|callable $cond, callable $cb, ?callable $else = null): Chain - Inverse conditional
• clone(): Chain - Branch immutably

Resilience:

• rescue(callable $callback, callable $handler): Chain - Handle exceptions with fallback
• catch(string $exceptionClass, callable $callback, callable $handler): Chain - Catch specific exceptions
• retry(int $times, callable $callback, int $delayMs = 0): Chain - Retry with backoff
• timeout(int $seconds, callable $callback): Chain - Timeout protection

Iteration & Debugging:

• each(callable $fn): Chain - Iterate over collections
• dump(string $label = ''): Chain - Debug output, continues chain
• dd(string $label = ''): never - Dump and die

Container Integration:

• change(string|object $target): Chain - Switch to another object (PSR-11)

Configuration & Extensions:

• Chain::configure(ChainConfig $config): void - Configure Chain behavior
• addExtension(ChainExtensionInterface $extension): Chain - Add extension for monitoring/logging

Examples

Basic Chaining

Conditional Logic

Enhanced Conditional Logic

Pipeline

Pipelines with pipe()

Tap for Side Effects

Branching

Immutable Branching with clone()

Composite Scenario

Timeout Protection

Configuration & Extensions

Development

Installation

Testing

Code Quality

Examples

Release Management

Examples

See the examples/ directory for working examples:

• workflow.php - Complete workflow with User→Profile context switching
• conditionals.php - Conditional execution with when/unless
• branching.php - Clone chains for independent branches
• pipeline.php - Functional pipelines with pipe()
• processing.php - Data processing with each(), dump(), value()
• resilience.php - Error handling with rescue(), catch(), retry()
• container.php - PSR-11 container integration
• advanced-features.php - NEW! All enhanced features demo

Run examples:

License

MIT. See LICENSE file.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for a list of changes and version history.