Dynamic class with property hints creation

[nikoladsp]

Hi all,
Can someone tell me how to dynamically create class with properties (including type hint/docblock) but without using eval.

Say I have a model class like this:

/**
 * @OA\Schema()
 */
class User {
   /**
     * User's ID
     * @var int
     * @OA\Property()
     */
    public int $id;

    /**
     * User's first name
     * @var string
     * @OA\Property()
     */
    public string $first_name;

    /**
     * User's last name
     * @var string
     * @OA\Property()
     */
    public string $last_name;
}

When creating User object, I expect payload with mandatory first_name and last_name, but not containing id. When updating, id is mandatory, first_name and last_name are optional. So I would like somehow to create dynamically for example:

/**
 * @OA\Schema(required={"first_name", "last_name"})
 */
class CreateUserSchema {

    /**
     * User's first name
     * @var string
     * @OA\Property()
     */
    public string $first_name;

    /**
     * User's last name
     * @var string
     * @OA\Property()
     */
    public string $last_name;
}

So that Swagger-PHP can display it nicely and I can use some validators. I can generate classes with PHP script based on found model classes, but I would like to avoid it if possible. There are anonymous classes, like:

$newClass = new class {
    public string $first_name;

    public string $last_name;
};

$newClassName = get_class($newClass);
class_alias($newClassName, 'CreateUserSchema');

But I dont know how to generate it dynamically - fields depends on the model and also list of required/optional fields. Same goes for annotations/docblocks - their content will vary depending on model class and required/optional fields.

Thank you in advance.

Best regards

[Strider64]

There are two ways in doing this and here’s an example in what I’m talking about. This is just pseudo code:

/*
 * Construct the data for the CMS
 */
public function __construct($args = [])
{
//        $this->user_id = $args['user_id'] ?? null;
//        $this->author = $args['author'] ?? null;
//        $this->heading = $args['heading'] ?? null;
//        $this->content = $args['content'] ?? null;
//        $this->date_updated = $args['date_updated'] ?? null;
//        $this->date_added = $args['date_added'] ?? null;


    // Caution: allows private/protected properties to be set
    foreach ($args as $k => $v) {
        if (property_exists($this, $k)) {
            $this->$k = $v; // This is the what I'm talking about:
        }
    }
} // End of construct method:

Then to use it simple do the following:

        $cms = new CMS($data);

where data is an array. I hoped that this helped a little. If you do it the first way (the commented out code) then you could simply use setters and getters.

[nikoladsp]

Thanks, but how can I generate phpdoc/hints programatically? Like for example I want class to get

/**
 * @OA\Schema(required={"first_name", "last_name"})
 */

and last_name:

/**
  * User's last name
  * @var string
  * @OA\Property()
  */

Any hint on this?

[skawid]

I’m a little unsure what you’re asking. Do you want to generate code files based on some schema, or do you want to generate different classes at run time?

[nikoladsp]

Hi,
that is actually my dilemma: I can - but would like to avoid generating php files. However I am not aware is it possible to generate classes dynamically without eval() with the restriction that I want also docblocks on classes/properties to be generated programatically.

Thank you kindly

[skawid]

What will the docblocks be used for?

[nikoladsp]

Swagger-PHP uses it to display content. Also for my personal hinting in IDE.

[skawid]

Ok. I’m not sure about swagger, but unless you write your own custom hinting script you’ll absolutely need a written file if you want your IDE to pick up docblocks.

[nikoladsp]

Ok,thanks. IDE is just a bonus. I am searching for days and it seems apart anonymous classes, eval is the only option, but if I go with anonymous classes, I am not sure how to create docblocks on the fly. So all in all, guess creating files directly will be necessity.

Regards