Elegant way to create an API URL

gistfile1.php

<?php

/**
 * Elegant way to create an API URL
 *
 * Usage:
 *     $this->getResourceUrl('/product/%s/id-%d', 'edit', 13);
 *     // will produce http://domain.com/product/edit/id-13
 *
 *     // A resource can be an array to embed this method in an other method
 *     public function anotherMethod($resource, $data)
 *     {
 *         // and resource is ['/product/%s/id-%d', 'edit', 13]
 *         $url = $this->getResourceUrl($resource)
 *     }
 *     
 *     // Also a resource can be just a simple string '/products'
 */
protected function getResourceUrl()
{
    $args = func_get_args();
    $resource = array_shift($args);

    if (is_array($resource)) {
        $args = $resource;
        $resource = array_shift($args);
    }

    return $this->apiRestUrl . vsprintf($resource, $args);
}

Yes its possible in PHP with the Closure system (anonymous functions!), I'll check if it is relevant to do this in PHP. Thanks for your idea!

Glad you like it. I just tried it in PHP. This should work in 5.3 and above.

<?php
  function getResourceFunction ( $resource ){
      return function() use ($resource){
        return vsprintf($resource, func_get_args());
      };
  };

  $getProductRessource = getResourceFunction ( '/product/%s/id-%s' );


  echo $getProductRessource ( 'edit', 13 );
?>

There is no partial application because vsprintf doesn't seem to support it.