PHP: The name of the previous method in chain

Question

I am method chaining in PHP, something like this:

$c = new someClass();

$c->blackMethod()->colourMethod();
$c->whiteMethod()->colourMethod();

Is there any way the colourMethod() can know if it was called after the blackMethod() or whiteMethod()? In other words, is there a way of getting the name of the previously called method in a chain of methods?

Something like this:

$c->blackMethod()->colourMethod();
//output: "The colour is black";

$c->whiteMethod()->colourMethod();
//output: "The colour is white";

I understand that chaining is only shorthand for calling multiple methods from the same class, but I was hoping there is a way to link the chains together somehow.

I have tried debug_backtrace() and

$e = new Exception();
$trace = $e->getTrace();

but they only give class names or the name of the method that called the colourMethod (which is $c), not the method that was called before it.

Answer 1

A good and more general way to get a track of the previously called method is to use a private or protected property to keep track of the actual method using the constante __FUNCTION__ or __METHOD__
example:

   class colorchanger
    {
    protected prevMethod;
    public function black() 
    { 
    /*
    your routine
    for the black 
    method here
    */
    $this->prevMethod =__FUNCTION__;
    return $this;
    }

    public function white()
    { 
    /*
     your routine
    for the white
    method here
    */
    $this->prevMethod =__FUNCTION__;
    return $this;
    }

    public function colour() 
    {
    return $this->prevMethod;
    }

    }

$c = new ColorChanger();
$c->black->colour();
$c->white()->colour();
$c->black()->white->colourMethod();//will return white instead of black