Duplicate code is one of the most pungent code smells. A rule that is often used is to re-structure code once it is duplicated in three or more places.
Common duplication problems, and corresponding solutions are:
Complex classes like Theme_Options_Container often do a lot of different things. To break such a class down, we need to identify a cohesive component within that class. A common approach to find such a component is to look for fields/methods that share the same prefixes, or suffixes. You can also have a look at the cohesion graph to spot any un-connected, or weakly-connected components.
Once you have determined the fields that belong together, you can apply the Extract Class refactoring. If the component makes sense as a sub-class, Extract Subclass is also a candidate, and is often faster.
While breaking up the class, it is a good idea to analyze how other classes use Theme_Options_Container, and based on these observations, apply Extract Interface, too.
| 1 | <?php  | 
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| 11 | class Theme_Options_Container extends Container { | 
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| 12 | static protected $registered_pages = array();  | 
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| 13 | |||
| 14 | public $settings = array(  | 
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| 15 | 'parent' => 'self',  | 
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| 16 | 'file' => '',  | 
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| 17 | 'permissions' => 'manage_options',  | 
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| 18 | );  | 
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| 19 | |||
| 20 | public $icon = '';  | 
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| 21 | |||
| 22 | /**  | 
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| 23 | * Create a new theme options fields container  | 
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| 24 | *  | 
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| 25 | * @param string $title Unique title of the container  | 
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| 26 | **/  | 
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| 27 | 	public function __construct( $title ) { | 
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| 34 | |||
| 35 | /**  | 
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| 36 | * Perform save operation after successful is_valid_save() check.  | 
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| 37 | * The call is propagated to all fields in the container.  | 
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| 38 | *  | 
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| 39 | * @param mixed $user_data  | 
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| 40 | **/  | 
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| 41 | 	public function save( $user_data = null ) { | 
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| 54 | |||
| 55 | |||
| 56 | /**  | 
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| 57 | * Sanitize a title to a filename  | 
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| 58 | *  | 
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| 59 | * @param string $title  | 
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| 60 | * @return string  | 
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| 61 | */  | 
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| 62 | 	protected function title_to_filename( $title, $extension ) { | 
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| 77 | |||
| 78 | /**  | 
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| 79 | * Attach container as a theme options page/subpage.  | 
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| 80 | **/  | 
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| 81 | 	public function init() { | 
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| 96 | |||
| 97 | /**  | 
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| 98 | * Perform checks whether the current save() request is valid.  | 
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| 99 | *  | 
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| 100 | * @return bool  | 
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| 101 | **/  | 
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| 102 | View Code Duplication | 	public function is_valid_save() { | 
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| 109 | |||
| 110 | /**  | 
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| 111 | * Add theme options container pages.  | 
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| 112 | * Hook the container saving action.  | 
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| 113 | **/  | 
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| 114 | 	public function attach() { | 
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| 141 | |||
| 142 | /**  | 
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| 143 | * Whether this container is currently viewed.  | 
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| 144 | **/  | 
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| 145 | 	public function is_active() { | 
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| 152 | |||
| 153 | /**  | 
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| 154 | * Revert the result of attach()  | 
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| 155 | **/  | 
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| 156 | 	public function detach() { | 
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| 164 | |||
| 165 | /**  | 
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| 166 | * Output the container markup  | 
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| 167 | **/  | 
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| 168 | 	public function render() { | 
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| 175 | |||
| 176 | /**  | 
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| 177 | * Make sure that there are no duplicate containers with the same name.  | 
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| 178 | **/  | 
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| 179 | 	public function verify_unique_page() { | 
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| 202 | |||
| 203 | /**  | 
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| 204 | * Unregister the container parent and child pages.  | 
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| 205 | **/  | 
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| 206 | 	public function drop_unique_page() { | 
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| 228 | |||
| 229 | /**  | 
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| 230 | * Append array of fields to the current fields set. All items of the array  | 
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| 231 | * must be instances of Field and their names should be unique for all  | 
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| 232 | * Carbon containers.  | 
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| 233 | * If a field does not have DataStore already, the container datastore is  | 
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| 234 | * assigned to them instead.  | 
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| 235 | *  | 
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| 236 | * @param array $fields  | 
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| 237 | **/  | 
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| 238 | 	public function add_fields( $fields ) { | 
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| 247 | |||
| 248 | /**  | 
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| 249 | * Change the parent theme options page of this container  | 
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| 250 | **/  | 
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| 251 | 	public function set_page_parent( $parent ) { | 
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| 259 | |||
| 260 | /**  | 
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| 261 | * Set the icon of this theme options page.  | 
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| 262 | * Applicable only for parent theme option pages.  | 
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| 263 | **/  | 
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| 264 | 	public function set_icon( $icon ) { | 
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| 268 | |||
| 269 | /**  | 
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| 270 | * Set the theme options file name of this container.  | 
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| 271 | **/  | 
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| 272 | 	public function set_page_file( $file ) { | 
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| 276 | |||
| 277 | /**  | 
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| 278 | * Set the permissions necessary to view  | 
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| 279 | * the corresponding theme options page  | 
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| 280 | **/  | 
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| 281 | 	public function set_page_permissions( $permissions ) { | 
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| 285 | |||
| 286 | }  | 
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| 287 | 
It seems like the type of the argument is not accepted by the function/method which you are calling.
In some cases, in particular if PHP’s automatic type-juggling kicks in this might be fine. In other cases, however this might be a bug.
We suggest to add an explicit type cast like in the following example: