PHP func_get_args（）动态数组搜索

how can I make this code more efficient / dynamic so if I need to pass more arguments it's dynamic?

Because now at this point it is a bit of a mess and I like that my code is clean and simpel :)

protected function getSettings()
{
    $args = func_get_args();
    switch (func_num_args()) {
        case 1:
            $set =  (isset($this->settings[ $args[0] ]))
                    ? $this->settings[ $args[0] ]
                    : array();
            break;
        case 2:
            $set =  (isset($this->settings[ $args[0] ][ $args[1] ]))
                    ? $this->settings[ $args[0] ][ $args[1] ]
                    : array();
            break;
        case 3:
            $set =  (isset($this->settings[ $args[0] ][ $args[1] ][ $args[2] ]))
                    ? $this->settings[ $args[0] ][ $args[1] ][ $args[2] ]
                    : array();
            break;
        case 4:
            $set =  (isset($this->settings[ $args[0] ][ $args[1] ][ $args[2] ][ $args[3] ]))
                    ? $this->settings[ $args[0] ][ $args[1] ][ $args[2] ][ $args[3] ]
                    : array();
            break;
        case 5:
            $set =  (isset($this->settings[ $args[0] ][ $args[1] ][ $args[2] ][ $args[3] ][ $args[4] ]))
                    ? $this->settings[ $args[0] ][ $args[1] ][ $args[2] ][ $args[3] ][ $args[4] ]
                    : array();
            break;

        default:
            $set = $this->settings;
            break;
    }

    return $set;
}

untested, but the approach is valid

function f() {
    $ptr = $this->settings;
    foreach (func_get_args() as $arg) {
        if (!is_array($ptr) || !is_scalar($arg) || !isset($ptr[$arg])) {
            return array();
        }
        $ptr = $ptr[$arg];
    }
    return $ptr;
}

my tests for is_scalar and is_array would prevent you from using objects which leverage ArrayAccess, SplObjectStorage and the like. I assume you don't.