How to call a variable function in php within a class?

Question

I have the following example code

<?php

class Test {
    function foo() {
        print "foo\n";
    }

    function bar() {
        $func = 'foo';
        $func();
    }
}

$test = new Test();
$test->bar()

which calls $test-bar(), whiich internally calls a variable php function named foo. This variable contains the string foo and I want the function foo be called like here. Instead of getting the expected output

foo

I get an error:

PHP Fatal error:  Call to undefined function foo()  ...

How to do this right, when using a string for the function-name? The string 'func' might denote several different functions inside the class scope in the actual code.

According to the doc the above should work like I have coded, more or less...

0_0 How about using data structures rather than horrors like $func = 'foo'; $func();? — user554546
– user554546, Commented Aug 14, 2013 at 17:42

Suresh Kumar Amrani · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-14 17:35:00Z

5

<?php

class Test {
    public function foo() {
        print "foo\n";
    }

    public function bar() {
        $func = 'foo';
        $this->$func();
    }
}

$test = new Test();
$test->bar();

?>

Use this for accessing the current function of this class

answered Aug 14, 2013 at 17:35

Suresh Kumar Amrani

9359 silver badges18 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Alex Over a year ago

Thanks, that is what I was looking for. Maybe someone could add this to the php docs...?

Lochemage · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-14 17:39:38Z

0

What you can do is use the function call_user_func() to invoke the callback.

<?php

class Test {
    public function foo() {
        print "foo\n";
    }

    public function bar() {
        $func = 'foo';
        call_user_func(array($this, $func));
    }
}

$test = new Test();
$test->bar();

answered Aug 14, 2013 at 17:39

Lochemage

3,97413 silver badges11 bronze badges

Comments

Ibu · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-14 17:44:55Z

0

You use the keyword $this

<?php

class Test {
    function foo() {
        print "foo\n";
    }

    function bar() {
        $this->foo(); //  you can do this

    }
}

$test = new Test();
$test->bar()

There are two ways to call a method from a string input:

$methodName = "foo";
$this->$methodName();

Or you can use call_user_func_array()

call_user_func_array("foo",$args); // args is an array of your arguments

or

call_user_func_array(array($this,"foo"),$args); // will call the method in this scope

edited Aug 14, 2013 at 17:44

answered Aug 14, 2013 at 17:28

Ibu

44k14 gold badges82 silver badges109 bronze badges

1 Comment

Alex Over a year ago

I do not want to call the function directly, I need a string with the function's name. I have updated the question to make this point clear. Sorry.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to call a variable function in php within a class?

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related