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call_user_func
Call a user function given by the first parameter
(PHP 4, PHP 5)
Example 753. call_user_func() example<?php Example 754. Using a class method<?php Related Examples ( Source code ) » call_user_func Examples ( Source code ) » call_user_func Examples ( Source code ) » __call Examples ( Source code ) » XmlRpcServer extends HttpResponse Code Examples / Notes » call_user_funcfrank
You should avoid this function and use variable function calls instead! The main reason for this is the fact that you will generate twice as many function calls as actually needed. Thus, your server will encounter twice the load of function calls. You people should not want this! @ your service! knightnet
You don't need to use this function to call a variable class function. Instead you can do the following: $this->{$fnname}(); The example works in PHP 5 from within the class. It is the {} that do the trick. Regards, Julian. michele.manzato
With overload()ed classes call_user_func_* calls real class methods only. If the method does not exist then PHP does not try with the "__call()" magic method (at least until PHP 4.3.3). See this: <?php class A { function A() {} function __call($method, $args, &$ret) { echo "__call(): You called '{$method}()' \n"; return true; } function regular() { echo "You called 'regular()' \n"; } }; overload("A"); $a = new A; $a->regular(); // Works, calls regular() call_user_func(array(&$a, "regular")); // Works, calls regular() $a->hello(); // Works, calls __call() call_user_func(array(&$a, "hello")); // Does NOT work! ?> tetherow
Trying to call a class method with call_user_function? call_user_method doesn't really work since you need an object to pass to the call. You can get around it by creating a 'place holder' instance and call_user_method.
mr.kto
To send an object to your function by link, using call_user_func it's not enough (in php4) to define func(&$obj) { ... } You need: call_user_func("callback", &$myobj) (in php5 objects are sending by link as default) bostjan dot skufca
This is the CORRECTED VERSION of previous note. After playing a while I realised that objects are not passed by reference implicitly, you have to do it on your own, so: call_user_func(array($objectBar, 'methodFoo')); // case sensitive first duplicates object $objectBar (internally) and only then calls it's methodFoo. This kind of use is discouraged as it may result in "unpredicted behaviour". Correct version is here. call_user_func(array(&$objectBar, 'methodFoo')); // case sensitive (note the reference operator). --- and the corrected note is here --- I couldn't find any simple list of available callback variations, so I made one. It is tested on PHP 4.3.9 only. If you need to call ordinary function: call_user_func('funcFoo'); If you need to call CLASS method (NOT object): call_user_func(array('classBar', 'methodFoo')); // case insensitive If you need to call OBJECT method: call_user_func(array(&$objectBar, 'methodFoo')); // case sensitive If you need to call method of object of object: call_user_func(array(&$objectBar->objectTor, 'methodFoo')); // case sensitive If you need to call object method from within the very same object (NOT CLASS!): call_user_func(array(&$this, 'methodFoo')); mw
This function is actually quite useful for calling static methods on classes, which you CANNOT call as: $v1 = 'MyClass'; $m1 = 'method'; $v1::$m1(); // syntax error -- not permitted. The following, however, DOES work quite well, and is hopefully slightly faster than eval() ... $ar = array($v1, $m1); call_user_func($ar); // works teh awes0me!!1! [I am, however, presuming PHP5 here ...] dougqh
The previous note I posted had an error in the source code. That has been corrected in this note. Note, that returning by reference does not work properly when the function is called using call_user_func. This example illustrates the problem... $globalVar = 0; function &staticFunction() { global $globalVar; return $globalVar; } $result =& call_user_func( "staticFunction" ); $result = 3; print "result:" . $result . "<br/>\n"; print "globalVar: " . $globalVar . "<br/>\n"; $result2 =& staticFunction(); $result2 = 3; print "result2: " . $result2 . "<br/>\n"; print "globalVar: " . $globalVar . "<br/>\n"; The above code results in the following output ... Note that $result is not a reference to $globalVar. result:0 globalVar: 0 result2: 3 globalVar: 3 Also, the use of call_user_method is now deprecated in favor of passing array( &$object, $method ) as the function to call_user_func. This is reported when error reporting is set to E_ALL in the latest versions of PHP. arjini
Some of the wierder examples below confused me, and made me think that the following would work (but it does!). <? class barber{ function shop($one,$two,$three,$four='quartet'){ echo $one.','.$two.','.$three.','.$four; } } $bsq = new barber; call_user_func(array(&$bsq,'shop'),'one','two','three'); /* Output = one,two,three,quartet */ class bigBarber{ var $quartet; function bigBarber(){ $this->quartet = 'four'; } function shop($one,$two,$three,$five='quintet'){ echo $one.','.$two.','.$three.','.$this->quartet.','.$five; } } $bbsq = new bigBarber(); call_user_func(array(&$bbsq,'shop'),'one','two','three'); /* Output = one,two,three,four,quintet */ ?> jaimz
replay to bkfake-php at yahoo dot com's comment: that's not passing by referance, your explicitly setting the value of $testy's member variable, infact, if you take the & out of your outsidefunc() it still works... lsblsb
referring to Mr.KTO (and Bug #24931): [system: PHP 5.2.0-8] - _doesnt_ pass by reference, at least when using the old syntax with the '&'. when you pass your object by reference using call_user_func, any changes made on that object within the called function wont effect your "original" object. you should use mixed call_user_func_array ( callback $function, array $param_arr ) instead or eval() (slower). 26-jul-2006 08:18
Re: bostjan dot skufca at domenca dot com 's comment "If you need to call object method from within the very same object (NOT CLASS!): call_user_func(array(&$this, 'methodFoo'));" This particular case will not work. The user functions can only be successfully called (as the documentation alludes to), with static calls to class functions. php
re comment by mw at lanfear dot com I am using PHP 4.3.2 and that technique works fine here as well. matt
On PHP 4.2.3 (not sure about older releases) you can send objects by reference by sending the reference from call_user_func() <?php function myFunction(@$obj) { $obj->doThis('hello'); return 0; } $myObj = new CObject(); call_user_func('myFunction', @$myObj); ?> maxdamantus
Note that the parser can interpret variables in function syntax, which means you can pass all variables normally (eg: reference). <?php function myfunction($string, &$int){ echo $string."\n"; $int++; } $function_name = "myfunction"; $x = 1336; $function_name("Hello World", $x); echo $x; ?> --- Hello World 1337 andreyhristov
Let say we construct somehow the name of the function. In some cases we can use nested 'switch' but the alternative is to to use for and parse a string to construct the function name, after than we also can construct and the parameter(s) for it. It is like using of eval. I use it in one of my projects to construct a name of nested array like $ar['1999'['july']['29']['19'] , etc. the problem is in that I'm parsing a string to construct the name. If I've {1:2:3} the array name will be $ar['1']['2']['3'] but if i've {1:2:3:4:5} it will be $ar['1']['2']['3']['4']['5']. Eval is the only way (very hard because of characters escaping is needed) to do it. So this function is of the type of EVAL(). USE IT wherever your script is 'self-modified'; info
It seems like call_user_func() can not be used to create Objects via the new Command. The Following example dosen't work: <? include_once(class_".$type.".php"); $object = new call_user_func ('bdv_'.$type); ?> But this works: <? include_once(class_".$type.".php"); $constr = 'bdv_'.$type; $object = new $constr(); ?> email_naar_database
In many cases you can do $function='functionname'; $function($parameters); this equals functionname($parameters); The same goes for methods: $method='methodname'; $this->$method($parameters); which equals $this->methodname($parameters); phil
if you need to get a reference back from a method, you can work around call_user_func()'s shortcomings like this: <? $globalObj; class tClass { function &instance() { global $globalObj; if(!is_object($globalObj)) { $globalObj = new tClass(); } return $globalObj; } } $classname = "tClass"; # calling the function this way won't # return a reference. $test = &call_user_func(array($classname,"instance")); # but if we call it again with the instance # that we just got, it'll be the right # one $test = &$test->instance(); # so test is now a reference to $globalObj, just like it should be # let's verify it: $test->blah=1; echo "<pre>"; print_r($test)."\n"; print_r($globalObj); echo "</pre>"; # there, now it behaves just like you'd expect ?> 07-oct-2004 08:23
If you are trying to instantiate an object from a class whose name is dynamic, you WILL NOT be able to do this with call_user_func() and I do not suggest that you do it with eval(). The way to do it is actually much simpler than i thought. As far as i know this works in PHP 4 and 5: <?PHP class foo { var $boo; function foo( $someVal ) { $this->boo = $someVal; } } $ClassToUse = "foo"; $bar = new $ClassToUse('test'); echo $bar->boo; ?> typer85
I would just like to say at first that I prefer variable function calls over the use of this function. However I found that at some times, the use of this function is needed in situtations where variable function calls can not be used. And in those same situations, the use of this function is also better than using eval. The situation I ran into is this: I wanted to call object methods dynamically from within the object but with arguments given for possible parameters that the method I will call requires. The parameters themselves are dynamic, meaning I have no prior knowledge of how many their are, their values, or if they even exist. Also because object methods are dynamic, meaning I have no prior knowledge which object method will actually be called, I can not simply use variable function calls, call the method and pass any parameters. So what I simply do is call the object method with an array of parameters, something that, to the best of my knowledge, can not be done with variable function calls, since variable function calls, even though they themeselves are dynamic, passing parameters to them is not. kris koskelin
I was trying to use this function to call a method of an already-instantiated object. I needed to do this with the object itself, not simply call the class' method. To accomplish this, I really avoided this particular function altogether like this: <? if ( method_exists($my_obj, $action) ){ return $my_obj->{$action}(); } ?> I hope someone else finds this useful. Note that doing this allows you to pass params to the function more-or-less in the same way you would to any other class method. danyloco
I was trying to call multiple functions within a class, and after a brain frying experience this is what came out... hope it helps: <?php class Foo { function hey1($id){echo "In hey1";} function hey2($id){echo "In hey2";} #... and so forth ... function runtest($id) { #the fun part :) for($i=1; $i<=2; $i++) { $fp = "hey".$i; $this->$fp($id); } } } ?> It worked like a charm :). maresa
I tested the same code that insta at citiesunlimited dot com pasted on the following machines: www1 machine: OS: FreeBSD 5.2.1-RELEASE CPU: 2 x Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 2.66GHz (2657.82-MHz 686-class CPU) with Hyperthreading MEM: 1073217536 (1023 MB) PHP 5.1.2 (cli) PHP 4.4.1 (Web) www2 machine: OS: Linux version 2.6.14-gentoo-r5 Gentoo 3.4.3-r1, ssp-3.4.3-0, pie-8.7.7) CPU: 2 x Dual Core AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 265 stepping 02 1808.357 MHz MEM: 2060388k total PHP 5.1.2 (cli) PHP Version 4.4.0-pl1-gentoo (web) dev machine: OS: Linux version 2.6.15-gentoo-r1 Gentoo 3.3.5.20050130-r1, ssp-3.3.5.20050130-1, pie-8.7.7.1 CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.00GHz stepping 04 MEM: 516384k total, PHP 4.4.0-pl1-gentoo (cli) PHP Version 4.4.0-pl1-gentoo (web) The result are as follows: www1 - CLI Variable functions took 0.012186050415 seconds. call_user_func took 0.0300550460815 seconds. eval took 0.17235994339 seconds. www1 - Web Variable functions took 0.017616 seconds. call_user_func took 0.034926 seconds. eval took 0.149618 seconds www2 - CLI Variable functions took 0.0065491199493408 seconds. call_user_func took 0.019452095031738 seconds. eval took 0.10734891891479 seconds. www2 - Web Variable functions took 0.01565 seconds. call_user_func took 0.02613 seconds. eval took 0.132258 seconds. dev - CLI Variable functions took 0.025176 seconds. call_user_func took 0.047402 seconds. eval took 0.168196 seconds. dev - Web Variable functions took 0.025465 seconds. call_user_func took 0.049713 seconds. eval took 0.20154 seconds. On www1 - CLI, eval is about 14 times slower than calling function by using variable. On www1 - Web, eval is about 8.5 times slower (hmm interesting. Perhaps PHP4 is faster calculating eval than PHP5) On www2 - CLI, eval is about 16 times slower than calling function by using variable. On www2 - Web, eval is about 8.5 times slower (about same result as www1) On dev - CLI, eval is about 6.6 times slower than calling function by using variable. On dev - Web, eval is about 8 times slower (about same result as www1) On the dev machine, CLI and web version of PHP is the same. and their speed difference between calling function using variable or eval does not differ that much compare to PHP5 VS PHP5 teleware
I ran into some quirky behavior using call_user_func with an object. The function parseAction() below lets me call any of my object's methods by passing the name of the method into a page (e.g. http://xyz.com/page.php?action=login). <?php class MyClass { function parseAction($actionKey) { global $METarget; if(method_exists($this,$actionKey)) { call_user_func(array(&$this,$actionKey)); return; } else { exit("Unknown action keyword: $actionKey"); } } ... // other methods ... } ?> I found that my member variables weren't always being updated correctly. The numberic values were preserved but the string variables retained their old value. The solution was to put the reference operator '&' in front of the object's variable. In this case it's $this because I'm calling it from within the object but this was also true when calling parseAction from an instanciated object e.g. call_user_func(array(&$myObject,$actionKey)) bkfake-php
I have found a case where the parameters ARE passed by reference class test { function test() { $this->passme = ''; call_user_func('outsidefunc',$this); // $this->passme is now 'not empty' // with 5.1.2 // not so with php 4.3.10... } } function outsidefunc(&$testy) { $testy->passme = 'not empty'; } $test = new test(); echo 'passme = '.$test->passme; carl
I had a problem where I wanted to parameterize a callback. The end called was in an external class, but I needed to save some state for the callback that didn't make sense to keep in the original object, as it might change from call to call... <?php class foo { function foo() { $str = "Hello There"; $str2 = "Carl"; $that =& new holder($str); call_user_func(array(&$that, 'callback'), $str2); } } class holder { function holder($aParam) { $this->param = $aParam; } function callback($aStr) { echo "A=$this->param, B=$aStr\n"; } } ?> ceco
I find it easier in a lot of cases to use something like that <? function test($p1){ echo $p1." "; return $p1/2; // just an example } $func = "test"; echo $func(6); ?> insta
I benchmarked the comparison in speed between variable functions, call_user_func, and eval. My results are below: Variable functions took 0.125958204269 seconds. call_user_func took 0.485446929932 seconds. eval took 2.78526711464 seconds. This was run on a Compaq Proliant server, 180MHz Pentium Pro 256MB RAM. Code is as follows: <?php function fa () { return 1; } function fb () { return 1; } function fc () { return 1; } $calla = 'fa'; $callb = 'fb'; $callc = 'fc'; $time = microtime( true ); for( $i = 5000; $i--; ) { $x = 0; $x += $calla(); $x += $callb(); $x += $callc(); if( $x != 3 ) die( 'Bad numbers' ); } echo( "Variable functions took " . (microtime( true ) - $time) . " seconds.<br />" ); $time = microtime( true ); for( $i = 5000; $i--; ) { $x = 0; $x += call_user_func('fa', ''); $x += call_user_func('fb', ''); $x += call_user_func('fc', ''); if( $x != 3 ) die( 'Bad numbers' ); } echo( "call_user_func took " . (microtime( true ) - $time) . " seconds.<br />" ); $time = microtime( true ); for( $i = 5000; $i--; ) { $x = 0; eval( '$x += ' . $calla . '();' ); eval( '$x += ' . $callb . '();' ); eval( '$x += ' . $callc . '();' ); if( $x != 3 ) die( 'Bad numbers' ); } echo( "eval took " . (microtime( true ) - $time) . " seconds.<br />" ); ?> chris
I am looking for a way to make dynamic method calls on objects. I may have overlooked other posts but here is the example anyway. <?php class MyClass1 { var $input1 = 4; var $input2 = 5; function MyClass1(){} function adding() { $var1 = $this->input1; $var2 = $this->input2; $result = $var1 + $var2; return $result; } } class MyClass2 { var $anotherObject; function MyClass2($anotherObject){ $this->anotherObject = &$anotherObject; } } ?> Now we will call a method of object of object: <?php $myclass1Object =& New MyClass1(); $myclass2Object =& New MyClass2(&$myclass1Object); $output = $myclass2Object->anotherObject->adding(); echo $output; //outputs 9 if all is well ?> Now we want to do it dynamically that works in PHP 4 and 5. There are two ways of doing this. First Method using variable variables: <?php $objectName = 'myclass2Object'; //case sensitive. $anotherObject = 'anotherObject';//case sensitive $functionName = 'adding'; $output = $$objectName->{$anotherObject}->{$functionName}(); echo $output; //will output 9 as well ?> Now the same using call_user_func(): <?php $output = call_user_func(array(&$$objectName->{$anotherObject},$functionName)); echo $output; //outputs 9 as well ?> If you have a method of an object of an object that requires parameters you can do this: <?php call_user_func(array(&$objectName->{$anotherObject},$functionName), $arg1, $arg2); ?> I hope this might be helpful to someone. Cheers. rob
Hey I'm struggling to think of a practical use for this function that can't be duplicated with variable functions. The only use I can think of is when calling variable functions when your variable need modification: <?php function hey1 { echo "hey1"; } function hey2 { echo "hey2"; } function hey3 { echo "hey3"; } for ($n = 1; $n <= 3; $n++) { // variable variables: $func = "hey$n"; $$func(); // call_user_func(): call_user_func("hey$n"); } ?> call_user_func() is one less line, however I would always use variable variables for readability. Are there any more practical uses I'm overlooking? dayioglunospam
Happily call_user_func can now call methods of some existing objects; added to the CVS Fri Mar 9 18:09:26 2001 EDT. Below is an example: <?php class provider { function myfunction($x) { echo "burak was at $x\n"; } } class dispatcher { function process($p2,$p3) { call_user_func($p2, $p3); } } function independent() { echo "just a test"; } $x= new provider(); $y= new dispatcher(); $y->process(array($x,'myfunction'),"conference"); $y->process(independent,""); ?> serge belychev
For calling a class method from version 5.2.3 you can write <?php class myclass { static function say_hello() { echo "Hello!\n"; } } $classname = "myclass"; call_user_func('myclass::say_hello'); ?> d
callbacks, this par excellence, goes with set error handler, everywhere you'ren't sure of extensio de intensionibus (animis alii). <?php $checkMe = null; $detail = array(); set_error_handler("imErrant"); array_shift($argv); if ($argc == 1){ call_user_func(strtolower($argv[0])); } else if($argc == 2){ call_user_func(strtolower($argv[0]), $argv[1]); } else call_user_func_array(strtolower($argv[0]),array_shift($argv)); if($checkMe)var_export($detail); function imErrant($no, $str, $file, $line) { global $checkMe, $detail; $checkMe = $no; $detail = array($str, $file, $line); } ?> rlansky
Based on the previous posts, it appears that using call_user_func can be serveral times slower than using variable substitution. I think these results are somewhat misleading. I set up a similar test in which a static method of an object was called repeatedly in a loop. I got similar results to those seen; when calling the method using call_user_func the execution was twice that of calling the method directly. However, I then started adding some "meat" to the method in question. In my case, I found that what was constant was not the percentage change, but rather that there is a fixed cost to using call_user_func. In my case, this fixed cost was 2 microseconds per call. When executing a method that performs no operations, this is a large percentage of the execution time for that method. However, when using this on a method that actually performs some work, the 2 microsecond cost is almost impossible to measure. It seems to me that if you want to use call_user_func to call a very fast executing method, and you need to do this thousands of times, then you may want to reconsider. However, if you are using this to call methods that are not executed thousands of times, the small fixed cost of using php call_user_func is probably not an issue. zxy
A simple event handler dispose released by useful callback in PHP 4.x <?php class Duke { //public: var $m_pRaiser; var $m_strRaiserFun; var $m_objArgs; //public: function Duke( $pRaiser, $strRaiserFun, $objArgs ) { $this ->m_pRaiser = $pRaiser; $this ->m_strRaiserFun = $strRaiserFun; $this ->m_objArgs = $objArgs; }//end of constructor }//end of class Duke class A { //protected: function OnEventHandler( $sender, $args )//virtual { $sender ->SayHello(); }//end of OnEventHandler( $sender, $args ) //public: function OnEvent( $pDuke ) { call_user_func( array( $pDuke ->m_pRaiser, $pDuke ->m_strRaiserFun ), $pDuke ->m_pRaiser, $pDuke ->m_objArgs ); }//end of OnEvent( $pDuke ) function SayHello()//virtual { echo "A::SayHello" . " "; }//end of SayHello() }//end of class A class B extends A { //public: function SayHello()//override { echo "B::SayHello" . " "; }//end of SayHello() }//end of class B /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //Main import to test // $a = &new A(); $b = &new B(); $pDuke = &new Duke( $b, "SayHello", null ); $b ->OnEvent( $pDuke ); ?> mr.kto
2lsblsb: I'm agree what call_user_func_array is a better way for passing args by reference But now for this I prefer variable-functions. E.g. set a callback in class: if ($this->event) {$func = $this->event; $func($obj);} This allows you to choose to recive arguments by reference or not in function declaration $some_class->event = "my_event"; function my_event(&$obj) { //... } zeisss
------------------------------------------- Hey I'm struggling to think of a practical use for this function that can't be duplicated with variable functions. The only use I can think of is when calling variable functions when your variable need modification: -------------------------------------------- I tried to call nl2br() with variable functions. Didn't work. But call_user_func worked. Dunno why, just for info. 25-feb-2005 03:46
<?php /* A very simple event handler dispose and change the latest one I did */ class Duke { //public: var $m_pRaiser; var $m_strRaiserFun; var $m_objArgs; //public: function Duke( $pRaiser, $strRaiserFun, $objArgs ) { $this ->m_pRaiser = $pRaiser; $this ->m_strRaiserFun = $strRaiserFun; $this ->m_objArgs = $objArgs; }//end of constructor }//end of class Duke class A { //protected: function OnEventHandler( $sender, $args )//virtual { $sender ->SayHello(); }//end of OnEventHandler( $sender, $args ) //public: function OnEvent( $pDuke = null ) { if( $pDuke == null ) { call_user_func( array( &$this, "OnEventHandler" ), $this, null ); return; } call_user_func( array( $pDuke ->m_pRaiser, $pDuke ->m_strRaiserFun ), $pDuke ->m_pRaiser, $pDuke ->m_objArgs ); }//end of OnEvent( $pDuke ) function SayHello()//virtual { echo "A::SayHello" . " "; }//end of SayHello() }//end of class A class B extends A { //public: function SayHello()//override { echo "B::SayHello" . " "; }//end of SayHello() }//end of class B ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //Main import to test // $a = &new A(); $b = &new B(); $pDuke = &new Duke( $b, "OnEventHandler", null ); $b ->OnEvent(); $b ->OnEvent( $pDuke ); ?> marco
>phil at gettcomm dot com >22-May-2002 04:51 >if you need to get a reference back from a method, you can work around >call_user_func()'s shortcomings like this: > Naaa! Having back a refererence is a real problem, but it can be solved by mean of eval(), instead of using call_user_func: <code> class Node { var $name; var $child; function Node ( $name ) { $this->name = $name; } function &getChild () { return $this->child; } } $p = new Node ( 'Father' ); $c = new Node ( 'Child' ); $p->child = &$c; eval ( "\\$cref = &\\$p->getChild ();" ); $cref->name = 'Another Child'; // Prints out 'Another Child' echo "****** After eval c = " . $c->name . "\\n\\n"; </code> watchout
> This particular case will not work. The user functions can only be successfully called (as the documentation alludes to), with static calls to class functions. actually it *does* work on PHP 5.0.2 (tested), and should also work on PHP 4.3.x (untested). Also the documentation does not state that only calls to static class methods are possible, but it says clearly that calls to OBJECT (thats dynamic) methods are possible: http://cz.php.net/manual/en/language.pseudo-types.php (see under type callback) |