instantiate a class from a variable in PHP?

Question

I know this question sounds rather vague so I will make it more clear with an example:

$var = 'bar';
$bar = new {$var}Class('var for __construct()'); //$bar = new barClass('var for __construct()');

This is what I want to do. How would you do it? I could off course use eval() like this:

$var = 'bar';
eval('$bar = new '.$var.'Class(\'var for __construct()\');');

But I'd rather stay away from eval(). Is there any way to do this without eval()?

Answer 1

Put the classname into a variable first:

$classname=$var.'Class';

$bar=new $classname("xyz");

This is often the sort of thing you'll see wrapped up in a Factory pattern.

See Namespaces and dynamic language features for further details.

Answer 2

How to pass dynamic constructor parameters too

If you want to pass dynamic constructor parameters to the class, you can use this code:

$reflectionClass = new ReflectionClass($className);

$module = $reflectionClass->newInstanceArgs($arrayOfConstructorParameters);

More information on dynamic classes and parameters

PHP >= 5.6

As of PHP 5.6 you can simplify this even more by using Argument Unpacking:

// The "..." is part of the language and indicates an argument array to unpack.
$module = new $className(...$arrayOfConstructorParameters);

Thanks to DisgruntledGoat for pointing that out.

Answer 3

If You Use Namespaces

In my own findings, I think it's good to mention that you (as far as I can tell) must declare the full namespace path of a class.

MyClass.php

namespace com\company\lib;
class MyClass {
}

index.php

namespace com\company\lib;

//Works fine
$i = new MyClass();

$cname = 'MyClass';

//Errors
//$i = new $cname;

//Works fine
$cname = "com\\company\\lib\\".$cname;
$i = new $cname;

Answer 4

class Test {
    public function yo() {
        return 'yoes';
    }
}

$var = 'Test';

$obj = new $var();
echo $obj->yo(); //yoes

Answer 5

I would recommend the call_user_func() or call_user_func_arrayphp methods. You can check them out here (call_user_func_array , call_user_func).

example

class Foo {
static public function test() {
    print "Hello world!\n";
}
}

 call_user_func('Foo::test');//FOO is the class, test is the method both separated by ::
 //or
 call_user_func(array('Foo', 'test'));//alternatively you can pass the class and method as an array

If you have arguments you are passing to the method , then use the call_user_func_array() function.

example.

class foo {
function bar($arg, $arg2) {
    echo __METHOD__, " got $arg and $arg2\n";
}
}

// Call the $foo->bar() method with 2 arguments
call_user_func_array(array("foo", "bar"), array("three", "four"));
//or
//FOO is the class, bar is the method both separated by ::
call_user_func_array("foo::bar"), array("three", "four"));