PHP Function with Optional Parameters

Question

I\'ve written a PHP function that can accepts 10 parameters, but only 2 are required. Sometimes, I want to define the eighth parameter, but I don\'t want to type in empty st

Answer 1

NOTE: This is an old answer, for PHP 5.5 and below. PHP 5.6+ supports default arguments

In PHP 5.5 and below, you can achieve this by using one of these 2 methods:

• using the func_num_args() and func_get_arg() functions;
• using NULL arguments;

How to use

function method_1()
{
  $arg1 = (func_num_args() >= 1)? func_get_arg(0): "default_value_for_arg1";
  $arg2 = (func_num_args() >= 2)? func_get_arg(1): "default_value_for_arg2";
}

function method_2($arg1 = null, $arg2 = null)
{
  $arg1 = $arg1? $arg1: "default_value_for_arg1";
  $arg2 = $arg2? $arg2: "default_value_for_arg2";
}

I prefer the second method because it's clean and easy to understand, but sometimes you may need the first method.