Using a variable as an operator

Question

So I have something like the following:

$a = 3;
$b = 4;
$c = 5;
$d = 6;

and I run a comparison like

if($a>$b || $c>$d         


        

Answer 1

Just to make the list complete this is the function I use. It has all the operators. Its better not to use eval(). This will be much quicker and safer.

*--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 * checks 2 values with operator
 * you can use logical operators als well
 * returns FALSE or TRUE
 */
function checkOperator($value1, $operator, $value2) {
    switch ($operator) {
        case '<': // Less than
            return $value1 < $value2;
        case '<=': // Less than or equal to
            return $value1 <= $value2;
        case '>': // Greater than
            return $value1 > $value2;
        case '>=': // Greater than or equal to
            return $value1 >= $value2;
        case '==': // Equal
            return $value1 == $value2;
        case '===': // Identical
            return $value1 === $value2;
        case '!==': // Not Identical
            return $value1 !== $value2;
        case '!=': // Not equal
        case '<>': // Not equal
            return $value1 != $value2;
        case '||': // Or
        case 'or': // Or
           return $value1 || $value2;
        case '&&': // And
        case 'and': // And
           return $value1 && $value2;
        case 'xor': // Or
           return $value1 xor $value2;  
        default:
            return FALSE;
    } // end switch

To call it:

$value1 = 12;
$operator = '>';
$value2 = 13;
if (checkOperator($value1, $operator, $value2)) {
    ... its true
} else {
    ... its not true
}