How to call a function from a string stored in a variable?

Question

I need to be able to call a function, but the function name is stored in a variable, is this possible? e.g:

function foo ()
{
  //code here
}

function bar ()
{
          


        

Answer 1

For the sake of completeness, you can also use eval():

$functionName = "foo()";
eval($functionName);

However, call_user_func() is the proper way.

Answer 2

As already mentioned, there are a few ways to achieve this with possibly the safest method being call_user_func() or if you must you can also go down the route of $function_name(). It is possible to pass arguments using both of these methods as so

$function_name = 'foobar';

$function_name(arg1, arg2);

call_user_func_array($function_name, array(arg1, arg2));

If the function you are calling belongs to an object you can still use either of these

$object->$function_name(arg1, arg2);

call_user_func_array(array($object, $function_name), array(arg1, arg2));

However if you are going to use the $function_name() method it may be a good idea to test for the existence of the function if the name is in any way dynamic

if(method_exists($object, $function_name))
{
    $object->$function_name(arg1, arg2);
}

Answer 3

Yes, it is possible:

function foo($msg) {
    echo $msg."<br />";
}
$var1 = "foo";
$var1("testing 1,2,3");

Source: http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/php/2001/05/17/php_foundations.html?page=2

Answer 4

A few years late, but this is the best manner now imho:

$x = (new ReflectionFunction("foo"))->getClosure();
$x();