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 ()
{
    //code here
}

$functionName = "foo";
// I need to call the function based on what is $functionName

Answer 1

$functionName() or call_user_func($functionName)

If you need to provide parameters stored in another variable (in the form of array), use array unpacking operator:

$function_name = 'trim';
$parameters = ['aaabbb','b'];
echo $function_name(...$parameters); // aaa

To dynamically create an object and call its method use

$class = 'DateTime';
$method = 'format';
echo (new $class)->$method('d-m-Y');

or to call a static method

$class = 'DateTime';
$static = 'createFromFormat';
$date = $class::$static('d-m-Y', '17-08-2023');

Answer 2

My favorite version is the inline version:

${"variableName"} = 12;

$className->{"propertyName"};
$className->{"methodName"}();

StaticClass::${"propertyName"};
StaticClass::{"methodName"}();

You can place variables or expressions inside the brackets too!

Answer 3

Solution: Use PHP7

Note: For a summarized version, see TL;DR at the end of the answer.

Old Methods

Update: One of the old methods explained here has been removed. Refer to other answers for explanation on other methods, it isn't covered here. By the way, if this answer doesn't help you, you should return upgrading your stuff. PHP 5.6 support has ended in January 2019 (now even PHP 7.2 and 7.3 are not being supported). See supported versions for more information.

As others mentioned, in PHP5 (and also in newer versions like PHP7) we could use variables as function names, use call_user_func() and call_user_func_array(), etc.

New Methods

As of PHP7, there are new ways introduced:

Note: Everything inside <something> brackets means one or more expressions to form something, e.g. <function_name> means expressions forming a function name.

Dynamic Function Call: Function Name On-the-fly

We can form a function name inside parentheses in just one go:

(<function_name>)(arguments);

For example:

function something(): string
{
    return "something";
}

$bar = "some_thing";

(str_replace("_", "", $bar))(); // something

// Possible, too; but generally, not recommended, because makes your
// code more complicated
(str_replace("_", "", $bar))()(); 

Note: Although removing the parentheses around str_replace() is not an error, putting parentheses makes code more readable. However, you cannot do that sometimes, e.g. while using . operator. To be consistent, I recommend you to put the parentheses always.

Dynamic Function Call: Callable Property

A useful example would be in the context of objects: If you have stored a callable in a property, you have to call it this way:

($object->{<property_name>})();

As a simple example:

// Suppose we're in a class method context
($this->eventHandler)();

Obviously, calling it as $this->eventHandler() is plain wrong: By that you mean calling a method named eventHandler.

Dynamic Method Call: Method Name On-the-fly

Just like dynamic function calls, we can do the same way with method calls, surrounded by curly braces instead of parentheses (for extra forms, navigate to TL;DR section):

$object->{<method_name>}(arguments);
$object::{<method_name>}(arguments);

See it in an example:

class Foo
{
    public function another(): string
    {
        return "something";
    }
}

$bar = "another thing";

(new Something())->{explode(" ", $bar)[0]}(); // something

Dynamic Method Call: The Array Syntax

A more elegant way added in PHP7 is the following:

[<object>, <method_name>](arguments);
[<class_name>, <method_name>](arguments); // Static calls only

As an example:

class Foo
{
    public function nonStaticCall()
    {
        echo "Non-static call";
    }
    public static function staticCall()
    {
        echo "Static call";
    }
}

$x = new Foo();

[$x, "non" . "StaticCall"](); // Non-static call
[$x, "static" . "Call"](); // Static call

Note: The benefit of using this method over the previous one is that, you don't care about the call type (i.e. whether it's static or not).

Note: If you care about performance (and micro-optimizations), don't use this method. As I tested, this method is really slower than other methods (more than 10 times).

Extra Example: Using Anonymous Classes

Making things a bit complicated, you could use a combination of anonymous classes and the features above:

$bar = "SomeThing";

echo (new class {
    public function something()
    {
        return 512;
    }
})->{strtolower($bar)}(); // 512

TL;DR (Conclusion)

Generally, in PHP7, using the following forms are all possible:

// Everything inside `<something>` brackets means one or more expressions
// to form something

// Dynamic function call via function name
(<function_name>)(arguments);

// Dynamic function call on a callable property
($object->{<property_name>})(arguments);

// Dynamic method call on an object
$object->{<method_name>}(arguments);
$object::{<method_name>}(arguments);

// Dynamic method call on a dynamically-generated object
(<object>)->{<method_name>}(arguments);
(<object>)::{<method_name>}(arguments);

// Dynamic method call, statically
ClassName::{<method_name>}(arguments);
(<class_name>)::{<method_name>}(arguments);

// Dynamic method call, array-like (no different between static
// and non-static calls
[<object>, <method_name>](arguments);

// Dynamic method call, array-like, statically
[<class_name>, <method_name>](arguments);

Special thanks to this PHP talk.

Answer 4

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 5

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 6

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

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

Answer 7

In case someone else is brought here by google because they were trying to use a variable for a method within a class, the below is a code sample which will actually work. None of the above worked for my situation. The key difference is the & in the declaration of $c = & new... and &$c being passed in call_user_func.

My specific case is when implementing someone's code having to do with colors and two member methods lighten() and darken() from the csscolor.php class. For whatever reason, I wanted to have the same code be able to call lighten or darken rather than select it out with logic. This may be the result of my stubbornness to not just use if-else or to change the code calling this method.

$lightdark="lighten"; // or optionally can be darken
$color="fcc";   // a hex color
$percent=0.15;  
include_once("csscolor.php");
$c = & new CSS_Color($color);
$rtn=call_user_func( array(&$c,$lightdark),$color,$percent);

Note that trying anything with $c->{...} didn't work. Upon perusing the reader-contributed content at the bottom of php.net's page on call_user_func, I was able to piece together the above. Also, note that $params as an array didn't work for me:

// This doesn't work:
$params=Array($color,$percent);
$rtn=call_user_func( array(&$c,$lightdark),$params);

This above attempt would give a warning about the method expecting a 2nd argument (percent).

Answer 8

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

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

However, call_user_func() is the proper way.

Answer 9

Dynamic function names and namespaces

Just to add a point about dynamic function names when using namespaces.

If you're using namespaces, the following won't work except if your function is in the global namespace:

namespace greetings;

function hello()
{
    // do something
}

$myvar = "hello";
$myvar(); // interpreted as "\hello();"

What to do?

You have to use call_user_func() instead:

// if hello() is in the current namespace
call_user_func(__NAMESPACE__.'\\'.$myvar);

// if hello() is in another namespace
call_user_func('mynamespace\\'.$myvar);

Answer 10

Complementing the answer of @Chris K if you want to call an object's method, you can call it using a single variable with the help of a closure:

function get_method($object, $method){
    return function() use($object, $method){
        $args = func_get_args();
        return call_user_func_array(array($object, $method), $args);           
    };
}

class test{        

    function echo_this($text){
        echo $text;
    }
}

$test = new test();
$echo = get_method($test, 'echo_this');
$echo('Hello');  //Output is "Hello"

I posted another example here

Answer 11

Use the call_user_func function.

Answer 12

What I learnt from this question and the answers. Thanks all!

Let say I have these variables and functions:

$functionName1 = "sayHello";
$functionName2 = "sayHelloTo";
$functionName3 = "saySomethingTo";

$friend = "John";
$datas = array(
    "something"=>"how are you?",
    "to"=>"Sarah"
);

function sayHello()
{
echo "Hello!";
}

function sayHelloTo($to)
{
echo "Dear $to, hello!";
}

function saySomethingTo($something, $to)
{
echo "Dear $to, $something";
}

1. To call function without arguments

   // Calling sayHello()
   call_user_func($functionName1); 
   

   Hello!

2. To call function with 1 argument

   // Calling sayHelloTo("John")
   call_user_func($functionName2, $friend);
   

   Dear John, hello!

3. To call function with 1 or more arguments This will be useful if you are dynamically calling your functions and each function have different number of arguments. This is my case that I have been looking for (and solved). call_user_func_array is the key

   // You can add your arguments
   // 1. statically by hard-code, 
   $arguments[0] = "how are you?"; // my $something
   $arguments[1] = "Sarah"; // my $to
   
   // 2. OR dynamically using foreach
   $arguments = NULL;
   foreach($datas as $data) 
   {
       $arguments[] = $data;
   }
   
   // Calling saySomethingTo("how are you?", "Sarah")
   call_user_func_array($functionName3, $arguments);
   

   Dear Sarah, how are you?

Yay bye!

Answer 13

If you were in a object context trying to call a function dynamically please try something like this code bellow:

$this->{$variable}();

Answer 14

The easiest way to call a function safely using the name stored in a variable is,

//I want to call method deploy that is stored in functionname 
$functionname = 'deploy';

$retVal = {$functionname}('parameters');

I have used like below to create migration tables in Laravel dynamically,

foreach(App\Test::$columns as $name => $column){
        $table->{$column[0]}($name);
}

Answer 15

Following code can help to write dynamic function in PHP. now the function name can be dynamically change by variable '$current_page'.

$current_page = 'home_page';
$function = @${$current_page . '_page_versions'};
$function = function() {
    echo 'current page';
};
$function();

Answer 16

Considering some of the excellent answers given here, sometimes you need to be precise. For example.

1. if a function has a return value eg (boolean,array,string,int,float e.t.c).
2. if the function has no return value check
3. if the function exists

Let's look at its credit to some of the answers given.

Class Cars{
        function carMake(){
        return 'Toyota';
        }
        function carMakeYear(){
        return 2020;
        }
        function estimatedPriceInDollar{
        return 1500.89;
        }
        function colorList(){
        return array("Black","Gold","Silver","Blue");
        }
        function carUsage(){
        return array("Private","Commercial","Government");
        }
    function getCar(){
    echo "Toyota Venza 2020 model private estimated price is 1500 USD";
    }
 }

We want to check if method exists and call it dynamically.

$method = "color List";
        $class = new Cars();
        //If the function have return value;
        $arrayColor = method_exists($class, str_replace(' ', "", $method)) ? call_user_func(array($this, $obj)) : [];
        //If the function have no return value e.g echo,die,print e.t.c
     $method = "get Car";
        if(method_exists($class, str_replace(' ', "", $method))){
        call_user_func(array($class, $method))
        }

Thanks

Answer 17

One unconventional approach, that came to my mind is, unless you are generating the whole code through some super ultra autonomous AI which writes itself, there are high chances that the functions which you want to "dynamically" call, are already defined in your code base. So why not just check for the string and do the infamous ifelse dance to summon the ...you get my point.

eg.

if($functionName == 'foo'){
  foo();
} else if($functionName == 'bar'){
  bar();
}

Even switch-case can be used if you don't like the bland taste of ifelse ladder.

I understand that there are cases where the "dynamically calling the function" would be an absolute necessity (Like some recursive logic which modifies itself). But most of the everyday trivial use-cases can just be dodged.

It weeds out a lot of uncertainty from your application, while giving you a chance to execute a fallback function if the string doesn't match any of the available functions' definition. IMHO.

Answer 18

I dont know why u have to use that, doesnt sound so good to me at all, but if there are only a small amount of functions, you could use a if/elseif construct. I dont know if a direct solution is possible.

something like $foo = "bar"; $test = "foo"; echo $$test;

should return bar, you can try around but i dont think this will work for functions