How to call functions in other files without including them with include?

Question

Without using include_once or any include/require how can I reference functions declared in other php files in the current directory? Just like we use fopen.

Including contents of php files which contain code not in functions can be a clutter. It'd be better if function usage is linked automatically to its definition.

I've also checked How to include() all PHP files from a directory? which requires some code to do it.

I'm not able to find answer of this anywhere in internet may be because of too common search terms for this problem.

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 27 '12 at 17:07

3

The most logical approach would be to use OOP and autoloading.

That way you would only load the classes that you actually use.

Otherwise the accepted answer from the question you linked to, is the way to go.

answered Sep 27 '12 at 17:07

jeroen

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Oh it will load only classes and not functions. – user774250 Sep 27 '12 at 17:37
@user774250 No, it is for classes and all their properties and methods. – jeroen Sep 27 '12 at 17:40

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 27 '12 at 17:05

You can use glob to traverse the directory and then include them:

$phpfiles = glob('mydir/*.php');
foreach($phpfiles as $file)
  do_something_with_the_file($file) // why not include_once $file ?

As you are referencing functions in other files, you cannot use the autoloader because the autoloader operates on classes. Autoloading classes would be a much better solution.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 27 '12 at 17:07

If you're keen on using classes and OO vs Procedural, this will include a file by the same name as the class that's being called, and will not include class files in the directory that are not needed.

Called from the root directory of the site/application.

define( "APP_PATH", dirname( __FILE__ ) ."/" );

function my_autoloader($class)
{
    include 'core/classes/' . $class . '.class.php';
}
spl_autoload_register('my_autoloader');

Assuming you keep all your classes in a similar directory structure:

site/core/classes

You get the idea.

How to call functions in other files without including them with include?

3 Answers3