constructor overloading workaround

[Anon]

hi all

i tried to implement the constructor overload
workaround i found on phpbuilder.com:

<?php

class Myclass {
function Myclass() {
$name="Myclass".func_num_args();
$this->$name();
//Note that $this->$name() is usually wrong but here
//$name is a string with the name of the method to call.
}

function Myclass1($x) { 
    code; 
} 
function Myclass2($x,$y) { 
    code; 
} 

}

?>

somehow it fails in my source and i dont get how the arguments the Myclass() constructor
is called with are passed to the Myclass1($x) and the Myclass2($x,$y) functions.
(and if they are passed to these functions
at all because i am receiving error like "Missing argument 1" all the time)

greetings,
matthias

[Anon]

To solve the problem, you need to be able to pass an arbitrary number of arguments to a function.

func_get_args() does the trick, in combination with some really dirty hacking, i.e. we use eval()

Here's what you can do:

function Myclass() {
$name="Myclass".func_num_args();

  // put the arguments in an array
  $args = func_get_args();

  // convert the array into a string,
  // using the ',' as separator
  $tempcode = implode("','", $args);
  $args = "'".$tempcode."'";

  // prepare a new string 
  $string = "\$this -> \$name($args);";

  // treat the entire string as PHP code
  eval ($string);

}

This should do the trick.
Oh, and by the way: never ever use eval() yourself. It's an evil function and it's invocation could easily send you to deepest pits of Hell.

Have fun!
Onno.