[RESOLVED] calling function using a string.

[stevesweetland]

okey doke.

example script

function ThisFunction(){
  return "Running This Function";
}

function ThatFunction(){
  return "Running That Function";
}

function WhichFunction($functionname){
  return $functionname();
}

ok... so theres three functions, i want WhichFunction to work.. like so

print WhichFunction("This");
// Outputs 'Running This Function'

obviously this isnt the extent of my code, but its what i want to do... is it possible?

[nemonoman]

[man]eval[/man]
function WhichFunction($functionname){
eval("return $functionname();");
}

[bradgrafelman]

An alternative that doesn't use eval() would be:

function WhichFunction($functionname) {
    call_user_func($functionname . 'Function');
}

[shu]

The eval() function might work:

function WhichFunction($functionname){
  return eval($functionname . '()');
}

[laserlight]

It may be better to tell us why you want to do this. There could well be a way to do it without eval(), which can pose a security risk. bradgrafelman's call_user_func() suggestion should be better, but there may well be a radically different solution altogether, depending on what is the underlying problem to be solved.

[stevesweetland]

thanks for the replies, guys (i made a rhyme!)

actually, i neglected to mention it was a class i was writing, in the end, i got it working like this..

class MyClass(){
  var $text;

  function MyClass($text){
    $this->text = $text;
  }

  function ThisFunction(){
    return "Running This Function";
  }

  function ThatFunction(){
    return "Running That Function";
  }

  function WhichFunction($functionname){
    return $this->$functionname();
  } 
}