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Request #47160 $foo() syntax is too limited
Submitted: 2009-01-20 08:57 UTC Modified: 2011-06-06 23:44 UTC
Votes:4
Avg. Score:4.8 ± 0.4
Reproduced:4 of 4 (100.0%)
Same Version:2 (50.0%)
Same OS:2 (50.0%)
From: a at b dot c dot de Assigned: johannes (profile)
Status: Closed Package: Scripting Engine problem
PHP Version: 5.3.0alpha3 OS: Windows (irrelevant)
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
 [2009-01-20 08:57 UTC] a at b dot c dot de
Description:
------------
It's already possible to have arrays that represent callable methods (either static or instance), and 5.3's closures offer a third type of "callable" function.

But the $foo() syntax that facilitates calling that callable function still requires $foo to contain a string.

Since in general one cannot know in advance just what type of callable the value of $foo actually is, and when one does know it's often NOT a string, it's necessary to forego the syntax and rely on call_user_func($foo).

What would be nice is if $foo() also worked in the cases where $foo was a callable array or Closure object. call_user_func() itself would largely be relegated to the status of "function equivalent should you need it" and complement to call_user_func_array().

Reproduce code:
---------------
<?php
// For 5.2.x as well.
class Thing {
    static function DoesStuff() {
        echo 'Hello, World';
    }
}

$f = array('Thing', 'DoesStuff');

$f();
?>

Expected result:
----------------
Hello, World

Actual result:
--------------
Fatal error: Function name must be a string in C:\test.php on line 11


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AllCommentsChangesGit/SVN commitsRelated reports
 [2010-05-28 21:48 UTC] dchurch at sciencelogic dot com
Closures in PHP 5.3 DO work like this, as they should.  But I agree that it should be possible to call array($object, 'methodname') or array('classname', 'staticmethod') in this fashion.
 [2010-12-22 13:55 UTC] johannes@php.net
-Status: Open +Status: Assigned -Package: Feature/Change Request +Package: Scripting Engine problem -Assigned To: +Assigned To: johannes
 [2010-12-22 13:55 UTC] johannes@php.net
This works fine w/ closures. Adding support for arrays might be worth in order to be consistent.
 [2011-06-06 23:42 UTC] felipe@php.net
Automatic comment from SVN on behalf of felipe
Revision: http://svn.php.net/viewvc/?view=revision&amp;revision=311871
Log: - Added indirect method call through array variable (FR Bug #47160)
 [2011-06-06 23:44 UTC] felipe@php.net
-Status: Assigned +Status: Closed
 [2011-06-06 23:44 UTC] felipe@php.net
This bug has been fixed in SVN.

Snapshots of the sources are packaged every three hours; this change
will be in the next snapshot. You can grab the snapshot at
http://snaps.php.net/.
 
Thank you for the report, and for helping us make PHP better.

This feature has been implemented and committed in 5.4, trunk.
 
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