Accept function as parameter in PHP

Question

It's possible if you are using PHP 5.3.0 or higher.

See Anonymous Functions in the manual.

In your case, you would define exampleMethod like this:

function exampleMethod($anonFunc) {
    //execute anonymous function
    $anonFunc();
}

Just to add to the others, you can pass a function name:

function someFunc($a)
{
    echo $a;
}

function callFunc($name)
{
    $name('funky!');
}

callFunc('someFunc');

This will work in PHP4.

You can also use create_function to create a function as a variable and pass it around. Though, I like the feeling of anonymous functions better. Go zombat.

Just code it like this:

function example($anon) {
  $anon();
}

example(function(){
  // some codes here
});

it would be great if you could invent something like this (inspired by Laravel Illuminate):

Object::method("param_1", function($param){
  $param->something();
});

According to @zombat's answer, it's better to validate the Anonymous Functions first:

function exampleMethod($anonFunc) {
    //execute anonymous function
    if (is_callable($anonFunc)) {
        $anonFunc();
    }
}

Or validate argument type since PHP 5.4.0:

function exampleMethod(callable $anonFunc) {}

PHP VERSION >= 5.3.0

Example 1: basic

function test($test_param, $my_function) {
    return $my_function($test_param);
}

test("param", function($param) {
    echo $param;
}); //will echo "param"

Example 2: std object

$obj = new stdClass();
$obj->test = function ($test_param, $my_function) {
    return $my_function($test_param);
};

$test = $obj->test;
$test("param", function($param) {
    echo $param;
});

Example 3: non static class call

class obj{
    public function test($test_param, $my_function) {
        return $my_function($test_param);
    }
}

$obj = new obj();
$obj->test("param", function($param) {
    echo $param;
});

Example 4: static class call

class obj {
    public static function test($test_param, $my_function) {
        return $my_function($test_param);
    }
}

obj::test("param", function($param) {
    echo $param;
});

Tested for PHP 5.3

As i see here, Anonymous Function could help you: http://php.net/manual/en/functions.anonymous.php

What you'll probably need and it's not said before it's how to pass a function without wrapping it inside a on-the-fly-created function. As you'll see later, you'll need to pass the function's name written in a string as a parameter, check its "callability" and then call it.

The function to do check:

if( is_callable( $string_function_name ) ){
    /*perform the call*/
}

Then, to call it, use this piece of code (if you need parameters also, put them on an array), seen at : http://php.net/manual/en/function.call-user-func.php

call_user_func_array( "string_holding_the_name_of_your_function", $arrayOfParameters );

as it follows (in a similar, parameterless, way):

    function funToBeCalled(){
        print("----------------------i'm here");
    }
    function wrapCaller($fun){
        if( is_callable($fun)){
            print("called");
            call_user_func($fun);
        }else{
            print($fun." not called");
        }
    }

    wrapCaller("funToBeCalled");
    wrapCaller("cannot call me");

Here's a class explaining how to do something similar :

<?php
class HolderValuesOrFunctionsAsString{
    private $functions = array();
    private $vars = array();

    function __set($name,$data){
        if(is_callable($data))
            $this->functions[$name] = $data;
        else
            $this->vars[$name] = $data;
    }

    function __get($name){
        $t = $this->vars[$name];
        if(isset($t))
            return $t;
        else{
            $t = $this->$functions[$name];
            if( isset($t))
                return $t;
        }
    }

    function __call($method,$args=null){
        $fun = $this->functions[$method];
        if(isset($fun)){
            call_user_func_array($fun,$args);
        } else {
            // error out
            print("ERROR: Funciton not found: ". $method);
        }
    }
}
?>

and an example of usage

<?php
    /*create a sample function*/
    function sayHello($some = "all"){
    ?>
         <br>hello to <?=$some?><br>
    <?php
    }

    $obj = new HolderValuesOrFunctionsAsString;

    /*do the assignement*/
    $obj->justPrintSomething = 'sayHello'; /*note that the given
        "sayHello" it's a string ! */

    /*now call it*/
    $obj->justPrintSomething(); /*will print: "hello to all" and
        a break-line, for html purpose*/

    /*if the string assigned is not denoting a defined method
         , it's treat as a simple value*/
    $obj->justPrintSomething = 'thisFunctionJustNotExistsLOL';

    echo $obj->justPrintSomething; /*what do you expect to print?
        just that string*/
    /*N.B.: "justPrintSomething" is treated as a variable now!
        as the __set 's override specify"*/

    /*after the assignement, the what is the function's destiny assigned before ? It still works, because it's held on a different array*/
     $obj->justPrintSomething("Jack Sparrow");


     /*You can use that "variable", ie "justPrintSomething", in both ways !! so you can call "justPrintSomething" passing itself as a parameter*/

     $obj->justPrintSomething( $obj->justPrintSomething );
         /*prints: "hello to thisFunctionJustNotExistsLOL" and a break-line*/

    /*in fact, "justPrintSomething" it's a name used to identify both
         a value (into the dictionary of values) or a function-name
         (into the dictionary of functions)*/
?>