PHP use() function for scope?

Question

I have seen code like this:

function($cfg) use ($connections) {}

but php.net doesn't seem to mention that function. I'm guessing it's related to scope, but how?

Answer 1

use is not a function, it's part of the Closure syntax. It simply makes the specified variables of the outer scope available inside the closure.

$foo = 42;  $bar = function () {     // can't access $foo in here     echo $foo; // undefined variable };  $baz = function () use ($foo) {     // $foo is made available in here by use()     echo $foo; // 42 } 

For example:

$array = array('foo', 'bar', 'baz'); $prefix = uniqid();  $array = array_map(function ($elem) use ($prefix) {     return $prefix . $elem; }, $array);  // $array = array('4b3403665fea6foo', '4b3403665fea6bar', '4b3403665fea6baz'); 

Answer 2

It is telling the anonymous function to make $connections (a parent variable) available in its scope.

Without it, $connections wouldn't be defined inside the function.

Documentation.