Is there a PHP function or command that runs a function based on a string, array, or similar? Basically, if the string "time" is passed, I want time() to be returned. Ideally, I'd like this to also support passed parameters. I just want this to be for individual functions, though. I DON'T want to eval() an entire block of code, for obvious reasons.
Does anything like this exist--or, preferably--is it native in PHP?
You can call a function using a variable containing the function name as well as pass any parameters to that function. Try:
<?php
$func = 'strtoupper';
$res = $func('i am uppercase');
echo $res; // I AM UPPERCASE
See variable functions and variable variables as well. As mentioned, call_user_func() works too.
For safety, you can call:
if (function_exists($func)) { ... }
before calling the function based to make sure you avoid errors. You can use ReflectionFunctionAbstract::getNumberOfParameters to determine the number of parameters the function accepts as well.
Try call_user_func() http://php.net/manual/en/function.call-user-func.php
The first argument is a string representing the function name. The second argument can be a single argument, or an array of arguments.
Edit:
It will even support native functions like time(), as you asked. Try it out like so:
echo call_user_func( 'time' );
time()) supported?