PHP function overloading

Question

Coming from C++ background ;)
How can I overload PHP functions?

One function definition if there are any arguments, and another if there are no arguments? Is it

Answer 1

PHP doesn't support traditional method overloading, however one way you might be able to achieve what you want, would be to make use of the __call magic method:

class MyClass {
    public function __call($name, $args) {

        switch ($name) {
            case 'funcOne':
                switch (count($args)) {
                    case 1:
                        return call_user_func_array(array($this, 'funcOneWithOneArg'), $args);
                    case 3:
                        return call_user_func_array(array($this, 'funcOneWithThreeArgs'), $args);
                 }
            case 'anotherFunc':
                switch (count($args)) {
                    case 0:
                        return $this->anotherFuncWithNoArgs();
                    case 5:
                        return call_user_func_array(array($this, 'anotherFuncWithMoreArgs'), $args);
                }
        }
    }

    protected function funcOneWithOneArg($a) {

    }

    protected function funcOneWithThreeArgs($a, $b, $c) {

    }

    protected function anotherFuncWithNoArgs() {

    }

    protected function anotherFuncWithMoreArgs($a, $b, $c, $d, $e) {

    }

}

Answer 2

Sadly there is no overload in PHP as it is done in C#. But i have a little trick. I declare arguments with default null values and check them in a function. That way my function can do different things depending on arguments. Below is simple example:

public function query($queryString, $class = null) //second arg. is optional
{
    $query = $this->dbLink->prepare($queryString);
    $query->execute();

    //if there is second argument method does different thing
    if (!is_null($class)) { 
        $query->setFetchMode(PDO::FETCH_CLASS, $class);
    }

    return $query->fetchAll();
}

//This loads rows in to array of class
$Result = $this->query($queryString, "SomeClass");
//This loads rows as standard arrays
$Result = $this->query($queryString);

Answer 3

<?php

    class abs
    {
        public function volume($arg1=null, $arg2=null, $arg3=null)
        {   
            if($arg1 == null && $arg2 == null && $arg3 == null)
        {
            echo "function has no arguments. <br>";
        }

        else if($arg1 != null && $arg2 != null && $arg3 != null)
            {
            $volume=$arg1*$arg2*$arg3;
            echo "volume of a cuboid ".$volume ."<br>";
            }
            else if($arg1 != null && $arg2 != null)
            {
            $area=$arg1*$arg2;
            echo "area of square  = " .$area ."<br>";
            }
            else if($arg1 != null)
            {
            $volume=$arg1*$arg1*$arg1; 
            echo "volume of a cube = ".$volume ."<br>";
            }


        }


    }

    $obj=new abs();
    echo "For no arguments. <br>";
    $obj->volume();
    echo "For one arguments. <br>";
    $obj->volume(3);
    echo "For two arguments. <br>";
    $obj->volume(3,4);
    echo "For three arguments. <br>";
    $obj->volume(3,4,5);
    ?>

Answer 4

To over load a function simply do pass parameter as null by default,

class ParentClass
{
   function mymethod($arg1 = null, $arg2 = null, $arg3 = null)  
     {  
        if( $arg1 == null && $arg2 == null && $arg3 == null ){ 
           return 'function has got zero parameters <br />';
        }
        else
        {
           $str = '';
           if( $arg1 != null ) 
              $str .= "arg1 = ".$arg1." <br />";

           if( $arg2 != null ) 
              $str .= "arg2 = ".$arg2." <br />";

           if( $arg3 != null ) 
              $str .= "arg3 = ".$arg3." <br />";

           return $str;
         }
     }
}

// and call it in order given below ...

 $obj = new ParentClass;

 echo '<br />$obj->mymethod()<br />';
 echo $obj->mymethod();

 echo '<br />$obj->mymethod(null,"test") <br />';
 echo $obj->mymethod(null,'test');

 echo '<br /> $obj->mymethod("test","test","test")<br />';
 echo $obj->mymethod('test','test','test');

Answer 5

<?php   
/*******************************
 * author  : hishamdalal@gmail.com 
 * version : 3.8
 * create on : 2017-09-17
 * updated on : 2020-01-12
 *****************************/

#> 1. Include Overloadable class

class Overloadable
{
    static function call($obj, $method, $params=null) {
        $class = get_class($obj);
        // Get real method name
        $suffix_method_name = $method.self::getMethodSuffix($method, $params);

        if (method_exists($obj, $suffix_method_name)) {
            // Call method
            return call_user_func_array(array($obj, $suffix_method_name), $params);
        }else{
            throw new Exception('Tried to call unknown method '.$class.'::'.$suffix_method_name);
        }
    }

    static function getMethodSuffix($method, $params_ary=array()) {
        $c = '__';
        if(is_array($params_ary)){
            foreach($params_ary as $i=>$param){
                // Adding special characters to the end of method name 
                switch(gettype($param)){
                    case 'array':       $c .= 'a'; break;
                    case 'boolean':     $c .= 'b'; break;
                    case 'double':      $c .= 'd'; break;
                    case 'integer':     $c .= 'i'; break;
                    case 'NULL':        $c .= 'n'; break;
                    case 'object':
                        // Support closure parameter
                        if($param instanceof Closure ){
                            $c .= 'c';
                        }else{
                            $c .= 'o'; 
                        }
                    break;
                    case 'resource':    $c .= 'r'; break;
                    case 'string':      $c .= 's'; break;
                    case 'unknown type':$c .= 'u'; break;
                }
            }
        }
        return $c;
    }
    // Get a reference variable by name
    static function &refAccess($var_name) {
        $r =& $GLOBALS["$var_name"]; 
        return $r;
    }
}
//----------------------------------------------------------
#> 2. create new class
//----------------------------------------------------------

class test 
{
    private $name = 'test-1';

    #> 3. Add __call 'magic method' to your class

    // Call Overloadable class 
    // you must copy this method in your class to activate overloading
    function __call($method, $args) {
        return Overloadable::call($this, $method, $args);
    }

    #> 4. Add your methods with __ and arg type as one letter ie:(__i, __s, __is) and so on.
    #> methodname__i = methodname($integer)
    #> methodname__s = methodname($string)
    #> methodname__is = methodname($integer, $string)

    // func(void)
    function func__() {
        pre('func(void)', __function__);
    }
    // func(integer)
    function func__i($int) {
        pre('func(integer '.$int.')', __function__);
    }
    // func(string)
    function func__s($string) {
        pre('func(string '.$string.')', __function__);
    }    
    // func(string, object)
    function func__so($string, $object) {
        pre('func(string '.$string.', '.print_r($object, 1).')', __function__);
        //pre($object, 'Object: ');
    }
    // func(closure)
    function func__c(Closure $callback) {

        pre("func(".
            print_r(
                array( $callback, $callback($this->name) ), 
                1
            ).");", __function__.'(Closure)'
        );

    }   
    // anotherFunction(array)
    function anotherFunction__a($array) {
        pre('anotherFunction('.print_r($array, 1).')', __function__);
        $array[0]++;        // change the reference value
        $array['val']++;    // change the reference value
    }
    // anotherFunction(string)
    function anotherFunction__s($key) {
        pre('anotherFunction(string '.$key.')', __function__);
        // Get a reference
        $a2 =& Overloadable::refAccess($key); // $a2 =& $GLOBALS['val'];
        $a2 *= 3;   // change the reference value
    }

}

//----------------------------------------------------------
// Some data to work with:
$val  = 10;
class obj {
    private $x=10;
}

//----------------------------------------------------------
#> 5. create your object

// Start
$t = new test;

#> 6. Call your method

// Call first method with no args:
$t->func(); 
// Output: func(void)

$t->func($val);
// Output: func(integer 10)

$t->func("hello");
// Output: func(string hello)

$t->func("str", new obj());
/* Output: 
func(string str, obj Object
(
    [x:obj:private] => 10
)
)
*/

// call method with closure function
$t->func(function($n){
    return strtoupper($n);
});

/* Output:
func(Array
(
    [0] => Closure Object
        (
            [parameter] => Array
                (
                    [$n] => 
                )

        )

    [1] => TEST-1
)
);
*/

## Passing by Reference:

echo '<br><br>$val='.$val;
// Output: $val=10

$t->anotherFunction(array(&$val, 'val'=>&$val));
/* Output:
anotherFunction(Array
(
    [0] => 10
    [val] => 10
)
)
*/

echo 'Result: $val='.$val;
// Output: $val=12

$t->anotherFunction('val');
// Output: anotherFunction(string val)

echo 'Result: $val='.$val;
// Output: $val=36







// Helper function
//----------------------------------------------------------
function pre($mixed, $title=null){
    $output = "<fieldset>";
    $output .= $title ? "<legend><h2>$title</h2></legend>" : "";
    $output .= '<pre>'. print_r($mixed, 1). '</pre>';
    $output .= "</fieldset>";
    echo $output;
}
//----------------------------------------------------------

Answer 6

What about this:

function($arg = NULL) {

    if ($arg != NULL) {
        etc.
        etc.
    }
}