PHP | Pseudo-types and variables used in this documentation | Manual | Tutorial

Some functions like call_user_func() or usort() accept user-defined callback functions as a parameter. Callback functions can not only be simple functions, but also object methods, including static class methods.

A PHP function is passed by its name as a string. Any built-in or user-defined function can be used, except language constructs such as: array(), echo(), empty(), eval(), exit(), isset(), list(), print() or unset().

A method of an instantiated object is passed as an array containing an object at index 0 and the method name at index 1.

Static class methods can also be passed without instantiating an object of that class by passing the class name instead of an object at index 0.

Apart from common user-defined function, create_function() can also be used to create an anonymous callback function.

Example #1 Callback function examples


<?php 

// An example callback function
function my_callback_function() {
    echo 'hello world!';
}

// An example callback method
class MyClass {
    static function myCallbackMethod() {
        echo 'Hello World!';
    }
}

// Type 1: Simple callback
call_user_func('my_callback_function'); 

// Type 2: Static class method call
call_user_func(array('MyClass', 'myCallbackMethod')); 

// Type 3: Object method call
$obj = new MyClass();
call_user_func(array($obj, 'myCallbackMethod'));

// Type 4: Static class method call (As of PHP 5.2.3)
call_user_func('MyClass::myCallbackMethod');

// Type 5: Relative static class method call (As of PHP 5.3.0)
class A {
    public static function who() {
        echo "A\n";
    }
}

class B extends A {
    public static function who() {
        echo "B\n";
    }
}

call_user_func(array('B', 'parent::who')); // A
?>

Note: In PHP4, it was necessary to use a reference to create a callback that points to the actual object, and not a copy of it. For more details, see References Explained.