calling nested function php codeigniter

Question

i am trying to call a function which is nested under other function consider a example:

function _get_stats() {
    function _get_string() {
        $string = 'Nested Function Not Working';
        return $string;
    }
 }

 public function index() {
    $data['title'] = $this->_get_stats() . _get_string();
    $this->load->view('home', $data);
 }

now when i run the page in web browser blank page is displayed.

any suggestion or help would be a great help for me.. thanks in advance

Answer 1

The function is not really nested, but calling _get_stats() will cause _get_string to be declared. There is no such thing as nested functions or classes in PHP.

Calling _get_stats() twice or more will cause an error, saying that function _get_string() already exists and cannot be redeclared.

Calling _get_string() before _get_stats() will raise an error saying that function _get_string() does not exist`.

In your case, if you really want to do this (and it is a bad practice), do the following:

protected function _get_stats() {
    if (!function_exists("_get_string")){
        function _get_string() {
            $string = 'Nested Function Not Working';
            return $string;
        }
    }
}

public function index() {
    $this->_get_stats(); //This function just declares another global function.
    $data['title'] = _get_string(); //Call the previously declared global function.
    $this->load->view('home', $data);
}

BUT What you are looking for is probably method chaining. In this case you method must return a valid object which contains the needed functions.

Example:

protected function getOne(){
  //Do stuff
  return $this ;
}

protected function getTwo(){
  //Do stuff ;
  return $this ;
}

public function index(){
  $this
    ->getOne()
    ->getTwo()
  ;
}