Question

I find this really strange..could someone give an explanation?

abstract class UIController{
   public static function exec($context,$vdo){
      return call_user_func(array($context, $vdo));   
   }
}

class UIControllerSettings extends UIController{
    protected function save(){
        return "saved\n";
    }
}

$controller = new UIControllerSettings();
echo UIController::exec($controller, 'save'); //<-- prints "saved"
echo $controller->save(); // <-- throws a fatal error 

Not sure it this makes sense;
shouldn’t both calls produce a fatal error??

Thanks in advance.

Update:

Here is the output:

$ php --version
PHP 5.3.3-1ubuntu9.5 with Suhosin-Patch (cli) (built: May  3 2011 00:48:48) 
Copyright (c) 1997-2009 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.3.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2010 Zend Technologies
$ php test.php 
saved
PHP Fatal error:  Call to protected method UIControllerSettings::save() from context '' in test.php on line 17

Answer 1

Class members declared public can be accessed everywhere. Members declared protected can be accessed only within the class itself and by inherited and parent classes:

http://php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.visibility.php.

Since UIController::exec() is the right way to address the public static function, my guess is the call_use_func() is being processed as a call from within the class itself. On the other hand $controler->save() can’t be run because it’s a protected function.