Question

I have some code that’s run within a method (it’s a CakePHP view):

This works:

$this->foo();

This doesn’t:

function bar() {
    $this->foo();
} // Using $this when not in object context

Neither does this:

function bar() {
    global $this;
    $this->foo();
} // Cannot re-assign $this

Nor this:

$that = $this;
$bar = function() {
    global $that;
    $that->foo();
} // Trying to get property of non-object

I’d like to use the object’s library function from within this method, but bar has to stay a local subprocedure (moving it to be a class method would be pointless). Any solutions or workarounds?

Answer 1

In PHP 5.3:

$that = $this;
$bar = function() use (&$that) { /* the reference isn't really required
                                    since it's an object handle */
    $that->foo();
};

With PHP 5.4, the above hack isn’t required.