Re: zend_call_function() and co.

On Fri, 2011-07-29 at 20:03 +0200, Flavius Aspra wrote: > Hi > > I have a few questions about zend_fcall_info and zend_fcall_info_cache. > > Regarding zend_fcall_info > > What is function_name useful for? I have a feeling it's for error > reporting, but I'm not sure The engine hast to know what to call. > What is symbol_table for? Maybe to put in the function's context other > variables beside the parameters, like $this? The symbol table is the table of the mathods available. The context is needed to call private elements or the correct method in case you have overwritten methods. (class A { function m()[}} class B extends A { function m()[}} ... sometimes you want to call B::m(), sometimes, you want to call A::m() - especially as in parent::m() from within B::m()) The object instance identifies the current instance. The object instance is needed to access the correct proeprties. For calling a global function these can be NULL. > What is zend_fcall_info_cache for? I've seen in some places that > zend_call_function() sometimes takes a NULL for it. When is it useful to > cache information about the function call? One thing the function does is a function lookup, if you call the function multiple times it is nice to keep the pointer to the actual function around and save the subsequent lookups. johannes