How to have constants evaluated in strings?

Question

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Include constant in string without concatenating

How can I get a constant to be evaluated in a string like variables are?

$foo = "like";
define('BAR', 'fish');

// None of these give me 'I like to eat fish on Tuesday.'
echo "I $foo to eat BAR on Tuesday.";
echo "I $foo to eat {BAR} on Tuesday.";
echo 'I $foo to eat BAR on Tuesday.';

// This works but is undesirable
echo 'I $foo to eat '.BAR.' on Tuesday.';

Not sure it's possible but you could define a variable and use that to replace it? — BGPHiJACK, Feb 22 '11 at 21:30
This has been covered several times on SO, just worded a bit differently (which is why you didn't see it when asking). — Tim Post, Feb 23 '11 at 07:28

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 22 '11 at 21:34

2

The only way I know this'd works (which you may already be aware of) is by doing:

<?php
$foo = "like";
define('BAR', 'fish');
$constants = get_defined_constants();
echo "I $foo to eat {$constants['BAR']} on Tuesday.";
?>

which prints:

I like to eat fish on Tuesday.

answered Feb 22 '11 at 21:34

Bart Kiers

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I was aware, but thank you for the reassurance. I considered this option but it ended up reducing the code readability. – Andrew Feb 22 '11 at 22:01
Not only does it reduce code readability but it also prevents the IDE from detecting invalid constants in your string. – Ruan Mendes Apr 16 '11 at 00:10

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:29

1

As far as I know that isn't possibile. Check this answer here at SO, it contains useful workarounds if concatenation is so undesirable too you! Include constant in string without concatenating

edited May 23 '17 at 12:29

Community

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answered Feb 22 '11 at 21:31

Damien Pirsy

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score -2 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 22 '11 at 21:26

-2

of course there is no way. And no need.

answered Feb 22 '11 at 21:26

Your Common Sense

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-1 There's no explanation to your answer, just judgement. – Andrew Feb 22 '11 at 21:55
@Andrew there's no explanation to your question either. just "undesirable" judgement ;) – Your Common Sense Feb 22 '11 at 22:44
I'm surprised that someone with a 19k rep would post such a useless answer... Actually after looking at your profile, it seems your approach of being two steps ahead leads to a lot of condescending answers. – Ruan Mendes Apr 15 '11 at 23:08
@Juan did you happen to read the question? :) – Your Common Sense Apr 16 '11 at 00:01
I did. "How to have constants evaluated within strings". The reason I downvoted was that I actually find that it would be useful to be able to do "Select {MY_COLUMN_CONSTANT} from {MY_TABLE_CONSTANT} WHERE {OTHER_COLUMN} = :value" instead of harcoding constant names everywhere. Now I either have to do string concatenation, which makes it hard to read, or I have to copy the constants to local variables... – Ruan Mendes Apr 16 '11 at 00:08
Oh, I am blamed for some PHP feature, lol :) – Your Common Sense Apr 16 '11 at 00:14
Nobody is blaming you for the lack of this feature in PHP. Just not happy with your condescending comment/answer that there is no need for this. "There is no way" is accurate, but "no need" is your point of view, trying to see two steps ahead. – Ruan Mendes Apr 16 '11 at 00:20

How to have constants evaluated in strings?

3 Answers3