CODEWITHSUNDEEP
php
spraff
spraff

Reputation: 33435

Include php files only when needed at runtime

I have some PHP code which looks roughly like this

require_once 'cache.php';
require_once 'generator.php';

if (cache_dirty ('foo')) {
    cache_update ('foo', generate_foo ());
}

print cache_read ('foo');

My problem is that generator.php includes a whole mass of libraries and I don't want to load/parse it unless cache_dirty actually returns false at runtime.

I know there are PHP precompilers which can help but for now I need a quick fix. Is this possible?

Upvotes: 4

Views: 2592

Answers (5)

Pekka
Pekka

Reputation: 449783

As PeeHaa already said in his comment, Autoloading is usually the ideal way to go (although it will require restructuring your app.)

However, in the situation you show, I'm not sure what's keeping you from doing

require_once 'cache.php';


if (cache_dirty ('foo')) {
     require_once 'generator.php';
     cache_update ('foo', generate_foo ());

}

?

Upvotes: 5

VettelS
VettelS

Reputation: 1224

If your code is OO (object oriented), you should be using PHP's __autoload() feature.

Otherwise, just use conditional require_once()s.

Upvotes: 1

JMM
JMM

Reputation: 26837

Just include / require generator.php in the if block. Also, you shouldn't have a space between your function names and ( in function calls.

Upvotes: 1

Eugen Rieck
Eugen Rieck

Reputation: 65332

require_once 'cache.php';

if (cache_dirty ('foo')) {
    require_once 'generator.php';
    cache_update ('foo', generate_foo ());
}

print cache_read ('foo');

Fits your question quite well ...

Upvotes: 6

Borealid
Borealid

Reputation: 98559

You should write a PHP __autoload function to dynamically require generator.php when a generate_foo call is found.

Upvotes: 2

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