PHP: how to return the right stuff - php

Question

In my function I have more variables:
$disallowGallery = 1;
$disallowFriend = 1;
$disallowWall = 1;
$disallowPM = 1;
$disallowStatusComment = 1;
Now, i have a $check parameter. If it contains 'Gallery' the function should return the $disallowGallery variable. If it contains 'Friend' it should return the $disallowFriend variable.
I can do this myself with alot of if else statement / or an switch. But does there exist a more effective/simpler way?

Answer 1

The cleanest way to store this in my eyes would be an array:
$disallow = array(
"Gallery" => 1,
"Friend" => 1,
"Wall" => 1,
"PM" => 1,
"Comment" => 1
);
Inside a check function, you would do a check like so:
function check("Comment")
....
if (array_key_exists($area, $disallow))
return $disallow[$area];
else
return 0;

Answer 2

You can use variable variables:
function isDisallowed($type) {
$disallowGallery = 1;
$disallowFriend = 1;
$disallowWall = 1;
$disallowPM = 1;
$disallowStatusComment = 1;
$type = "disallowed$type";
return isset($$type) ? $$type : 1;
}
But I'd be more tempted to store your configuration in an associative array:
function isDisallowed($type) {
$disallowed = array (
'Gallery' => 1,
'Friend' => 1,
// ...
'StatusComment' => 1,
);
return array_key_exists($type, $disallowed) ? $disallowed[$type] : 1;
}

Answer 3

return ${'disallow' . $check};