title: How to check if a function is public or protected in PHP
body: <p>I am building an API where the user requests a 'command', which is passed into a class. Assuming the command matches a PUBLIC function, it will execute successfully.
  If the command matches a PROTECTED function, it needs to throw an error.</p>
  
  <p>The idea is that functions can be disabled by changing them from PUBLIC to PROTECTED, rather than renaming them or removing them.</p>
  
  <p>I currently do this, but it doesn't matter if the command is public or protected.</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;?php
  /**
   * Look for Command method
   */
  $sMethod = "{$sCommand}Command";
  if (method_exists($this, $sMethod))
  {
      /**
       * Run the command
       */
      return $this-&gt;$sMethod($aParameters);
  }
  </code></pre>