How to send a status code in PHP, without maintaining an array of status names?

Yeah, just do this...

header('x', true, 404);

The first string parameter can be anything that doesn't contain a :. PHP will then replace and go with the standard phrase. The second parameter specifies "always replace", and the 3rd is the status code you want.

References:

• http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.header.php
• http://gif.phpnet.org/frederic/programs/http_status_codes/

Zend Framework has a packaged solution in Zend_Http_Response

Zend_Http_Response::$messages contains:

/**
 * List of all known HTTP response codes - used by responseCodeAsText() to
 * translate numeric codes to messages.
 *
 * @var array
 */
protected static $messages = array(
    // Informational 1xx
    100 => 'Continue',
    101 => 'Switching Protocols',

    // Success 2xx
    200 => 'OK',
    201 => 'Created',
    202 => 'Accepted',
    203 => 'Non-Authoritative Information',
    204 => 'No Content',
    205 => 'Reset Content',
    206 => 'Partial Content',

    // Redirection 3xx
    300 => 'Multiple Choices',
    301 => 'Moved Permanently',
    302 => 'Found',  // 1.1
    303 => 'See Other',
    304 => 'Not Modified',
    305 => 'Use Proxy',
    // 306 is deprecated but reserved
    307 => 'Temporary Redirect',

    // Client Error 4xx
    400 => 'Bad Request',
    401 => 'Unauthorized',
    402 => 'Payment Required',
    403 => 'Forbidden',
    404 => 'Not Found',
    405 => 'Method Not Allowed',
    406 => 'Not Acceptable',
    407 => 'Proxy Authentication Required',
    408 => 'Request Timeout',
    409 => 'Conflict',
    410 => 'Gone',
    411 => 'Length Required',
    412 => 'Precondition Failed',
    413 => 'Request Entity Too Large',
    414 => 'Request-URI Too Long',
    415 => 'Unsupported Media Type',
    416 => 'Requested Range Not Satisfiable',
    417 => 'Expectation Failed',

    // Server Error 5xx
    500 => 'Internal Server Error',
    501 => 'Not Implemented',
    502 => 'Bad Gateway',
    503 => 'Service Unavailable',
    504 => 'Gateway Timeout',
    505 => 'HTTP Version Not Supported',
    509 => 'Bandwidth Limit Exceeded'
);

Even if you're not using zend-framework you might be able to break this out for personal use.

The actual text of the code is irrelevant. You could do

header('The goggles, they do nawtink!', true, 404);

and it'd still be seen as a 404 by the browser - it's the code that matters.

There is a new function for this in PHP >= 5.4.0 http_response_code

Simply do http_response_code(404).

If you have a lower PHP version try header(' ', true, 404); (note the whitespace in the string).

If you want to set the reason phrase as well try:

header('HTTP/ 433 Reason Phrase As You Wish');