can't seem to pass var from url to php

Anon

Please help,

I keep thinking I'm on the right track, but can't quite seem to get the hang of this. All I want to do is pass a variable to PHP from a URL. I know it can't be hard, but just can't quite make sense of it.

Here's my URL:

http://www.website.net/php/weblinks1_select.php3?query=Auction

Here's the PHP:
<?php

mysql_connect('localhost', 'account', 'password') or die("Failed to connect to database");
mysql_select_db('the_db') or die("no such database");

function display_db_table() {
echo$query = $query;
$query_string = "select type,url,note,submitter from weblinks1 where type = $query";
$result_id = mysql_query($query_string);
$column_count = mysql_num_fields($result_id);

print("<TABLE CELLPADDING=0 BORDER=0>\n");
while ($row = mysql_fetch_row($result_id)) {
    print("<TR ALIGN-LEFT VALIGN=TOP>");
        print("<TD CLASS=table1>$row[0]</TD>\n");
        print("<TD CLASS=table1><a CLASS=3 href='http://$row[1]'>$row[1]</a></TD>\n");
        print("<TD CLASS=table1>$row[2]</TD>\n");
        print("<TD CLASS=table1>$row[3]</TD>\n");
    print("</TR>\n");
}
print("</TABLE>\n");

}
?>

<HEAD>

<TITLE>the title</TITLE>

some style sheets stuff here to control text formatting

</HEAD>
<BODY>

<?php display_db_table("weblinks1"); ?>

<br><a CLASS=3 href="http://www.website.net/php/weblinks1_entry.php3">submit form</a>
<br><?php echo$query; ?>
</BODY>

========================================
I know that this is one of the most basic of PHP functions, but I've studied two books, this forum, and all sorts of docs, and still can't get it through my head. What am I missing here?
Thanks!

Anon

You need to make $query global to your function. Global variables are automatically exlcuded from a functions namespace. You must explicitly specify which to use or pass them in as parameters. In this repsect PHP is 'backwards' from traditional languages. Insert global $query; right at the beginning of your function display_db_table().

btw: you should describe what is and isn't happening when you report a problem.