variables to function

[Anon]

I have made this solution because my function doesn't find other variables;
<?
$lang="eng";

function show($ordet,$db,$lang)
{
$result=mysql_query("SELECT $lang FROM allaord WHERE swe='$ordet'", $db);
$row=mysql_fetch_array($result);
echo $row[$lang];
}

show("test",$db,$lang);
?>

How can I make the function show to get the static variables $db and $lang without sending them to the function?

Thanks / Henrik

[[deleted]]

You can import variable sinto your function using the 'global' command:

function this()
{
global $that, $whatever;

echo $that;
};

Note: this is bad practice, because you quickly forget which functions use which variables.
You'll soon find yourself wondering why a function doesn't work, and it turns out you forgot to import a var using the 'global' command, or the global command imported the wrong variable.

Also, when you import a var using the 'global' command, you effectively get a reference to the var. So if you change the value of the var inside the function, it will also change outside the function.
That means you can't use a 'globalled' var as a counter, or it will seriously mess up the rest of your script.

Sending the vars to the function as arguments is more work, but it's worth the effort.

[Anon]

You also access them without the globals statement by using $GLOBALS['var_name'].

As vincent said, this is bad practice also.

Jack

[Anon]

Note that if you get tired of trying to remember the order for all the arguments a function needs, you can redesign the function to operate on either an object or an associative array. That way you only pass one "argument" and order doesn't really matter anymore.

[[deleted]]

That's a solution, but if you make the function work on an array or an object, it 's up to you to make sure that all the vars are filled properly, whereas a function will complain if you forget a parameter.
So your object/array-using-function should check if all required vars are filled before proceeding.

But this is a general point, functions should allways check wether the parameters passed are of the correct type and content.

[Anon]

thank you for all your comments and solutions!

// Henrik