Global variable not resolving?

Anon

Hi All,

I'm sure you've heard this one before, but I couldn't find an answer after searching.

I've got 2 .php files.
File 1 is stuffing values into the global variable array by making them form values. However, there are some values that are not form values that I'd like to pass to file 2.

To do this, I've declared a variable
global $question_id at the top of file one outside any functions, and before any include statements.

File2 is an included file. When I attempt to access $question_id in file 2, it shows up blank.

I've been able to pass the value by making it a hidden field, but I've had zero luck passing it as a global variable.

Any tips? Do I need to do anything beyond using the variable name in file2 to get it to show up?

I'm sure I've been totally ambigous, apologies in advance -- Thanks!

Dave

kparker

I'm confused: including a file is not in any way commensurate with passing values via hidden fields. In the former case, the two files simple merge together and become a Grand Unified PHP script in memory, currently executing. The latter is all about passing data between completely separate http sessions via POST or GET variables.

So which of these two describe what you're doing with the two files?

And just as a guess, does your usage in file 2 come from inside a function? If so, you need 'global' inside the function. I.e. unlike most other languages, in PHP the keyword 'global' doesn't affect how a variable is created, but merely makes a global variable name available inside a function.

Anon

Thanks for the tip Kirk, I'll try declaring the global in both functions that use it, hopefully that'll do the trick.

My application is actually the Guestbook applicaiton from the Greenspan/Bulger book. (I'm a newbie if you haven't guessed already).

The situation is that file 1 (sign.php if you're following along in the book) is called multiple times with different output. The output depends on the state and contents of a form that file1 prints out.

If the $submit variable contains 'sign' from the form, it uses a whole slew of form variable to create an entry.

The entry creation routine is defined in file 2, which is included at the top of file one.

To make matters more complicated, the variable I'm trying to pass to the create function (file 2), must be called from the top of file 1, but is actually given value towards the bottom of file 1.

Hope that makes it make more sense...