problems with variables.

[miles_rich]

Ok im having problems with variables.

I have a functions page with functions on it and i have included the config.inc file, which has all the variables on it such as hostname for mysql and username and password etc...

I then have the function set to

function db_connect()
	{
    	$link = mysql_connect("$hostname", "$user", "$pass")
        or die("<center><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif' size='2' color='FF0000'>Could not connect</font></center>");
		print ("<center><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif' size='2' color='FF0000'>Connected successfully</font></center>");
    	mysql_close($link);
	}

so it should get the variables from the included page and put them in the function. I thought!

It wont do this does anyone have any ideas why and how to fix it?

[stuartc1]

Functions do not inherate variables unless you declare them a global, or pass them in.

option 1:
function name() {
global $var1, $var2;

.... rest of the function
}

option 2:
function name($var1, var2) {
..rest of the function
}

// call like this
name($var1, $var2);

HTH.

[examancer]

no variables are passed to the funtion, so the function can't read those variables. You can fix this one of two ways:

1: Make the variables accessible by declaring them global in the function:

function db_connect() {
  GLOBAL $hostname, $user, $pass;
  // note: don't enclose variables in "quotes" unless you have to.
  $link = mysql_connect($hostname, $user, $pass) or die("<center><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif' size='2' color='FF0000'>Could not connect</font></center>");
  print ("<center><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif' size='2' color='FF0000'>Connected successfully</font></center>");
  mysql_close($link);
}

2: Pass the variables to the function in the function call:

function db_connect($hostname, $user, $pass) {
  $link = mysql_connect($hostname, $user, $pass) or die("<center><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif' size='2' color='FF0000'>Could not connect</font></center>");
  print ("<center><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif' size='2' color='FF0000'>Connected successfully</font></center>");
  mysql_close($link);
}

// then you would call the function like this:
db_connect($hostname, $user, $pass);

Option 2 is much cleaner and is generally the prefered method.