another function problem

[kanuski]

I created a simple function to convert a two digit number to a month but it is not returning a variable.

function getmonth ($mo)
{
if($mo==01) { $mon=Jan;}
if($mo==02) { $mon=Feb;}
if($mo==03) { $mon=Mar; }
if($mo==04) { $mon=Apr; }
if($mo==05) { $mon=May; }
if($mo==06) { $mon=Jun; }
if($mo==07) { $mon=Jul; }
if($mo==08) { $mon=Aug; }
if($mo==09) { $mon=Sep; }
if($mo==10) { $mon=Oct; }
if($mo==11) { $mon=Nov; }
if($mo==12) { $mon=Dec; }
echo $mon; // This returns 'Nov' like it should.
return $mon;
}
$mo="11";
getmonth($mo);
echo $mon: // this is returning nothing so I tried the next line
echo isset( $mon); // this also returns nothing

Why isn't the variable available?

[YappyDog]

You need to declare it as being a global variable, otherwise it is known only within the function.

function getmonth ($mo)
{

global $mon;

if($mo==01) { $mon=Jan;}

http://us4.php.net/language.variables.scope

An alternative since you are returning the variable would be to receive it into something. Like:

$new_mon = getmonth($mo);

[Anarchyh]

The variable isn't available because you haven't defined it in the global scope.

The function "getmonth" has its own scope for variables and so if you define $mon in getmonth it can't be seen in any other scope.

function getmonth ($mo) 
{ 
if($mo==01) { $mon=Jan;} 
if($mo==02) { $mon=Feb;} 
if($mo==03) { $mon=Mar; } 
if($mo==04) { $mon=Apr; } 
if($mo==05) { $mon=May; } 
if($mo==06) { $mon=Jun; } 
if($mo==07) { $mon=Jul; } 
if($mo==08) { $mon=Aug; } 
if($mo==09) { $mon=Sep; } 
if($mo==10) { $mon=Oct; } 
if($mo==11) { $mon=Nov; } 
if($mo==12) { $mon=Dec; } 
echo $mon; // This returns 'Nov' like it should. 
return $mon; 
} 
$mo="11"; 
$mon = getmonth($mo); //ASSIGN $mon IN THIS SCOPE 
echo $mon: // this is returning nothing so I tried the next line 
echo isset( $mon); // this also returns nothing 

Also, you really should put the month names in quotes and use proper indentation for the function 😛.

To help avoiding small errors such as this try putting "error_reporting(E_ALL);" at the top of your scripts. This shows up your error as a notice.

[edit] In response to YappyDog : globals are bad ... avoid them where possible

[kanuski]

Great! Thanks to both of you.

[kanuski]

It all works great until I try to put the months in quotations. Then I get parse error messages.
if($mo==01) { $mon="Jan"; }

[YappyDog]

Well, you'd have to show us the code, but I would guess you missed one quote somewhere.

[kanuski]

Yea. Now i feel really dumb. I copied that error reporting code and accidentally got a quotation mark stuck in with it.
Thanks again.