order dependence

Capt_n_Hector

Hi,

I've got a photo gallery working very well in php, but I'm having trouble putting my navigation links (page back, page forward) both at the top of the page and at the bottom. Right now, I only have it at the bottom, because it's dependent on the gallery items themselves.

Is it possible to set a variable independent of the order it appears in the file?

I don't know if I'm being clear or not, I can try to explain better if this doesn't work.

ednark

you could always have a variable responsible for holding where you would like the hav estuff shown... would something like this work?


if ( $where_nav_links == 'top' ) {
  show_nav_links();
}

main_page_content();
show_results();

if ( $where_nav_links == 'bottom' ) {
  show_nav_links();
}

Capt_n_Hector

Thanks, I was able to solve the problem.

However, I do have a more general and possibly stupid question that relates to my original. How would I, for instance, echo a variable and then define it later?

Like, so:

echo $a;

...

$a = $b;

LordShryku

Just like that would work. The variable will be available throughout the page, provided you don't overwrite it or unset it.

Capt_n_Hector

Originally posted by LordShryku
Just like that would work. The variable will be available throughout the page, provided you don't overwrite it or unset it.

I've tried that, but it's not working for me.

This does not work:

<?php
echo $a;
$a = "boo!";
?>

This does:

<?php
$a = "boo!";
echo $a;
?>

LordShryku

Well you have set the variable first....

Capt_n_Hector

Originally posted by LordShryku
Well you have set the variable first....

So is there no way to set the variable later in the document?

LordShryku

You could use a function or a class, like ednark was saying. Otherwise, no, because you'd be using a procedural document.

echo my_variable();
// page
// more page
function my variable() {
   return "foo";
}

Capt_n_Hector

I see, thank you very much. So the rule is you can access functions no matter where they're defined in the document, but not variables?

LordShryku

Correct.