[Resolved] scope of variables

chucklarge

Hi,
I am not exactly certain what has happend recently to me but it seems that the scope of certain variables has changed. Here is an example

<? 
include_once($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/php_include/db_incl.php');
$addcategory       = $_POST['input_category'];
$deletecategory   = $_POST['category_delete'];
$DB = 'Buttons';
$DB_Table = 'categories';
if ( !db_connect($DB) )
		echo '<p>Could not connect to database.</p>';
$query = "INSERT INTO $DB_Table (category) VALUES ('$addcategory')";
		mysql_query($query) or die (mysql_error());

?>

<html> .............
<?
if($deletecategory)
{	$deletecategory = mysql_real_escape_string(strip_tags($deletecategory));
	mysql_query("DELETE from $DB_Table where category='$deletecategory'") ;
}
?>
...........</html>

So that is a small example of code that used to work fine, and is typical of several pages i have. So all of a sudden no pages in that format were allowing any of the mysql queries in the second php block. I didn't change anything in the pages, they just stopped working. I don't believe i changed any system settings either. So I tracked down the problem and I now have to put
$DB_Table = 'categories'; in the second php block now and it works fine again. Is there any reason for this? here would now be the full code

<? 
include_once($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/php_include/db_incl.php');
$addcategory       = $_POST['input_category'];
$deletecategory   = $_POST['category_delete'];
$DB = 'Buttons';
$DB_Table = 'categories';
if ( !db_connect($DB) )
		echo '<p>Could not connect to database.</p>';
$query = "INSERT INTO $DB_Table (category) VALUES ('$addcategory')";
		mysql_query($query) or die (mysql_error());

?>

<html> .............
<?
$DB_Table = 'categories';
if($deletecategory)
{	$deletecategory = mysql_real_escape_string(strip_tags($deletecategory));
	mysql_query("DELETE from $DB_Table where category='$deletecategory'") ;
}
?>
...........</html>

Any help is appreciated. Chuck

quadmyre

I know of no reason why this should happen - the variable looks to be in global scope and should still exist no matter how many PHP blocks you split the code into.

Most likely explanation is that SOMEWHERE in your script there's a bug hidden away that is either unsetting or modifying the contents of this variable. You need to confirm whether it's just this one variable or other variables that are affected. You may have a if (x=y) where you meant if (x==y) or something similar - you need to scrutinize any function that's doing anything with this variable and also check you're not doing something strange with $GLOBALS[] (IIRC) anywhere which could unset it. This will involve some very careful debugging - some print_r($GLOBALS); along the way should give you an idea if anything goes missing.

Good luck!

quadmyre

Also - as you say this has recently started happening and with several pages you haven't modified I would suspect something in an include file common to all the pages - specifically one containing the db_connect function... Have you modified any common include files recently?

chucklarge

Ahhh!!! I did have an include file that was redefining $DB_Table . I kept looking over the code and totally missed that.
Thanks so much! chuck