cant call functions before defining them

[bdee1]

i am fairly new to php and i just realized that when i call a function before defining it in a script, a fatal error occurs. if i move the function definition up above the function call, then it works. it was my understanding that you coudl call functions before they were defined.

is there a settign in php.ini that i need to change or something?

i am using v 5.1.1.

[Aybabtu]

I have always had to define my functions before I called them, I think you have to but I could be wrong.

Aybabtu.

[bdee1]

hmm weird - i have been using SAMS teach yourself PHP in 24 hours and about 3/4 of the way through the book they just start callign functions before they define them and make no mention of it. so at that point my examples stopped working and i was not sure why.

[thorpe]

there is no setting im aware of that should effect this, and yes, you should be able to call a function before you declare it.

any chance of posting the offending code? I'll try and test it.

[thorpe]

actually... this depends . are the functions conditionally included. ie; inside an if?

$foo = true;
bar();
if ($foo) {
  function bar() {
    echo "this is bar\n";
  }
}

would cause an error, as the function isn't defined yet.

[ecumike]

Yes, if you do like so:

bar();

function bar() {
	echo "this is bar\n";
}

it works