[SOLVED] Use External Variable

[jaymc]

How can I use external variables within a function. At the moment I am having to use global $varname; for every single var I need to use within that function e.g.

 

 

	function block_build($id) {

	global $session;
	global $gallery_user;
	global $link;
	global $gallery_name;
	global $front_image;
	global $rounded_top;
	global $rounded_bottom;
}

[taquitosensei]

That's exactly how you do it.

[Mchl]

Or pass these variables as arguments to a function.

[jaymc]

It seems very tedius especially when I have 5+ variables I need to use

 

Are you saying this is the correct and only ways to go about this?

[taquitosensei]

You could pass an array but you're still doing about the same amount of work. This isn't even close to tedious when you get into the more advanced stuff. If you don't want to do this, then I'd suggest getting another hobby.

[Kieran Menor]

If it makes it any easier, you can specify them all on a single line, i.e.:

 

global $session, $gallery_user, $link, $gallery_name, $front_image, $rounded_top, $rounded_bottom;

[roopurt18]

You could encapsulate whatever functionality this is inside a class with properties.  Then you don't have to pass anything around and each function has access to them.

[Kieran Menor]

You could encapsulate whatever functionality this is inside a class with properties.  Then you don't have to pass anything around and each function has access to them.

Judging from his question, I am not sure he is ready to take on OOP, but sure, this is also a possibility.

[PFMaBiSmAd]

Don't use the global keyword to pass variables into functions - it prevents writing recursive functions, it prevents using default values for optional parameters, and it makes your code hard to debug a short time after you have written it because you won't remember which variables you need to setup before calling any function (for those of use that have more than one or two user written functions to keep track of.)

 

Do use parameters to pass variables into functions - is allows writing recursive functions, it allows default values for optional parameters, and it makes your code easier to debug because you can see by just reading the function call what values are being used and if you named them appropriately, you don't need to continually go back and read the function definition to figure out what they mean.

 

If you have some variables that are so closely related to a function that the global keyword makes sense, you should probably be using a class instead of functions.

[jaymc]

Cheers guys

[corbin]

If you do decide to go with globals (boo, hiss!), you can combine multiple global statements:

 

global $var1, $var2;