Unset variable/array which has been passed to function

[matthewtbaker]

Just a thought...

 

Is it possible to unset a global variable/array from within a function?  So basically I want to pass an array to a function to convert to a string then destroy the original array.  I'd like to keep it all contained within the function to reduce any additional clear-up scripting required.

 

Here's my example code below:

$GLOBALARRAY = array("keyname1" => "value1", "keyname2" => "value2");

$newstring = convertArrayToString($GLOBALARRAY, true);



function convertArrayToString($array, $unset = false) {

    $string = '';

    //Loop for each array value
    foreach ($array as $key => $value) {
        $string = $string . $key . '=' . $value ';';
    }

    if ($unset === true) {
        unset($GLOBALARRAY_WHICH_WAS_PASSED);
    }

    return $string;
} 

My guess is that I need to either get the name of the passed array or pass by reference?

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Matt

Edited May 13, 2013 by matthewtbaker

[KevinM1]

Why would you ever want to do that?

[Dathremar]

If you want you in-function changes to have effect on a global variable, like You said pass that variable by reference inside the function and change it.

[matthewtbaker]

If you want you in-function changes to have effect on a global variable, like You said pass that variable by reference inside the function and change it.

 

But changing an array to null for instance  isn't the same as unset, is it?

 

$array=null;

[Strider64]

Null wipes the array, giving it a clean slate. Where as unset you can be selective in what you clear from the array. For Example:

unset($row['salt']);
unset($row['password']);