Function with Required File and Variables

[bschultz]

I have a php file with a bunch of variables declared.  I now need a function to put data on a separate page that pulls variables from the required page.

So, on the required page, I have a variable set like this:  $qb1 = "John Doe";

The function on the new script is called like this:  getplayer($qb1);

I've tried this without the dollar sign in the function like this: getplayer(qb1); and then adding the $dollar sign in the rest of the function code...but it never populates the sql query correctly.  I'm guessing this is a case for variable variables or something similar, but I don't know how to get the variable value from the required page.  Any ideas?  Thanks.

Here's the code:

	<?php
	function getplayer($position)
{ // start function
	//$new_position = "$" . $position;
$new_position = $position;
	
$file = "their.php";
require "$file";
//echo $qb1;    this displays the name John Doe...as $qb1 is declared in the required file
	
$db_select_their = "bschultz_their";
	$servername = "localhost";
$username = "user";
$password = "pass";
$dbname = "db_name";
	// Create connection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);
// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}
	$sql = "SELECT * FROM (select number as position_number, name as position_name, pronunciation as position_pronunciation, pos as position_pos, height as position_height, weight as position_weight, year as position_year, city as position_city, state as position_state, notes as position_notes FROM $db_select_their WHERE name = '$new_position') as position";
	//$sql = "SELECT * FROM bschultz_their WHERE name = $new_position";
   
echo $sql; //exit;        
/*
this displays this text...   SELECT * FROM (select number as position_number, name as position_name, pronunciation as position_pronunciation, pos as position_pos, height as position_height, weight as position_weight, year as position_year, city as  position_city, state as position_state, notes as position_notes FROM bschultz_their WHERE name = '') as position

The name is empty
*/
	$result = $conn->query($sql);
	if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    // output data of each row
    while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        echo "#: " . $position_number . " - Name: " . $position_name . "";
    }
} else {
    echo "0 results";
}
	} // end function
	
getplayer("${$qb1}");
$conn->close();
?>

Edited September 8, 2019 by bschultz

[Barand]

You are overthinking it using variable variables.

if you have ...

$qb1 = 'John'

then ${$qb1) is looking for tha contents of $John (which doesn't exist and hnce the blank name). You need to turn your error reporting on.

Use

getplayer($qb1);

 

[bschultz]

I've tried that...the echo of the sql shows the name is blank

[bschultz]

I got it working...left the dollar sign out of the function call getplayer('qb1'); and then an if / elseif statement inside the function:

if ($position == 'qb1') { $new_position = $qb1; }
elseif ($position == 'qb2') { $new_position = $qb2; }

Thanks....

Edited September 8, 2019 by bschultz

[cyberRobot]

Alternatively, you could use an associative array for storing the player names. So your their.php file might look something like this:

<?php
$players = array(
	'qb1' => 'John Doe',
	'qb2' => 'Sam Smith',
);
?>

 

Then your function and function call could be

<?php
function getplayer($position) {
	//GET PLAYER INFORMATION
	$file = "their.php";
	require $file;
	
	//IF PLAYER FOUND, GET NAME
	$player = false;  //set default value in case player isn't found
	if(isset($players[$position])) {
		$player = $players[$position];
	}
	
	//RETURN RESULT
	return $player;
}


$player = getplayer('qb1');
var_dump($player);
?>