[SOLVED] Nested function within declaration

[drummer101]

<?php function getpassword(){
formresults();
$sql = 'SELECT phpbb_users.user_password FROM phpbb_users WHERE phpbb_users.username = "$username"';?>

 

formresults() contains

<?php $username = $_POST['username']; ?>

 

Currently getting

Notice: Undefined variable: username in D:\Apache2\htdocs\includes\****\functions.php

 

formresults() is declared before getpassword(). Is it possible to nest a function within another form declaration? or will I have to change the code to

 

<?php function getpassword(){
$username = $_POST['username'];
$sql = 'SELECT phpbb_users.user_password FROM phpbb_users WHERE phpbb_users.username = "$username"';?>

[wildteen88]

You'll have to return $username from the formresults(); function. Functions have their own variable scope.

 

 

[drummer101]

You'll have to return $username from the formresults(); function. Functions have their own variable scope.

 

Just to clarify, you're saying that I'll have to redeclare the variable inside of the function, instead of calling func2 (which contains the variable) inside of func2?

[rlindauer]

You have to return the value of username. Functions do not automatically return the variables you create from within the function. Those variables are a part of the functions scope, and cannot be used outside it without explicitly returning it.

 

<?php 

function getpassword(){
    $username = formresults();
    $sql = 'SELECT phpbb_users.user_password FROM phpbb_users WHERE phpbb_users.username = "$username"';
}

function formresults(){
    $username = $_POST['username'];
    // you have to return the variable if you wish to use it outside of this function
    return $username;
}
?>

[drummer101]

okay, it's all slowly falling together now.

 

Can you return two variables from within a function, i.e. a username and password?

 

<?php 

function formresults(){
    $username = $_POST['username'];
    $password = md5($_POST['password']);
    
    return $username;
    return $password;
}

function getpassword(){
    $username = formresults();
    $password = formresults();
    $sql = 'SELECT phpbb_users.user_password FROM phpbb_users WHERE phpbb_users.username = "$username"';
}
?>

thats my code as of right now, and $username is returned correctly, however, when I go to call $password, it returns as $username.

[toplay]

Not directly as you think, however, you can return an array or an object that could contain more than one variable/value.

 

You're making it more complicated than it needs to be.

 

Since the $_POST superglobal array variable has global scope, the getpassword() function itself can access the $_POST values.

 

But a function to get a password should just have an argument passed to it like the username and that's used in the query. Then the password if retrieved can be returned by the function.

 

If you're building a function to not really get the password but to verify it, then pass the username and password to a function and call it something like verifyPassword.

 

Think about what you're trying to do exactly.

 

Example of getting a user's password when a username is known/passed:

<?php

function getPasswordForUser($strUsername) {

    // escape $strUsername before using in query
    // Use double quotes if you want $strUsername value to placed correctly in query
    $sql = "SELECT `user_password` FROM phpbb_users WHERE `username` = '$strUsername' ";

   // Open DB connection, select DB, do query, check results

   // When row of data found, return the password

   return $row['user_password'];  // just an example
}

// Calling getPasswordForUser() example
$postUsername = isset($_POST['username']) ? $_POST['username'] : '';
if (!empty($postUsername)) {
    $strUserPassword = getPasswordForUser($postUsername);
} else { // no password passed
    $strUserPassword = '';
}

?>

 

 

Example to verify a username and password are valid:

<?php

function verifyUserPassword($strUsername, $strPassword) {

    $strPassword = md5($strPassword);

    // escape $strUsername before using in query
    // Use double quotes if you want variable values to placed correctly in query
    $sql = "SELECT `user_password` FROM phpbb_users WHERE `username` = '$strUsername' AND `user_password` = '$strPassword' ";

   // Open DB connection, select DB, do query, check results

   // When row of user data found, return a true/false value

   return $blnFound;  // just an example - return a boolean value, true if row found and false otherwise
}

// Calling verifyUserPassword() example
$postUsername = isset($_POST['username']) ? $_POST['username'] : '';
$postPassword = isset($_POST['password']) ? $_POST['password'] : '';
if (!empty($postUsername) && !empty($postPassword)) {
    $blnValidUser = verifyUserPassword($postUsername, $postPassword);
} else { // no username and/or password passed
    $blnValidUser = FALSE;
}

?>

 

[drummer101]

Okay, that makes sense. Thanks so much.