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가변 변수> <미리 선언된 변수
Last updated: Fri, 30 Jan 2009

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변수 유효영역

변수의 유효영역은 변수가 정의된 환경을 말한다. 대부분의 경우 모든 PHP 변수는 한군데의 유효영역만을 갖는다. 이 한군데의 유효영역은 include되거나 require된 파일로도 확장된다. 예를 들면:

<?php
$a 
1;
include 
'b.inc';
?>

위 예제코드에서는 include된 b.inc 스크립트안에서도 $a 변수가 사용가능하다. 하지만, 사용자-선언 함수에서는 로컬 함수 유효영역이 적용된다. 함수내에서 사용되는 모든 변수는 기본값으로 로컬 변수 유효영역 안으로 제한된다. 예를 들면:

<?php
$a 
1/* global scope */ 

function test()

    echo 
$a/* reference to local scope variable */ 


test();
?>

위 스크립트에서 echo문이 $a의 로컬 버전을 참조하고, 이 영역 안에서 값을 지정되지 않았기 때문에 아무것도 출력되지 않는다. C에서 전역변수는 특별히 로컬 선언으로 덮어쓰지 않는이상은 자동적으로 함수안에서 사용가능하다는 점에서 C 언어와 약간 차이가 있다는 것에 주의해야 할것이다. 이런 생각으로 부주의하게 전역변수를 변경하려한다면 문제가 될것이다. PHP에서 전역변수가 함수내에서 계속적으로 사용이 된다면 함수안에서 global로 선언해야 합니다.

global 키워드

우선, global의 사용 예제입니다:

Example #1 global 사용하기

<?php
$a 
1;
$b 2;

function 
Sum()
{
    global 
$a$b;

    
$b $a $b;


Sum();
echo 
$b;
?>

위 스크립느는 "3"를 출력할것이다. $a$b를 함수내에서 global로 선언함으로써, 각 변수에 대한 모든 참조는 전역 버전으로 참조될것이다. 함순에서 조작되는 전역변수의 수는 제한이 없다.

전역 유효영역의 변수에 접근할수 있는 두번째 방법이 특별 PHP-선언 $GLOBALS 배열을 사용하는 것이다. 이전 예제코드는 다음과 같이 다시 작성할 수 있습니다:

Example #2 global 대신 $GLOBALS 사용하기

<?php
$a 
1;
$b 2;

function 
Sum()
{
    
$GLOBALS['b'] = $GLOBALS['a'] + $GLOBALS['b'];


Sum();
echo 
$b;
?>

$GLOBALS 배열은 전역변수명이 key가 되는 연관배열이고 배열의 원소 값이 그 변수의 내용이 된다. $GLOBALS이 어떻게 모든 유효영역에서 존재하는지 주의하라. 이유는 $GLOBALS이 슈퍼전역변수이기 때문이다. 아래에 슈퍼전역변수의 파워를 설명하는 예제코드를 보였다:

Example #3 자동 전역과 영역을 보여주는 예제

<?php
function test_global()
{
    
// 대부분의 예약 변수는 "자동 전역"이 아니기에,
    // 함수 내부 영역에서 사용하려면 'global'이 필요합니다.
    
global $HTTP_POST_VARS;

    echo 
$HTTP_POST_VARS['name'];
    
    
// 자동 전역은 어떠한 영역에서도 사용할 수 있고,
    // 'global'이 필요하지 않습니다. 자동 전역은
    // PHP 4.1.0부터 사용할 수 있고, HTTP_POST_VARS는
    // 배제되었습니다.
    
echo $_POST['name'];
}
?>

정적 변수 사용하기

변수 유효영역의 또 다른 중요한 기능이 static 변수이다. 정적(static) 변수는 로컬 함수 영역에서만 존재한다. 그러나 프로그램이 그 영역을 떠나지 않으면 그 값을 잃지 않는다. 다음 예제를 생각해 봅시다:

Example #4 정적 변수의 필요성을 보여주는 예제

<?php
function test()
{
    
$a 0;
    echo 
$a;
    
$a++;
}
?>

이 함수는 매번 호출될때마다 $a0으로 설정하고 "0"를 출력한다. $a++ 는 변수를 증가시키지만 함수에서 빠져나가면 $a 변수는 사라지게되므로 아무 가치가 없다. 현재 카운트 값을 잃지 않는 유용한 카운트 함수를 만들려면, $a 변수를 static으로 선언한다.

Example #5 정적 변수의 사용 예제

<?php
function test()
{
    static 
$a 0;
    echo 
$a;
    
$a++;
}
?>

처음 함수를 호출할 때만 $a가 초기화 되고, test() 함수가 호출될때마다 $a 값을 출력하고 그 값이 증가합니다.

정적 변수는 또한 재귀함수를 다루는 한 방법을 제공한다. 재귀함수는 자기 자신을 호출하는 함수를 말한다. 재귀함수는 무한히 실행될수 있기 때문에 재귀함수를 작성할때는 주의가 필요하다. 재귀를 벗어나는 방법을 반드시 갖고 있어야 한다. 다음과 같은 단순 재귀함수는 10까지 카운트한다. 정적 변수 $count는 멈춰야 할 때는 안다.

Example #6 재귀 함수에서 정적 변수

<?php
function test()
{
    static 
$count 0;

    
$count++;
    echo 
$count;
    if (
$count 10) {
        
test();
    }
    
$count--;
}
?>

Note: 정적 변수는 위 예제처럼 선언해야 합니다. 이 변수에 표현식의 결과를 할당하려 할 경우는 해석 오류를 발생합니다.

Example #7 정적 변수 선언하기

<?php
function foo() {
    static 
$int 0;          // 적합
    
static $int 1+2;        // 오류 (표현식이기에)
    
static $int sqrt(121);  // 오류 (역시 표현식이기에)

    
$int++;
    echo 
$int;
}
?>


전역 변수와 정적 변수의 참조

PHP 4를 작동하는 Zend Engine 1은 staticglobal참조를 통한 변수 변경자로 구현합니다. 예를 들어, 실제 전역 변수를 global 키워드를 사용하여 함수 영역 내부로 가져올 경우, 그 전역 변수의 참조를 생성합니다. 이로 인해 다음 예제에서 처럼 원하지 않은 동작을 할 수 있습니다:

<?php
function test_global_ref() {
    global 
$obj;
    
$obj = &new stdclass;
}

function 
test_global_noref() {
    global 
$obj;
    
$obj = new stdclass;
}

test_global_ref();
var_dump($obj);
test_global_noref();
var_dump($obj);
?>

위 예제코드를 실행하면 다음과 같은 결과가 유도된다.


NULL
object(stdClass)(0) {
}

이와 비슷한 동작이 static 절에서도 발생한다. 참조가 정적으로 저장되지 않는것이다:

<?php
function &get_instance_ref() {
    static 
$obj;

    echo 
'Static object: ';
    
var_dump($obj);
    if (!isset(
$obj)) {
        
// Assign a reference to the static variable
        
$obj = &new stdclass;
    }
    
$obj->property++;
    return 
$obj;
}

function &
get_instance_noref() {
    static 
$obj;

    echo 
'Static object: ';
    
var_dump($obj);
    if (!isset(
$obj)) {
        
// Assign the object to the static variable
        
$obj = new stdclass;
    }
    
$obj->property++;
    return 
$obj;
}

$obj1 get_instance_ref();
$still_obj1 get_instance_ref();
echo 
"\n";
$obj2 get_instance_noref();
$still_obj2 get_instance_noref();
?>

위 예제코드를 실행하면 다음과 같은 결과가 유도된다.


Static object: NULL
Static object: NULL

Static object: NULL
Static object: object(stdClass)(1) {
["property"]=>
int(1)
}

위 예제 코드는 정적 변수에 대한 참조를 지정할때, &get_instance_ref()함수가 두번째로 호출되는 때에 기억되지 않는다는 것을 보여준다.



가변 변수> <미리 선언된 변수
Last updated: Fri, 30 Jan 2009
 
add a note add a note User Contributed Notes
변수 유효영역
nullhility at gmail dot com
29-Jan-2009 05:17
Like functions, if you declare a variable in a class, then set it as global in that class, its value will not be retained outside of that class either.

<?php
class global_reference
{
   
public $val;
   
   
public function __construct () {
        global
$var;
       
$this->val = $var;
    }
   
   
public function dump_it ()
    {
       
debug_zval_dump($this->val);
    }
   
   
public function type_cast ()
    {
       
$this->val = (int) $this->val;
    }
}
$var = "x";
$obj = new global_reference();
$obj->dump_it();
$obj->type_cast();
echo
"after change ";
$obj->dump_it();
echo
"original $var\n";
?>

The work-around is of course changing the assignment in the constructor to a reference assignment as such:

<?php
   
//....
       
$this->val = &var;
   
//....
?>

If the global you're setting is an object then no reference is necessary because of the way PHP deals with objects. If you don't want to reference to the same object however you can use the clone keyword.

<?php
//...
   
global $Obj;
   
$this->obj_copy = clone $Obj;
//...
?>

[EDIT BY danbrown AT php DOT net:  Merged all thoughts and notes by this author into a single note.]
ddarjany at yahoo dot com
20-Aug-2008 06:15
Note that if you declare a variable in a function, then set it as global in that function, its value will not be retained outside of that function.  This was tripping me up for a while so I thought it would be worth noting.

<?PHP

foo
();
echo
$a; // echoes nothing

bar();
echo
$b; //echoes "b";

function foo() {
 
$a = "a";
  global
$a;
}

function
bar() {
  global
$b;
 
$b = "b";
}

?>
lgrk
28-May-2008 04:41
Useful function:
<?php
function cycle($a, $b, $i=0) {
    static
$switches = array();
    if (isset(
$switches[$i])) $switches[$i] = !$switches[$i]; else !$switches[$i] = true;
    return (
$switches[$i])?$a:$b;
}
?>

Exeample

<?php
for ($i = 1; $i<3; $i++) {
    echo
$i.cycle('a', 'b').PHP_EOL;
    for (
$j = 1; $j<5; $j++) {
        echo
' '.$j.cycle('a', 'b', 1).PHP_EOL;
        for (
$k = 1; $k<3; $k++) {
            echo
'  '.$k.cycle('c', 'd', 2).PHP_EOL;
        }
    }
}
/**
Output:
1a
 1a
  1c
  2d
 2b
  1c
  2d
 3a
  1c
  2d
 4b
  1c
  2d
2b
 1a
  1c
  2d
 2b
  1c
  2d
 3a
  1c
  2d
 4b
  1c
  2d
*/

?>
tomodachi
31-Mar-2008 03:16
@ben writes:
eval('global $' . join(',$', array_keys($GLOBALS)) . ';');

You may find extract($GLOBALS) useful. (also, note the optional EXTR_REFS flag)
ben FROM THE SITE younevercall.com
19-Mar-2008 11:40
To make all globals available in a function:

eval('global $' . join(',$', array_keys($GLOBALS)) . ';');

Use with caution. "eval" is inherently dangerous.
Thomas
04-Mar-2008 12:06
It might be worth noting in the article that you shouldn't define magic values at global level and use "global" to access them in a function - like I did in the past few years.

Use define() instead.
Anonymous
01-Mar-2008 09:10
I was pondering a little something regarding caching classes within a function in order to prevent the need to initiate them multiple times and not clutter the caching function's class properties with more values.

I came here because I remembered something about references being lost. So I made a test to see if I could pull what I wanted to off anyway. Here's and example of how to get around the references lost issue. I hope it is helpful to someone else!

<?php
class test1{}
class
test2{}
class
test3{}

function
cache( $class )
{
    static
$loaders = array();
   
   
$loaders[ $class ] = new $class();

   
var_dump( $loaders );
}
print
'<pre>';
cache( 'test1' );
cache( 'test2' );
cache( 'test3' );

?>
kevin at metalaxe dot com
01-Mar-2008 08:56
in reply to: "I hope some1 reading and understanding here creates an example about this. Im so lazy at doing that." -- pepesantillan at gmail dot com

Though not exactly your example, I don't like functions declared within functions. So this is, effectively, the same result you were explaining :P

<?php
ini_set
( 'display_errors', true );
error_reporting( E_ALL | E_STRICT );
/**
* This is already in the global scope
**/
$global_var1 = 'I\'m global!';

// Call a function
some_function();

//Note that $localvar is NOT in the global scope
//Undefined variable Error
var_dump( $localvar );

function
some_function()
{
   
/**
    * Now we are in function scope. Global scope vars can't be accessed here
    **/

    // Undefined variable error (for $global_var1)
   
$localvar = $global_var1;

   
//Gonna call another function and send $localvar as ref
   
another_function( $localvar );

   
// Note that $localvar has a value here...
   
var_dump( $localvar );
}

function
another_function( &$input )
{
   
// Get the global
   
global $global_var1;

   
// Assign it to $input which is referenced to $localvar in the other function
   
$input = $global_var1;
}
?>
Jeremy Skellington
30-Jan-2008 10:14
Hmm, globals are a pretty poor solution and are pretty much forbidden in object oriented programming.
pepesantillan at gmail dot com
21-Dec-2007 04:36
allan on 12-Sep-2006 10:53 wrote:
Using the global keyword inside a function to define a variable is essentially the same as passing the variable by reference as a parameter:

somefunction(){
   global $var;
}

is the same as:

somefunction(& $a) {

}

The advantage to using the keyword is if you have a long list of variables  needed by the function - you dont have to pass them every time you call the function.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Just wanted to point out that using global and using a reference is NOT the same. Why?

Imagine you just called the function somefunction() defined by out friend here from another function, say otherfunction().

If you use the global example (the 1st one), you will create a global variable $var for your whole php script.

But if you use the 2nd example where you reference a variable, you could be ONLY changing the value of some variable in the function that called the function somefunction() - in this case otherfunction() - and not creating a new global variable for your whole php script.

I hope some1 reading and understanding here creates an example about this. Im so lazy at doing that.

Hope you got the idea, and have as much fun learning to use php as I am! (yay! variables variables tutorial is next! xD)
jistanidiot at gmail dot com
19-Dec-2007 08:42
Beware the problem that davo971 AT gmail DOT NO DAMN SPAM COM demonstrates can also happen in the following case:

index.php
<?php

include("test.inc");

?>

test.inc
<?php

function foo() {
    global
$bar;

    echo
$bar;

}

$bar = "Hello World";
foo();

?>

This prints nothing. 

if you add global $bar  at the start of test.inc it will work just fine.
SID TRIVEDI
27-Oct-2007 12:46
<?php
/*
VARIABLE SCOPE : GLOBAL V/S STATIC

If variable $count is defined global as under, instead of static, it does not work well as desired in repeated function calls.

$count = 1; //if not defined STATIC, in each function call, it starts countig from one to 25.
global $count;

which gives folowing output:
0123456789101112131415161718192021222324
Total 24 numbers are printed.
So far 26 function call(s) made.

26272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950
Total 50 numbers are printed.
So far 52 function call(s) made.
*/

function print_1to50()
{
//    $count = 1;
//    global $count;
   
static $count=1; // Initial assigment of One to $count, static declarion holds the last(previous) value of variable $count in each next function calls.
       
$limit = $count+24;
        while(
$count<=$limit)
        {
        echo
"$count";
       
$count=$count+1;
        }
       
$num_count= $count-1;
        echo
"<br>\n". "Total $num_count numbers are printed.<br>";

        return;
// return statement without parenthesis()or arguments denotes end of a function rather than returning any values to subsequent function call(s).
} // end of while loop

$count=0;
print_1to50();
$count=$count+1;
print
"So far $count function call(s) made.<br><br>";

print_1to50();
$count=$count+1;
print
"So far $count function call(s) made.<br>";
/*
Which gives following output:
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425
Now I have printed 25 numbers.
I have made 1 function call(s).
26272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950
Now I have printed 50 numbers.
I have made 2 function call(s).
*/

?>
daniel at nohair dot com
09-Sep-2007 11:01
Ah, nested functions.  Thanks for your notes below, search on  page for "nested functions" folks.   This is how this seems to work.

The child function is seen at global level only after they have been seen once.  But, variables inside functions are only reachable within the functions scope.

<?php
$var1
= "This is \$var1 OUTSIDE parent function <br />";
function
parent_function() {
    echo
"Now inside parent <br />";
   
$var1 = "This is \$var1 INSIDE parent function <br />";
   
$var2 = "This is \$var2 INSIDE parent function <br />";
    function
child_function() {
        echo
"now inside child <br />";
       
//global $var1; //Calls var1 outside parent_function;
       
echo $var1; //doesn't work without global;
        // even if we comment out $var1 outside parent function.
        // global $var1 doesn't reach the one inside parent function.
       
echo $var2; //doesn't work; Can't seem to reach parent variables.
   
}
    echo
"Now calling child<br />";
   
//child_function();    //works
}

// child_function(); //causes fatal error: call to undefined function;
parent_function();  //works;
child_function(); //now works;

?>
crack wilding
24-Aug-2007 06:04
Another way of dealing with a large number of globals is to declare a single global array and then put all your global variables into it. Like this:

$_G = array(
    'foo' => 'some text',
    'bar' => 4,
    'boo' => 'more text,
    'far' => 'yet more text'
);

Now you just declare the one global array in each function:

function blah() {
    global $_G;
    echo $_G['foo']; // or whatever
}

You can freely add to it without having to go back and add variable declarations to your functions. Kinda like using the $GLOBALS superglobal, except you don't have to  type so much.
mod
14-Mar-2007 09:03
Can not access to global variables from destructor, if obj is not unseted at the end:

<?php

 
class A
  
{
     function
__destruct()
      {
        global
$g_Obj;
        echo
"<br>#step 2: ";
       
var_dump($g_Obj);
      }

     function
start()
      {
        global
$g_Obj;
        echo
"<br>#step 1: ";
       
var_dump($g_Obj);
      }
   };

 
$g_Obj = new A();        // start here
 
$g_Obj->start();
 
$g_Obj = NULL;        // !!! comment line and result will changed !!!

?>

Result, if line is not commented:

#step 1: object(A)#1 (0) { }
#step 2: object(A)#1 (0) { }

Result, if line is commented:

#step 1: object(A)#1 (0) { }
#step 2: NULL
12-Mar-2007 10:13
addendum to warhog at warhog dot net
about static variables within methods
<?php

class A
{
    function
incStaticVar()
    {
        static
$var = 0;
       
$var++;
        return
$var;
    }
}

class
B extends A
{
}

$a =& new A();
$b =& new B();

print_r(array(
   
$a->incStaticVar(),
   
$b->incStaticVar(),
   
$a->incStaticVar(),
));

?>

expected result
Array
(
    [0] => 1
    [1] => 2
    [2] => 3
)

real result
Array
(
    [0] => 1
    [1] => 1
    [2] => 2
)

So I conclude that the PHP5 duplicates methods for each inherited classes.
Rohan
25-Jan-2007 08:11
<?php
$a
= 20;
function
myfunction($b){
   
$a=30;   //Local Variable
   
global $a,$c; //here global $a overrides the local
   
return $c=($b+$a);
}
print
myfunction(40)+$c;
?>

The output of this function will be 120.
Michael
07-Nov-2006 08:35
davo971 (http://us2.php.net/manual/en/language.variables.scope.php#69765), it seems you're encountering the same mental block that jason (http://us2.php.net/manual/en/language.variables.scope.php#65337) was having.  I know how that goes, because I used to have this problem as well.  Don't think of permission to access a variable as being transferred from function to function.  There is exactly 1 global scope in any script, and that's the scope outside of all functions and classes.  If you specify a variable as global, it does not mean you are accessing a variable in the calling function's namespace, it means you are accessing the variable in the global namespace.  In your example, you seemed to think that declaring $new_var global in function2() would give it access to variables declared in function1()'s namespace.  In fact, acess to variables does not propagate up the function stack--declaring you wish to work on a global variable ALWAYS gives you access to the SINGLE variable declared in the global namespace with that name.  It's more easily understood when you work with the $GLOBALS array... there's only 1 such array, and consequently there's exactly 1 of each global variable.  So if we modify your example to work correctly, here's what it'll look like:

<?php
$var
= 'foo';
$new_var = 'asdf';

function
function1()
{
   global
$new_var; //Now working with global $new_var, declared above
  
$new_var = 'bar'; //Changing $new_var from 'asdf' to 'bar'
  
function2();
}

function
function2()
{
   global
$var, $new_var; //Accessing global variables $var and $new_var, declared outside any functions
  
echo($var . $new_var);
}

function1();
?>

Outputs foobar
davo971 AT gmail DOT NO DAMN SPAM COM
20-Sep-2006 08:17
Be careful, come across this a lot.

<?php
$var
= 'foo';

function
function1()
{
    global
$var;
   
$new_var = 'bar';
   
function2();
}

function
function2()
{
    global
$var, $new_var;
    echo(
$var . $new_var);
}

function1();

?>

Outputs foo not foobar.
alan
12-Sep-2006 08:53
Using the global keyword inside a function to define a variable is essentially the same as passing the variable by reference as a parameter:

somefunction(){
   global $var;
}

is the same as:

somefunction(& $a) {

}

The advantage to using the keyword is if you have a long list of variables  needed by the function - you dont have to pass them every time you call the function.
mega-squall at caramail dot com
22-Jul-2006 06:47
In addition to sami's comment :

`static` keyword for class method is considered a compatibility feature in PHP5. In PHP6 however, calling an instance method (not defined using `static`) as a class method (using `class::method()` ) will display an EWarning. Also note that in PHP6, calling a class method (defined using `static`) as an instance method (using `$instance->method()`) will ALSO display an EWarning.
sami doesn't want spam at no-eff-eks com
21-Jul-2006 07:18
PHP 5.1.4 doesn't seem to care about the static keyword. It doesn't let you use $this in a static method, but you can call class methods through an instance of the class using regular -> notation. You can also call instance methods as class methods through the class itself. The documentiation here is plain wrong.

class Foo {
  public static function static_fun()
  {
    return "This is a class method!\n";
  }
 
  public function not_static_fun()
  {
    return "This is an instance method!\n";
  }
}

echo '<pre>';
echo "From Foo:\n";
echo Foo::static_fun();
echo Foo::not_static_fun();
echo "\n";

echo "From \$foo = new Foo():\n";
$foo = new Foo();
echo $foo->static_fun();
echo $foo->not_static_fun();
echo '</pre>';

You'll see the following output:

From Foo:
This is a class method!
This is an instance method!

From $foo = new Foo():
This is a class method!
This is an instance method!
variable_scope-php dot net at fijiwebdesign dot com
07-Jul-2006 05:48
In response to: Variable scope

Quote: "the global keyword *will* allow you to access variables in the global scope of your script, even if those variables were not made available locally to the parent function."

Actually, the "parent" function does not access a variable in its global scope unless it specifically uses the global modifier on the variable.

See this test:

<?php

$var
= ''; // global scope
function foo() {
   
$var = 'Hello from $foo';
   
bar();
    echo
$var;
}

function
bar() {
    global
$var;
   
$var = 'Hello from $var';
}

foo(); // prints: "Hello from $foo"

?>

The global scope of the variable $var is only available to bar(), not to foo(). Even if you were to put foo() and bar() in the same parent class, this would still be the case.
jason
29-Apr-2006 01:53
This is probably self-evident to most folks here, and I expected this behavior, but it wasn't explicitly mentioned in the manual itself so I tested to find out: the global keyword *will* allow you to access variables in the global scope of your script, even if those variables were not made available locally to the parent function.  In other words, the following will work as expected, even though $a is never referenced as global within the function foo:

<?php

function foo() {
   
bar();
}

function
bar() {
    global
$a;
    echo
$a;
}

$a = "works!";
foo();

?>
Rhett
03-Apr-2006 11:37
You could get around that:

<?php
function someFunction () {
   static
$isInitialized = 0;
   static
$otherStatic = 0; // or whatever default you want

  
if (!$isInitialized) {
     
$otherStatic = function(); // or whatever
     
$isInitialized = 1;
   }
   ...
}
?>

Needs an extra variable and evaluates a condition every time it's run, but it does get around your problem.
SasQ
01-Apr-2006 12:02
<?php
I
use PHP 4.3 and it's impossible to assign a variable or function result to a static variable :-(  Example:

function SomeFunction()
{
 $LocalVar = 5;
 static $MyStaticVar1 = some_function();  //ERROR
 static $MyStaticVar2 = $LocalVar            //ERROR
 static $MyStaticVar3 = 7;                       //OK
 return $MyStaticVar3++;
}

It'
s a little annoying, because in some cases the value of static variables aren't necessarily known at the moment of their initialisation. And sometimes it's required to be a value returned by some function or a value of some other function created earlier. Unfortunately, the moment of the initialization is the only moment, when this kind of assignment is possible to execute only on the first time the function is called.
?>
larax at o2 dot pl
23-Mar-2006 01:38
About more complex situation using global variables..

Let's say we have two files:
a.php
<?php
   
function a() {
        include(
"b.php");
    }
   
a();
?>

b.php
<?php
    $b
= "something";
    function
b() {
        global
$b;
       
$b = "something new";
    }
   
b();
    echo
$b;
?>

You could expect that this script will return "something new" but no, it will return "something". To make it working properly, you must add global keyword in $b definition, in above example it will be:

global $b;
$b = "something";
franp at free dot fr
11-Feb-2006 02:25
If you want to access a table row using $GLOBALS, you must do it outside string delimiters or using curl braces :

$siteParams["siteName"] = "myweb";

function foo() {
$table = $GLOBALS["siteParams"]["siteName"]."articles";  // OK
echo $table; // output  "mywebarticles"
$table = "{$GLOBALS["siteParams"]["siteName"]}articles"; // OK
echo $table; // output  "mywebarticles"
$table = "$GLOBALS[siteParams][siteName]articles";       // Not OK
echo $table; // output  "Array[siteName]article"

$result = mysql_query("UPDATE $table ...");
}

Or use global :

function foo() {
global $siteParams;
$table = "$siteParams[siteName]articles";         // OK
echo $table; // output  "mywebarticles"

$result = mysql_query("UPDATE $table ...");
}
marcin
30-Dec-2005 07:07
Sometimes in PHP 4 you need static variabiles in class. You can do it by referencing static variable in constructor to the class variable:

<?php
class test  {

   var
$var;
   var
$static_var;
    function
test()
    {
        static
$s;
       
$this->static_var =& $s;
    }
 
}

 
$a=new test();

 
$a->static_var=4;
 
$a->var=4;
 
 
$b=new test();
 
 echo
$b->static_var; //this will output 4
 
echo $b->var; //this will output nul
?>
warhog at warhog dot net
13-Dec-2005 10:22
Some interesting behavior (tested with PHP5), using the static-scope-keyword inside of class-methods.

<?php

class sample_class
{
 
public function func_having_static_var($x = NULL)
  {
    static
$var = 0;
    if (
$x === NULL)
    { return
$var; }
   
$var = $x;
  }
}

$a = new sample_class();
$b = new sample_class();

echo
$a->func_having_static_var()."\n";
echo
$b->func_having_static_var()."\n";
// this will output (as expected):
//  0
//  0

$a->func_having_static_var(3);

echo
$a->func_having_static_var()."\n";
echo
$b->func_having_static_var()."\n";
// this will output:
//  3
//  3
// maybe you expected:
//  3
//  0

?>

One could expect "3 0" to be outputted, as you might think that $a->func_having_static_var(3); only alters the value of the static $var of the function "in" $a - but as the name says, these are class-methods. Having an object is just a collection of properties, the functions remain at the class. So if you declare a variable as static inside a function, it's static for the whole class and all of its instances, not for each object.

Maybe it's senseless to post that.. cause if you want to have the behaviour that I expected, you can simply use a variable of the object itself:

<?php
class sample_class
{ protected $var = 0;
  function
func($x = NULL)
  {
$this->var = $x; }
}
?>

I believe that all normal-thinking people would never even try to make this work with the static-keyword, for those who try (like me), this note maybe helpfull.
zapakh at yahoo dot com
31-Oct-2005 06:23
Addendum to the post by tc underline at gmx TLD ch, on unsetting global variables from inside functions:

If setting to null is not a suitable substitute for unset() in your application, you can unset the global variable's entry in the $GLOBALS superglobal.

<?php
function testc()
{
  global
$a;
  echo
"  inner testc: $a\n";
  unset(
$GLOBALS['a']);
  echo
"  inner testc: $a\n";
}

$a = 5678;
echo
"<pre>";
echo
"outer: $a\n";
testc();
echo
"outer: $a\n";
echo
"</pre>\n";
?>

/***** Output:
outer: 5678
  inner testc: 5678
  inner testc: 5678
outer:
******/

If the behavior of testc (or testa or testb, for that matter) seems surprising, consider that the use of the 'global' keyword simply performs an assignment by reference.  In other words,

<?php
 
global $a;              //these two lines
 
$a =& $GLOBALS['a'];    //are equivalent.
?>

If you've read http://php.net/references , then everything behaves as you'd expect.
tc underline at gmx TLD ch
14-Sep-2005 01:06
Pay attention while unsetting variables inside functions:

<?php
$a
= "1234";
echo
"<pre>";
echo
"outer: $a\n";
function
testa()
{
    global
$a;
    echo
"   inner testa: $a\n";
    unset (
$a);
    echo
"   inner testa: $a\n";
}
function
testb()
{
    global
$a;
    echo
"   inner testb: $a\n";
   
$a = null;
    echo
"   inner testb: $a\n";
}
testa();
echo
"outer: $a\n";
testb();
echo
"outer: $a\n";
echo
"</pre>";
?>

/***** Result:
outer: 1234
   inner testa: 1234
   inner testa:
outer: 1234
   inner testb: 1234
   inner testb:
outer:
******/

Took me 1 hour to find out why my variable was still there after unsetting it ...

Thomas Candrian
thomas at pixtur dot de
08-Aug-2005 06:02
Be careful with "require", "require_once" and "include" inside functions. Even if the included file seems to define global variables, they might not be defined as such.

consider those two files:

---index.php------------------------------
function foo() {
 require_once("class_person.inc");

 $person= new Person();
 echo $person->my_flag; // should be true, but is undefined
}

foo();

---class_person.inc----------------------------
$seems_global=true;

class Person {
  public $my_flag;

 public function  __construct() {
   global $seems_global;
   $my_flag= $seems_global
 }
}

---------------------------------

The reason for this behavior is quiet obvious, once you figured it out. Sadly this might not be always as easy as in this example. A solution  would be to add the line...

global $seems_global;

at the beginning of "class_person.inc". That makes sure you set the global-var.

   best regards
    tom

ps: bug search time approx. 1 hour.
www dot php dot net dot 2nd at mailfilter dot com dot ar
17-Jul-2005 04:43
To the bemused poster: Of course you can't compare processing times between functions/no functions. I only wanted to see the difference between referenced and copied variables in different scenarios. Tests are only meant to compare between pairs (i.e., call a function with & and call the same function without &). I did 4 individual pairs of tests, so test 1 compares to test 2, test 3 compares to test 4, test 5 compares to test 6 and test 7 compares to test 8. The strlen() call was there only to make sure the value is actually accessed.
17-Jul-2005 03:42
To the last poster, regarding the speed tests:

<?php
$a
= str_repeat('text', 100);
$b = $a;
$c =& $a;
// $c == $b == $a

// But you assigned a different value within the functions:
$len = strlen($a); // $len != $a
?>

I was bemused; how could the processing times of the functions/no-functions tests be compared in this way? And calling the strlen() function within each iteration of the loop must take more time anyway?
www dot php dot net dot 2nd at mailfilter dot com dot ar
16-Jul-2005 05:39
I've been doing some performance tests. I thought I could squeeze some extra cyles using references, but I discovered they are more mysterious than I imagined (5.0.3).

Consider this:

$a = str_repeat('hola',10000000);
for($n = 0 ; $n < 1000000 ; $n++ ) { $b = $a; unset($b); }

real    0m1.514s
user    0m1.433s
sys     0m0.071s

The above times (as others in this note) are the best out of three attempts in an idle Linux box.

I expected the above to be a bit slow, since constructing $b might imply copying the 40MB string each time. It was very fast, though. Let's try with references:

$a = str_repeat('hola',10000000);
for($n = 0 ; $n < 1000000 ; $n++ ) { $b =& $a; unset($b); }

real    0m1.488s
user    0m1.380s
sys     0m0.071s

Not much of a gain, but it did took less time to complete. Will this work with functions? Let's see:

$a = str_repeat('hola',10000000);
for($n = 0 ; $n < 1000000 ; $n++ ) dosome($a);
function dosome($arg){ $t = strlen($arg); }

real    0m3.518s
user    0m3.276s
sys     0m0.088s

Mmm... much slower, but still pretty nice. I didn't use references yet, so let's try them out:

$a = str_repeat('hola',10000000);
for($n = 0 ; $n < 100 ; $n++ ) dosome($a);
function dosome(&$arg){ $t = strlen($arg); }

real    0m12.071s
user    0m6.190s
sys     0m5.821s

You think it is 3.5 times slower? Think again. It is 350,000 times slower. I had to limit the $n loop to 100 iterations in order to get those figures! I wonder what happens if I try to access the variable globally:

$a = str_repeat('hola',10000000);
for($n = 0 ; $n < 1000000 ; $n++ ) dosome();
function dosome(){ $t = strlen($GLOBALS['a']); }

real    0m3.007s
user    0m2.918s
sys     0m0.074s

Notice that using $GLOBALS we're back in bussiness. So using the global keyword should be exactly the same, isn't it? Wrong again:

$a = str_repeat('hola',10000000);
for($n = 0 ; $n < 100 ; $n++ ) dosome();
function dosome(){ global $a; $t = strlen($a); }

real    0m12.423s
user    0m6.112s
sys     0m5.917s

We're in the '350,000 times slower' domain again. I wonder why the script is spending so much time in sys.

A couple of additional tests to complete the puzzle:

$a = str_repeat('hola',10000000); $b = Array(&$a);
for($n = 0 ; $n < 100 ; $n++ ) dosome();
function dosome(){ $t = strlen($GLOBALS['b'][0]); }

real    0m12.087s
user    0m6.068s
sys     0m5.955s

$a = str_repeat('hola',10000000); $b = Array(&$a);
for($n = 0 ; $n < 100 ; $n++ ) dosome();
function dosome(){ global $b; $t = strlen($b[0]); }

real    0m12.158s
user    0m6.023s
sys     0m5.971s

I guess the $GLOBALS trick doesn't help when we access a reference stored in the global variable.

I'm completely confused, now. At this light, I will review my usage of the global keyword as well as for the references. I hope someone can benefit from this study too.
jameslee at cs dot nmt dot edu
17-Jun-2005 12:33
It should be noted that a static variable inside a method is static across all instances of that class, i.e., all objects of that class share the same static variable.  For example the code:

<?php
class test {
    function
z() {
        static
$n = 0;
       
$n++;
        return
$n;
    }
}

$a =& new test();
$b =& new test();
print
$a->z();  // prints 1, as it should
print $b->z();  // prints 2 because $a and $b have the same $n
?>

somewhat unexpectedly prints:
1
2
kouber at php dot net
28-Apr-2005 03:36
If you need all your global variables available in a function, you can use this:

<?
function foo() {
 
extract($GLOBALS);
 
// here you have all global variables

}
?>
27-Apr-2005 02:46
Be careful if your static variable is an array and you return
one of it's elements: Other than a scalar variable, elements
of an array are returned as reference (regardless if you
didn't define them to be returned by reference).

<?php
function incr(&$int) {
  return
$int++;
}

function
return_copyof_scalar() {
  static
$v;
  if (!
$v)  
   
$v = 1;
  return(
$v);
}

function
return_copyof_arrayelement() {
  static
$v;
  if (!
$v) {
   
$v = array();
   
$v[0] = 1;
  }
  return(
$v[0]);
}

echo
"scalar: ".
    
incr(return_copyof_scalar()).
    
incr(return_copyof_scalar()).
    
"\n";
echo
"arrayelement: ".
    
incr(return_copyof_arrayelement()).
    
incr(return_copyof_arrayelement()).
    
"\n";
?>

Should print

scalar: 11
arrayelement: 11

but it prints:

scalar: 11
arrayelement: 12

as in the second case the arrays element was returned by
reference. According to a guy from the bug reports the
explanation for this behaviour should be somewhere here in
the documentation (in 'the part with title: "References with
global and static variables"'). Unfortunately I can't find
anything about that here. As the guys from the bug reports
are surely right in every case, maybe there is something
missing in the documentation. Sadly I don't have a good
explanation why this happens, so I decided to document at
least the behaviour.
vdephily at bluemetrix dot com
22-Apr-2005 12:51
Be carefull about nested functions :
<?php
// won't work :
function foo1()
{
 
$who = "world";
  function
bar1()
  {
    global
$who;
    echo
"Hello $who";
  }
}

// will work :
function foo2()
{
 
$GLOBALS['who'] = "world";
  function
bar2()
  {
    global
$who;
    echo
"Hello $who";
  }
}

// also note, of course :
function foo3()
{
 
$GLOBALS['who'] = "world";

 
// won't work
 
echo "Hello $who";

 
// will work
 
global $who;
  echo
"Hello $who";
}
?>
S dot Radovanovic at TriMM dot nl
15-Feb-2005 05:50
Sadly I have found out that I have been wrong about my statements below, why?

Well:
1. only the variables that were set in the constructor were 'live' in my referenced object
2. I was assigning this an object and not a reference

So:
I fixed nr. 1 by adding the & when initializing the object (this way this works on the initialized object and not a copy of it)
<?php
//screen factory
$objErrorConfig = & new Config("error.conf");
$objErrorConfig->setSection("messages");

//object factory
//If no file is stated, the last one is used, this way this instance will have the reference to the previously created instance of objErrorConfig in object screen
$objErrorConfig = & new Config();
$errorMessage = $objErrorConfig->get($errorName);
?>
Now the variables assigned after the constructor ($objErrorConfig->setSection("messages");) will also be 'live' in the static obj array.

I had to find a workaround for nr.2, since it is impossible to assign a reference to this. That's why I used code proposed by others, nl. I referenced all the members of the objects:
<?php
//Because we cannot make a direct reference from our object (by doing $this = & $theObject)
//we'll make references of our members
$arrClassVars = get_class_vars(get_class($theObject));
foreach(
$arrClassVars as $member=>$value) {
   
$this->$member = &$theObject->$member;
}               
//To make sure we are working with a reference we will store our new object as the reference
//in the singeltonobject array (so all other initialized (referenced) objects will have the
//newest one as super referer
$arrSingletonObject[$this->_configfile] = & $this;
?>

So in the end, I had better used what everbody was using (creating a Singleton through an method, instead of through the constructor), but hey, I learned something again :)
S dot Radovanovic at trimm dot nl
05-Feb-2005 12:54
To use the Singleton Pattern (as available in PHP5), we must do a little trick in PHP4.

Most examples I've seen look like this:
//Creation of singleton, Example, Example1 objects
//and then
<?
$myExample 
=& singleton('Example');
$myExample1 =& singleton('Example1');
?>

What I wanted was a way to use the Singleton Pattern on initialization of a new object (no calling of a method by reference (or something like that)).
The initializor doesn't have to know that the object it is trying to initialize uses the Singleton Pattern.
Therefor I came up with the following:

Beneath is part of a Config object that allows me to retrieve configuration data read from specific ini files (through parse_ini_file). Because I wanted to use the Config object in different other objects without having to pass a reference to the Config object all the time and without some of them having to now how the Config object was loaded (which configuration file was used) I had the need for the Singleton pattern.
To accomplish the Singleton pattern in the Constructor I've created a static array containing references to configuration file specific objects (each new configuration file creates a new instance of the Config object).
If we then try to create a new instance of an already loaded Config object (with the same configuration file), the objects set this to the reference of the previously created object, thus pointing both instances to the same object.
Here's the main part of the script.

Here's an example of how to use the Config object:
<?php
//dataheader
Config::setIniPath("/home/mydir/data/conffiles");

//object screen
$objTemplateConfig = new Config("template.conf");
$objErrorConfig = new Config("error.conf");

//objTemplateConfig and objErrorConfig are 2 different instances
$templatePath = $objTemplateConfig->get("template_path");
$errorColor = $objErrorConfig->get("error_color");

//object factory
//If no file is stated, the last one is used, this way this instance will have the reference to the previously created instance of objErrorConfig in object screen
$objErrorConfig = new Config();
$errorMessage = $objErrorConfig->get($errorName);
?>

So without the initializor knowing it he/she has retrieved a reference to a previously instantiated Config object (knowledge of this resides with the object).
Here's the constructor part of the config object:
S dot Radovanovic at trimm dot nl
05-Feb-2005 12:54
<?php
   
function __constructor($configfile = '', $blnSingleton = true) {   
       
//We must define a static array that contains our reference(s) to the object(s)
       
static $arrSingletonObject = array();
       
       
//We also need to specify a static local member, that keeps track of the last
        //initialize configfile, so that we can use this if no file has been specified
        //(this way we enable it for the initializor, to work with a previously initialized
        //config object, without knowing what configfile it uses
       
static $lastConfigfile;
               
        if(!empty(
$configfile)) {
           
//Store the set configfile name in the static local member
           
$lastConfigfile = $configfile;
           
        } else if(!empty(
$lastConfigfile)) {
           
           
//If the configfile was empty, we retrieve it from the last known initialized
           
$configfile = $lastConfigfile;
           
        } else {
           
//if we've reached so far, it means no configfile has been set at all (now
            //or previously), so we cannot continue
           
trigger_error("No configfile has been specified.", ERROR);
           
           
//Return (instead of an exit (or die)) so that the constructor isn't continued
           
return;
        }
       
       
//Set the configuration file
       
$this->_configfile = $configfile;
       
       
//Only if we want to use singleton we may proceed
       
if($blnSingleton) {
           
           
//We must now check to see if we already have a reference to the (to be created) config
            //object
           
if(!isset($arrSingletonObject[$this->_configfile])) {
               
//Create of reference of myself, so that it can be added to the singleton object array
               
$arrSingletonObject[$this->_configfile] = &$this;
               
               
//We can now proceed and read the contents of the specified ini file
               
$this->_parseIniFile();
               
            } else {
               
//Associate myself with the reference of the existing config object
               
$this = $arrSingletonObject[$this->_configfile];
            }
        }
    }
?>
pulstar at ig dot com dot br
09-Sep-2004 04:02
If you need all your global variables available in a function, you can use this:

<?php

function foo(parameters) {
  if(
version_compare(phpversion(),"4.3.0")>=0) {
    foreach(
$GLOBALS as $arraykey=>$arrayvalue) {
      global $
$arraykey;
    }
  }
 
// now all global variables are locally available...
}

?>
info AT SyPlex DOT net
01-Sep-2004 03:35
Some times you need to access the same static in more than one function. There is an easy way to solve this problem:

<?php
 
// We need a way to get a reference of our static
 
function &getStatic() {
    static
$staticVar;
    return
$staticVar;
  }

 
// Now we can access the static in any method by using it's reference
 
function fooCount() {
   
$ref2static = & getStatic();
    echo
$ref2static++;
  }

 
fooCount(); // 0
 
fooCount(); // 1
 
fooCount(); // 2
?>
shyam dot g at gmail dot com
03-Jul-2004 01:52
in response to Michael's comments, it is imperative to observe that static variables in methods of an object are not class level variables.
and since both a and b from the previous example are 2 different objects, there is no question of the static variable being shared between the objects.

The variable is static with respect to the function and not the class.

sam
Michael Bailey (jinxidoru at byu dot net)
04-Jun-2004 09:43
Static variables do not hold through inheritance.  Let class A have a function Z with a static variable.  Let class B extend class A in which function Z is not overwritten.  Two static variables will be created, one for class A and one for class B.

Look at this example:

<?php
class A {
    function
Z() {
        static
$count = 0;       
       
printf("%s: %d\n", get_class($this), ++$count);
    }
}

class
B extends A {}

$a = new A();
$b = new B();
$a->Z();
$a->Z();
$b->Z();
$a->Z();
?>

This code returns:

A: 1
A: 2
B: 1
A: 3

As you can see, class A and B are using different static variables even though the same function was being used.
Randolpho
02-Apr-2004 11:53
More on static variables:

My first not is probably intuitive to most, but I didn't notice it mentioned explicitly, so I'll mention it: a static variable does not retain it's value after the script's execution. Don't count on it being available from one page request to the next; you'll have to use a database for that.

Second, here's a good pattern to use for declaring a static variable based on some complex logic:

<?
 
function buildStaticVariable()
  {
     
$foo = null;
     
// some complex expression or set of
      // expressions/statements to build
      // the return variable.
     
return $foo;
  }

  function
functionWhichUsesStaticVar()
  {
      static
$foo = null;
      if(
$foo === null) $foo = buildStaticVariable();
     
// the rest of your code goes here.
 
}
?>

Using such a pattern allows you to separate the code that creates your default static variable value from the function that uses it. Easier to maintain code is good. :)
jmarbas at hotmail dot com
17-Jan-2004 01:34
Whats good for the goose is not always good for the iterative gander. If you declare and initialize the static variable more than once inside a function ie.

function Test(){
   static $count = 0;
   static $count = 1;
   static $count = 2;
   echo $count;
}

the variable will take the value of the last declaration. In this case $count=2.

But! however when you make that function recursive ie.

  function Test(){
   static $count = 0;
   static $count = 1;
   static $count = 2;

   $count++;
   echo $count;
   if ($count<10){
     Test();
   }
  }

Every call to the function Test() is a differenct SCOPE and therefore the static declarations and initializations are NOT executed again. So what Im trying to say is that its OK to declare and initialize a static variable multiple times if you are in one function... but its NOT OK to declare and initialize a static variable multiple times if you call that same function multiple times. In other words the static variable is set once you LEAVE a function (even if you go back into that very same function).
Jack at soinsincere dot com
14-Nov-2003 08:11
Alright, so you can't set a static variable with a reference.
However, you can set a static variable to an array with an element that is a reference:
<?php

class myReference {
    function
getOrSet($array = null) {
        static
$myValue;
        if (!
$array) {
            return
$myValue[0];     //Return reference in array
       
}
       
$myValue = $array;          //Set static variable with array
       
static $myValue;
    }
}

$static = "Dummy";

$dummy = new myReference;
$dummy->getOrSet(array(&$static));

$static = "Test";
print
$dummy->getOrSet();

?>
flobee at gmx dot net
06-Nov-2003 10:26
i found out that on any (still not found) reason the <?php static $val =NULL; ?> is not working when trying to extract the data form the $var with a while statment
e.g.:
<?php
funktion get_data
() {
static
$myarray = null;
   if(
$myarray == NULL) {
    
//get some info in an array();
    
$myarray = array('one','two');
   }
   while(list(
$key,$val) = each( $myarray ) ) {
  
// do something
  
echo "x: $key , y: $val";
   }
}
?>
when using foreach($myarray AS $key => $val) { .... instad of while then i see the result!
ppo at beeznest dot net
09-Jul-2003 04:59
Even if an included file return a value using return(), it's still sharing the same scope as the caller script!

<?php
$foo
= 'aaa';
$bar = include('include.php');
echo(
$foo.' / '.$bar);
?>

where include.php is
<?php
$foo
= 'bbb';
return
$foo;
?>

The output is: bbb / bbb
Not: aaa / bbb
j at superjonas dot de
14-Mar-2003 08:08
> pim wrote:
> in addition:
> if you define a function in that included file, it can't get
> the variables from the inluded file's scope. global won't work.
> The only way to give such an include function access to global
> vars is via arguments. I don't know if this is a bug in PHP.
>
> //---- from within function included file -----
> echo $var1; // this one works
> function foo()
> {
> global $var1;
> echo $var1; // this one doesn't
> }

It works if you additionally declare the variables from the inluded file's scope as global.

example:

<?php
/* file1.php */

function func1() {
    include(
"file2.php");
   
func2();
}
func1();
?>

<?php
/* file2.php */

global $var; // declare as global here
$var = 'something';

function
func2() {
    global
$var; // again here
   
echo $var; // prints "something"
}
?>
ben-xo aatt dubplates.org
13-Mar-2003 08:05
regarding the above "unset" example: I quote from the manual page for "unset".

"If a static variable is unset() inside of a function, unset() destroyes the variable and all its references. "

As mentioned above, on this page, static vars are implemented as references. When you unset() a reference, what you are doing is deleting a particular name for that variable. In your example, you delete the LOCAL NAME $a, but the static contents are still there (hidden) and next time you call your function, a NEW LOCAL NAME (again $a...) is linked to the SAME backing data.

Workaround would be something like "$a = null".
unset($a) is very much like $a = &null however, which, if you read the notes above, won't have the desired affect on static or global variables.
04-Mar-2003 05:25
As far as I can see, it's not possible to unset() a static variable inside the function:

function Test($unset = false) {
    static $a = 0;
    echo $a++;
    if ($unset) unset($a);
}

Test();
Test();
Test(true);
Test();
Test();

This will output 01234. I would expect it to at least show 01201.
pim at lingewoud dot nl
27-Feb-2003 09:46
shevek wrote:
>> If you include a file from within a function using include(),
>> the included file inherits the function scope as its own
>> global scope, it will not be able to see top level globals
>> unless they are explicit in the function.

in addition:
if you define a function in that included file, it can't get the variables from the inluded file's scope. global won't work. The only way to give such an include function access to global vars is via arguments. I don't know if this is a bug in PHP.

//---- from within function included file -----
echo $var1; // this one works
function foo()
{
global $var1;
echo $var1; // this one doesn't
}
jg at nerd-boy dot net
08-Feb-2003 02:10
It's possible to use a variable variable when specifying a variable as global in a function. That way your function can decide what global variable to access in run-time.

function func($varname)
{
   global $$varname;

   echo $$varname;
}

$hello = "hello world!";
func("hello");

This will print "hello world!", and is roughly the same as passing by reference, in the case when the variable you want to pass is global. The advantage over references is that they can't have default parameters. With the method above, you can do the following.

function func($varname = FALSE)
{
   if ($varname === FALSE)
     echo "No variable.";
   else
   {
     global $$varname;

     echo $$varname;
   }
}

$hello = "hello world!";
func("hello");                   // prints "hello world!"
func();                          // prints "No variable."
wjs@sympaticoDOTca
10-Dec-2002 07:03
Becareful where you define your global variables:

This will work:
<?php
  $MyArray
= array("Dog");

  function
SeeArray(){
    global
$MyArray;
    if (
in_array("Dog",$MyArray)){
      foreach (
$MyArray as $Element){
        echo
"$Element <hr/>";
      }
    }
  }

 
SeeArray();
?>

while this will not:
<?php
  SeeArray
();
 
$MyArray = array("Dog");

  function
SeeArray(){
    global
$MyArray;
    if (
in_array("Dog",$MyArray)){ // an error will generate here
     
foreach ($MyArray as $Element){
        echo
"$Element <hr/>";
      }
    }
  }

?>
jez at india dot com
31-Oct-2002 10:35
If anyone needs a permanent array / hash, similar in functionality to ASP's application object, check out the article on

http://zez.org/article/articleview/46/1/

which has some working code (written by me) attached. This code implements a hash with application scope, i.e. its contents can be accessed from all php scripts running on the same computer. You could use it, for example, to globally cache configuration settings for a site.
 
The hash is also cached in the db, i.e. it's inviolable. Its contents are buffered in memory, so there's no hit on the db when accessing the hash apart from the first time you read it, and of course when you write to it.
mu at despammed dot com
16-Oct-2002 02:12
morthanpurpl: You don't have to initialize variables you use first inside a variable, at least not in PHP4.2.2. The following will just work fine and output "iam":

<?php

function dumdum()
{
    global
$a;
   
$a = "iam";
}
dumdum();
echo
$a;

?>
heatwave at fw dot hu
15-Oct-2002 03:12
Some people (including me) had a problem with defining a long GLOBAL variable list in functions (very error prone). Here is a possible solution. My program parses php file for functions, and compiles GLOBAL variable lists. Then you can just remove from the list those variables which need not be global.

<?php
   
//parser for GLOBAL variable list
   
$pfile=file("myfile.php4");
   
    for(
$i=0;$i<sizeof($pfile);$i++) {
     if(
eregi("function",$pfile[$i])) {
      list(
$part1,$part2)=sscanf($pfile[$i],"%s %s");
      echo
"\n\n $part1 $part2:\nGLOBAL ";
     
     
$varlist=array();
     
$level=0; $end=$i;
      do {
      
$lpar=explode("{",$pfile[$end]);
      
$level+=sizeof($lpar)-1;
      
$lpar=explode("}",$pfile[$end]);
      
$level-=sizeof($lpar)-1;
      
$end++;
      } while((
$end<sizeof($pfile))&&($level>0));
     
$pstr="";
      for(
$j=$i;$j<=$end;$j++) $pstr.=$pfile[$j];
     
$lpar=explode("$",$pstr);
      for(
$j=1;$j<sizeof($lpar);$j++) {
         
eregi('[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*',$lpar[$j],$cvar);
       
$varlist[$cvar[0]]=1;
      }
     
array_walk($varlist,'var_print');
     }
    }
function
var_print ($item, $key) {
     echo
"$key,";
 }
?>
stlawson AT sbcglobal DOT net
06-Jul-2002 06:22
aslak is right!  Check this out:

$t1 = "outie";
function foo1()
{
  global $t1;
  $t1 = 'innie' ;
  echo ('in foo1() $t1 is an ' . $t1) ;
}

echo ('before foo1() $t1 is an ' . $t1) ;
foo1() ;
echo ('after foo1() $t1 is an ' . $t1) ;

// is identical to?:
$t2 = "outie";
function foo2()
{
  $t2 = &$GLOBALS['t2'];
  $t2 = 'innie' ;
  echo ('in foo2() $t2 is an ' . $t2) ;
}

echo ('before foo2() $t2 is an ' . $t2) ;
foo2() ;
echo ('after foo2() $t2 is an ' . $t2) ;

Output:

before foo1() $t1 is an outie
in foo1() $t1 is an innie
after foo1() $t1 is an innie
before foo2() $t2 is an outie
in foo2() $t2 is an innie
after foo2() $t2 is an innie

Also I cleaned up aslak's code a bit ;)
aslak at novita dot no
27-Jun-2002 02:54
Basicly what happens is this:

$var t;
function foo()
{
  global $t;
}

is identical to:
function foo()
{
  $t=&$GLOBALS[t];
}

which will answer the above argument becouse when you use
$t=&$somelocal;
you overwrite the first $t=&.....
cellog at users dot sourceforge dot net
03-Jun-2002 03:57
regarding May 27 comment.

Try this file, and you will see that what I said in my comment holds:

<?php
$testvar
= 1 ;
$testvar2 = 2 ;
function
foo ()
{
   global
$testvar ;
   global
$testvar2 ;
  
$testvar3 = 6;

  
$testvar 3 ; //Assigning a constant works as expected.
  
echo "$testvar,$GLOBALS[testvar],$GLOBALS[testvar2],$testvar3 <br>" ;   // 3,3,2,6

  
$testvar 4 ; //Assigning a variable also works as expected.
  
echo "$testvar,$GLOBALS[testvar],$GLOBALS[testvar2],$testvar3 <br>" ;   // 4,4,2,6

  
$testvar =  &$testvar2 ; // Assiging a reference points $testvar at what $testvar2
                               // is pointing at, which is $GLOBALS[testvar2]
  
echo "$testvar,$GLOBALS[testvar],$GLOBALS[testvar2],$testvar3<br> " ;   // 2,4,2,6

  
$testvar=5 ; // Assigning a value to testvar now modifies $GLOBALS[testvar2]

  
echo "$testvar,$GLOBALS[testvar],$GLOBALS[testvar2],$testvar3<br>" ;    //5,4,5,6
  
  
$testvar = &$testvar3;

   echo
"$testvar,$GLOBALS[testvar],$GLOBALS[testvar2],$testvar3<br>" ;    //6,4,5,6
  
  
$testvar = 7; // Assigning a value to testvar now modifies local $testvar3
  
echo "$testvar,$GLOBALS[testvar],$GLOBALS[testvar2],$testvar3<br>" ;    //7,4,5,7
}

foo() ;
?>

doing $testvar = &$testvar2 assigns $testvar to point at $testvar2, which is pointing at $GLOBALS[testvar2].  Later, I assign $testvar = &$testvar3, which points it at the local variable.

The & operator *only* changes what the left-hand variable points at, and not the contents of what it used to point at (to borrow from old-fashioned pointer terminology :).
JeanRobert at Videotron dot ca
28-May-2002 12:18
Comment on May 21.

This explanation does not explain why assigning a global variable
reference to a globalvariable does not modify it (See the statement
"$testvar =  &$testvar2" bellow).

Here is my own explanation:   
 
Inside a function, if we assign a variable reference to a global
variable then this global variable is replaced by a new local
variable instance. In other words, once done, futur assignment to
this variable will only modify the local copy and leave the original
global variable unchanged. Looking at the following code will
help you to understand it. (Just as a reminder $GLOBALS[testvar]
always refers to the original $testvar global variable).

$testvar = 1 ;
$testvar2 = 2 ;
function foo ()
{
   global $testvar ;
   global $testvar2 ;

   $testvar =  3 ; //Assigning a constant works as expected.
   echo "$testvar,$GLOBALS[testvar] " ;   // 3,3

   $testvar =  4 ; //Assigning a variable also works as expected.
   echo "$testvar,$GLOBALS[testvar] " ;   // 4,4

   $testvar =  &$testvar2 ; // Assiging a reference allocates a new
                // local testvar instance.
   echo "$testvar,$GLOBALS[testvar] " ;   // 2,4

   $testvar=5 ; // Assigning a value to testvar now only modifies
        // the local instance.
   echo "$testvar,$GLOBALS[testvar]" ;    //5,4
}

foo() ;

If you plan to assign a variable reference to a global variale then
you should use '$GLOBALS[testvar]=&$variable' instead of
'$testvar=&$variable'.
cellog at users dot sourceforge dot net
22-May-2002 02:02
comment on april 9 regarding:

function foo ()
{
   global $testvar;

   $localvar = new Object ();
   $testvar = &$localvar;
}

The reason this doesn't work is that when you use & to assign to $testvar, it reassigns $testvar to point at what $localvar points at.

$testvar = $localvar should work as well as $GLOBALS['testvar'] = &$localvar, although instance data will be copied and any references to parent classes will be broken.  I hate that :).

In other words, the declaration "global $testvar;" is telling php "make $testvar point at the same location as $GLOBALS['testvar']" but "$testvar = &$localvar" tells php "make $testvar point at the same location as $localvar"!!!
30-Apr-2002 11:14
Seems as though when a cookie is saved and referenced as a variable of the same name as the cookie, that variable is NOT global.  If you make a function ro read the value of the cookie, the cooke variable name must be declared as a global.

example:
function ReturnCookie()
{
        $cookieName = "Test_Cookie";
        global $$cookieName;
        if (isset($$cookieName))
        {
                echo ("$cookieName is set");
                $returnvalue = $$cookieName;
        }
        else
        {
                $newCookieValue = "Test Value";
                setcookie("$cookieName","$newCookieValue", (time() + 3153600));
                echo ("made a cookie:" . $newCookieValue ."<BR>");
                $returnvalue = $newCookieValue;
        }
        echo ("the cookie that was set is now $returnvalue <BR>");
        return $returnvalue;
}
huntsbox at pacbell dot net
03-Apr-2002 07:11
Not sure of the implications of this but...
You can create nested functions within functions but you must make sure they aren't defined twice, e.g.:

function norm($a, $b) {
    static $first_time = true;
    if ($first_time) {
        function square($x) {
            return $x * $x;
        }
        $first_time = false;
    }
    return sqrt(square($a) + square($b));
}

print square(5); // error, not defined yet
print norm(5,4);
print "<br>";
print norm(3,2);
print square(5); // OK

If you don't include the if ($first_time) you get an error saying you can't define square() twice.  Note that square is not local to the function it just appears there.  The last line successfully accesses square in the page scope.  This is not terribly useful, but interesting.
jochen_burkhard at web dot de
29-Mar-2002 09:47
Please don't forget:
values of included (or required) file variables are NOT available in the local script if the included file resides on a remote server:

remotefile.php:

<?PHP
$paramVal
=10;
?>

localfile.php:

<?PHP
include "http://otherserver.com/remotefile.php";
echo
"remote-value= $paramVal";
?>

Will not work (!!)
steph_rondinaud at club-internet dot fr
09-Feb-2002 02:41
I'm using PHP 4.1.1

While designing a database access class, I needed a static variable that will be incremented for all instances of the class each time the class connected to the database. The obvious solution was to declare a "connection" class variable with static scope. Unfortunatly, php doesn't allow such a declaration.
So I went back to defining a static variable in the connect method of my class. But it seems that the static scope is not inherited: if class "a" inherit the "db access" class, then the "connection" variable is shared among "a" instances, not among both "a" AND "db access" instances.
Solution is to declare the static variable out of the db access class, and declare "global" said variable in the connect method.
admin at essentialhost dot com
04-Feb-2002 04:30
Quick tip for beginners just to speed things up:<P>
If you have a bunch of global variables to import into a function, it's best to put them into a named array like $variables[stuff].  <P>
When it's time to import them you just so the following; <P>

function here() {
  $vars = $GLOBALS['variables'];

  print $vars[stuff];

}

This really helps with big ugly form submissions.
tomek at pluton dot pl
10-Dec-2001 08:53
When defining static variables you may use such declarations:

static $var = 1; //numbers
static $var = 'strings';
static $var = array(1,'a',3); //array construct

but these ones would produce errors:

static $var = some_function('arg');
static $var = (some_function('arg'));
static $var = 2+3; //any expression
static $var = new object;
danno at wpi dot edu
24-Jul-2001 10:28
WARNING!  If you create a local variable in a function and then within that function assign it to a global variable by reference the object will be destroyed when the function exits and the global var will contain NOTHING!  This main sound obvious but it can be quite tricky you have a large script (like a phpgtk-based gui app ;-) ).

example:

function foo ()
{
   global $testvar;

   $localvar = new Object ();
   $testvar = &$localvar;
}

foo ();
print_r ($testvar);   // produces NOTHING!!!!

hope this helps someone before they lose all their hair
carpathia_uk at mail dot com
08-May-2001 12:21
On confusing aspect about global scope...

If you want to access a variable such as a cookie inside a function, but theres a chance it may not even be defined, you need to access it using he GLOBALS array, not by defining it as global.

This wont work correctly....

function isLoggedin()
{
global $cookie_username;
if (isset($cookie_username)
echo "blah..";
}

This will..

function isLoggedin()
{
if (isset($GLOBALS["cookie_username"]))
echo "blah..";
}
shevek at anarres dot org
05-Feb-2000 02:51
If you include a file from within a function using include(), the included file inherits the function scope as its own global scope, it will not be able to see top level globals unless they are explicit in the function.

<?php
$foo
= "bar";
function
baz() {
    global
$foo; # NOTE THIS
   
include("qux");
}
?>

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