PHP use variable inside function

Question

This is really simple but I can't get my head around it. I am setting a datestamp and would like to be able to use it inside a function like this..

    $date_stamp = date("dmy",time());

    function myfunction() {
        echo $date_stamp;
    }

This is not working and $date_stamp is not available inside the function, how can I use this?

@RyanVincent OMG, you are correct! deleted that nonsense. – Constantin Galbenu Mar 21 '17 at 20:08 — Constantin Galbenu, Mar 21 '17 at 20:08

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 21 '17 at 20:00

3

This is basic PHP. $date_stamp is out of scope within your function. To be in scope you must pass it as a parameter:

$date_stamp = date("dmy",time());

function myfunction($date) {
    echo $date;
}

// call function
myfunction($date_stamp);

See PHP variable scope.

answered Mar 21 '17 at 20:00

John Conde

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of course you can also move `$date_stamp = date("dmy",time());` in side the function. – Mar 21 '17 at 20:02
Very true. I don't know if this was a MCRE or not so I left it i as is. – John Conde Mar 21 '17 at 20:03
You can also use `global` but making such a suggestion around here wouldn't be well received – ffflabs Mar 21 '17 at 22:00
@amenadiel Someone did and then deleted it due to comments they received about it :) – John Conde Mar 22 '17 at 00:35
It was a valid answer tho. You could even hard code the current date if you care enough to do it daily – ffflabs Mar 22 '17 at 01:40

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 21 '17 at 20:04

1

Just as an add-on to John Conde's answer, you can also use a closure like so

<?php
$date_stamp = date("dmy",time());

$myfunction = function() use ($date_stamp)  {
    echo '$myfunction: date is '. $date_stamp;
};

$myfunction();

answered Mar 21 '17 at 20:04

ffflabs

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PHP use variable inside function

2 Answers2