Nota bene :
Imagine one file called myFile.php :
<?php
//myFile.php
$a = true;
?>
And a second file which includes it this way :
<?php
function LoadMe() {
//$a is not defined
include( 'myFile.php' );
//now $a is defined
}
//Obviously $a is not defined
LoadMe();
//Neither $a nor $GLOBALS['a'] are defined
?>
Beware ;)
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. $a와 $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 요소 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 있습니다.
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 $a를 0으로 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++;
}
?>
이제 Test() 함수가 호출될 때마다 $a 값이 출력되고 그 값을 증가시킬것이다.
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 static과 global을 참조를 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();
$still_obj2 = get_instance_noref();
?>
위 예제코드를 실행하면 다음과 같은 결과가 유도된다.
Static object: NULL
Static object: NULL
Static object: NULL
Static object: object(stdClass)(1) {
["property"]=>
int(1)
}
위 예제 코드는 정적 변수에 대한 참조를 지정할때, &get_instance_ref()함수가 두번째로 호출되는 때에 기억되지 않는다는 것을 보여준다.
변수 유효영역
09-Jun-2008 06:25
28-May-2008 06:41
Useful function:
<?php
function cycle($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
*/
?>
30-Mar-2008 05:16
@ben writes:
eval('global $' . join(',$', array_keys($GLOBALS)) . ';');
You may find extract($GLOBALS) useful. (also, note the optional EXTR_REFS flag)
19-Mar-2008 02:40
To make all globals available in a function:
eval('global $' . join(',$', array_keys($GLOBALS)) . ';');
Use with caution. "eval" is inherently dangerous.
04-Mar-2008 02:06
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.
01-Mar-2008 11:10
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' );
?>
01-Mar-2008 10:56
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;
}
?>
30-Jan-2008 12:14
Hmm, globals are a pretty poor solution and are pretty much forbidden in object oriented programming.
20-Dec-2007 06:36
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)
19-Dec-2007 10:42
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.
27-Oct-2007 02:46
<?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).
*/
?>
09-Sep-2007 01:01
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;
?>
24-Aug-2007 08:04
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.
14-Mar-2007 12:03
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
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.
25-Jan-2007 10:11
<?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.
07-Nov-2006 10:35
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
19-Sep-2006 10:17
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.
12-Sep-2006 10:53
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(& $a) {
}
The advantage to using the keyword is if you have a long list of variables needed by the function - you dont have to pass them every time you call the function.
22-Jul-2006 08:47
In addition to sami's comment :
`static` keyword for class method is considered a compatibility feature in PHP5. In PHP6 however, calling an instance method (not defined using `static`) as a class method (using `class::method()` ) will display an EWarning. Also note that in PHP6, calling a class method (defined using `static`) as an instance method (using `$instance->method()`) will ALSO display an EWarning.
21-Jul-2006 09:18
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!
06-Jul-2006 07:48
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.
28-Apr-2006 03:53
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();
?>
03-Apr-2006 01:37
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.
31-Mar-2006 01:02
<?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.
?>
22-Mar-2006 03:38
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";
10-Feb-2006 04:25
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 ...");
}
30-Dec-2005 09:07
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 $b->var; //this will output nul
?>
13-Dec-2005 12:22
Some interesting behavior (tested with PHP5), using the static-scope-keyword inside of class-methods.
<?php
class sample_class
{
public function func_having_static_var($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.
31-Oct-2005 08:23
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.
14-Sep-2005 03:06
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
08-Aug-2005 08:02
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.
17-Jul-2005 06:43
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.
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?
15-Jul-2005 07:39
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.
16-Jun-2005 02:33
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 $n
?>
somewhat unexpectedly prints:
1
2
28-Apr-2005 05:36
If you need all your global variables available in a function, you can use this:
<?
function foo() {
extract($GLOBALS);
// here you have all global variables
}
?>
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.
22-Apr-2005 02:51
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";
}
?>
15-Feb-2005 07:50
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 :)
05-Feb-2005 02:54
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:
05-Feb-2005 02:54
<?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];
}
}
}
?>
08-Sep-2004 06:02
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...
}
?>
31-Aug-2004 05:35
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
?>
02-Jul-2004 03:52
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
04-Jun-2004 11:43
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 