Having a problem returning an array from a function

[tnspc]

I'm writing code for a class where I've set up functions to load data from a file in the same directory as the PHP file (using the "file" method). Then, the goal is for the program to take the info from that function and, 1) search for a match from user-inputted names, 2) replace the old name (scanned by the second function) with the new name, and 3) save it back to the original file. The file contains info that was input to it by another PHP page, but that really doesn't matter. The problem is that I wrote the following test code to retrieve the info from the file, but it's not working properly.

<?php
function loadData()
{
if(!$filename = file("employees .dat"))
{
echo('Error while opening file');
}
else
{

$numLines = count($filename );
for ($i = 0; $i < $numLines; $i++)
{
$filename[$i];
}
return array($filename );
}
}

$myFile = loadData();
echo($myFile);
?>

Again, this is just a test code. The ultimate aim is not to print the array to the screen, but to retrieve the data from the function so that it can be passed on to the next function that will scan the array to see if an input from the user matches an existing name in the file. I can post the rest of the code after I get this part working correctly.

P.S. The result of the function as it stands right now, is the word "Array" printed at the top left of the screen and nothing else. [It appears that it's returning the return TYPE instead of the actual values of the elements in the array]. Any help would be much appreciated, as all the other posts about similar issues seemed to be about databases, and not applicable. Thanks.

[xwero]

I'm writing code for a class where I've set up functions to load data from a file in the same directory as the PHP file (using the "file" method). Then, the goal is for the program to take the info from that function and, 1) search for a match from user-inputted names, 2) replace the old name (scanned by the second function) with the new name, and 3) save it back to the original file. The file contains info that was input to it by another PHP page, but that really doesn't matter. The problem is that I wrote the following test code to retrieve the info from the file, but it's not working properly.

<?php
function loadData()
{
if(!$filename = file("employees .dat"))
{
echo('Error while opening file');
}
else
{

$numLines = count($filename );
for ($i = 0; $i < $numLines; $i++)
{
$filename[$i];
}
return array($filename );
}
}

$myFile = loadData();
echo($myFile);
?>

Again, this is just a test code. The ultimate aim is not to print the array to the screen, but to retrieve the data from the function so that it can be passed on to the next function that will scan the array to see if an input from the user matches an existing name in the file. I can post the rest of the code after I get this part working correctly.

P.S. The result of the function as it stands right now, is the word "Array" printed at the top left of the screen and nothing else. [It appears that it's returning the return TYPE instead of the actual values of the elements in the array]. Any help would be much appreciated, as all the other posts about similar issues seemed to be about databases, and not applicable. Thanks.

to print an array to the screen you have to use print_r instead of echo.

Your code looks fine.

[Motoma]

I'm writing code for a class where I've set up functions to load data from a file in the same directory as the PHP file (using the "file" method). Then, the goal is for the program to take the info from that function and, 1) search for a match from user-inputted names, 2) replace the old name (scanned by the second function) with the new name, and 3) save it back to the original file. The file contains info that was input to it by another PHP page, but that really doesn't matter. The problem is that I wrote the following test code to retrieve the info from the file, but it's not working properly.

<?php
function loadData()
{
if(!$filename = file("employees .dat"))
{
echo('Error while opening file');
}
else
{

$numLines = count($filename );
for ($i = 0; $i < $numLines; $i++)
{
$filename[$i];
}
return array($filename );
}
}

$myFile = loadData();
echo($myFile);
?>

Again, this is just a test code. The ultimate aim is not to print the array to the screen, but to retrieve the data from the function so that it can be passed on to the next function that will scan the array to see if an input from the user matches an existing name in the file. I can post the rest of the code after I get this part working correctly.

P.S. The result of the function as it stands right now, is the word "Array" printed at the top left of the screen and nothing else. [It appears that it's returning the return TYPE instead of the actual values of the elements in the array]. Any help would be much appreciated, as all the other posts about similar issues seemed to be about databases, and not applicable. Thanks.

To get the program to echo the actual data, the command you will need is print_r()

[tnspc]

Thanks for your input. So, the last line would be print_r($myFile );?

[Motoma]

Thanks for your input. So, the last line would be print_r($myFile );?

Yup. Try it and post your results if you have problems.

[tnspc]

Thanks for your advice! It did display, although the main reason I had it display was to make the sure the array was being passed from the function to the main code. Now, on to problem #2! :o)

The second function in this program takes the $myFile array passed from the previous function and loops through the elements to look for a match from the user-input form. The variable from the form is $oldName. Inside the function, I declare the local versions of those two variables (see comments on function). The professor wants us to return either the index of the array element that contains the match or -1 if no match is found. I have a loop that checks the array, but so far, it's not working. If I put a return outside the loop of -1, then nothing is found, and if I put it in the else clause, it only checks the first element of the array. Here's the code [note: I took the return -1 out already because I knew it wasn't working]:

function searchData($myF ile, $oldName)
{
$a = $myFile;
$s = $oldName;

$numElements = count($a);
for($i = 0; $i < $numElements; $i++)
{
if(eregi($oldNa me, $myFile))
{
return $i;
}
else
$i++;
}
}


It's called by the following line in the main body of the code:
$index = searchData($myF ile, $oldName);

*The reason we need to do it as an index or -1 is because that return value is used in the next if statement in the body that sets up the use of the last two functions to replace oldName with newName, and to write the data back to the original file accessed in the first function. I've tried a do-while loop as an alternative, but it didn't work either. Any suggestions?

[Motoma]

How about this:

[php]
function searchData($myF ile, $oldName)
{
$a = $myFile;
$s = $oldName;

$numElements = count($a);
for($i = 0; $i < $numElements; $i++)
if(eregi($oldNa me, $myFile)) return $i;
return -1;
}
[/php]

[tnspc]

Didn't work. Always returns -1, even if there's a match.

[Motoma]

My Bad:

[php]
function searchData($myF ile, $oldName)
{
$numElements = count($myFile);
for($i = 0; $i < $numElements; $i++)
if(eregi($oldNa me, $myFile[$i])) return $i;
return -1;
}
[/php]

You forgot to put the index in $myFile that you wanted to compare to.

[tnspc]

Yeah, I noticed that and changed it, and it still did not work... it will return -1 unless the match is found with the first element (I believe). That's the problem I ran into that I haven't been able to solve yet. It needs to break out of the loop and return the index of the matching element if it finds it, or return -1 after the loop if no match. It may just be a problem with the placement of the return -1 statement; but, in another version of the code, I put it outside the loop brackets, and it was executing that statement every time, instead of returning from the function in the event of a match. For example:

function searchData($myF ile, $oldName)
{
$a = $myFile;
$s = $oldName;
{
$numElements = count($a);
for($i = 0; $i < $numElements; $i++)
{
if(!(eregi($s, $a[$i])))
{
return $i;
}
else
{
$i++;
}
}
}

return -1;
}