CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpfunctionarguments
tsdryt
tsdryt

Reputation: 37

Using argument text in PHP Function

I am a little new to the PHP world and despite my googling and manual reading, I can't

I am currently (ethically!) scraping a website that has a number of different categories (let us call them 'alpha', 'beta', 'gamma').

Currently, I go through these steps:

  1. Load the file
  2. Locate the correct table (php_siomple_dom)

  3. Then go through the elements to grab the information.

    $alpha_one = $element -> find etc;
$alpha_two = $element -> find etc;
$alpha_n   = $element -> find etc;

$beta_one  = $element -> find etc;
$beta _two = $element -> find etc;
$beta_n    = $element -> find etc;

  4. All of the tables are the same for alpha, beta, gamma; thus I would like to write a function, but I am struggling with how to include the argument name in the variables I create. This was my idea, but it does not work.

    function grab($argument) {

    $argument . "_one" = $element -> find etc;
    $argument . "_two" = $element -> find etc;
    $argument . "_n"   = $element -> find etc;

}

Thus, I could use:

grab('alpha');

grab('beta');

grab('gamma');

without having to write out the code for each table

I've looked into 'magic methods', but cannot swing it into working. I would really appreciate if some PHP wizard could shed some light upon this. Thank youu!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 77

Answers (3)

motanelu
motanelu

Reputation: 4025

Just do this:

function grab($argument) {
    ${$argument . "_one"} = $element -> find etc;
    ${$argument . "_two"} = $element -> find etc;
    ${$argument . "_n"}   = $element -> find etc;
}

Upvotes: 0

Waldson Patricio
Waldson Patricio

Reputation: 1529

$argument only exists inside the function scope. It will not have any effect outside this function. If you're using a class you can create all possible variables (not recommended) and call: 

$this->{$argument . "_one"} = ...

or store them in an array variable (best way):

$this->myArray[$argument . '_one'] = ...

Upvotes: 0

Marc B
Marc B

Reputation: 360872

That code is rather pointless. the $argument . "_one" variable would exist ONLY within the function, and be destroyed when the function returns. You probably want something more like this:

function grab($argument) {
    $data = array();
    $data[$argument . "_one"] = ...
    $data[$argument . "_two"] = ...
    etc...
    return ($data);
}

Essentially: build an array with dynamic key names, based on your $argument, then return the entire array to the calling context.

Upvotes: 1

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