How to create a PHP function

Question

I was wondering how can I convert the code below into a PHP function that works.

Here is my original code.

if(isset($_GET['cat'])) {
    $cat_name = strip_tags(filter_var($_GET['cat'], FILTER_SANITIZE_URL));
}

So far I got this for the function.

function cat(){
    if(isset($_GET['cat'])) {
        $cat_name = strip_tags(filter_var($_GET['cat'], FILTER_SANITIZE_URL));
    }
}

Answer 1

I would do:

function get_cat($GET) 
    $cat_name = null;
    if(isset($GET['cat'])) {
        $cat_name = strip_tags(filter_var($GET['cat'], FILTER_SANITIZE_URL));
    }
    return $cat_name;
}

And to call it, just do:

$cat = get_cat($_GET);

With this, the get_cat function is encapsulated (doesn't depend on external vars).

Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps. Cheers

Answer 2

This will return the sanitized value or null if $_GET['cat'] is not set. When you call this function, you would need to check if the return value is null.

function get_cat() {
    $cat_name = null;
    if(isset($_GET['cat'])) {
        $cat_name = strip_tags(filter_var($_GET['cat'], FILTER_SANITIZE_URL));
    }
    return $cat_name;
}