Pass variable from within PHP function [duplicate] - php

Question

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Reference: What is variable scope, which variables are accessible from where and what are "undefined variable" errors?
(3 answers)
Closed 4 years ago.
I'd like to report how many files get deleted from a function that I'm running within php via a cron task.
Current codes is as follows:-
<?php
function deleteAll($dir) {
$counter = 0;
foreach(glob($dir . '/*') as $file) {
if(is_dir($file)) {
deleteAll($file); }
else {
if(is_file($file)){
// check if file older than 14 days
if((time() - filemtime($file)) > (60 * 60 * 24 * 14)) {
$counter = $counter + 1;
unlink($file);
}
}
}
}
}
deleteAll("directory_name");
// Write to log file to confirm completed
$fp = fopen("logthis.txt", "a");
fwrite($fp, $counter." files deleted."."\n");
fclose($fp);
?>
That makes sense to me with a VBA background, but the counter returns null I think when written to my custom log file at the end. I presume there is some restriction on a shared hosting site of being able to declare the variable globally or similar?
Appreciate any help! It's not the end of world if I can't count the deleted files, but it would be nice to log the output in the format I've chosen.

Answer 1

This doesnt work due to scopes. In your example $counter only exists inside your function.
function deleteAll($dir):int {
$counter = 0; // start with zero
/* Some code here */
if(is_dir($file)) {
$counter += deleteAll($file); // also increase with the recursive amount
}
/* Some more code here */
return $counter; // return the counter (at the end of the function
}
$filesRemoved = deleteAll("directory_name");
Alternatively, if you want to send back more info, eg 'totalCheck' etc, you can send back an array of info:
function deleteAll($dir):array {
// All code here
return [
'counter' => $counter,
'totalFiles' => $allFilesCount
];
}
$removalStats = deleteAll("directory_name");
echo $removalStats['counter'].'files removed, total: '.$removalStats['totalFiles'];
There are other solutions like 'pass-by-reference', but you dont want those.