My PHP array somehow doesn't see my array as an array - php

Question

Okay, I've narrowed this down to one key function.
It seems impossible, but every time I've "echo"ed it, this function always says that the variable array I'm using to store my data is no longer an array.
Offending Code
private function do_display_message_details()
{
$m_message_values = '';
$m_address = APP_ROOT_PATH;
if ($this->c_arr_stored_message_data)
{
echo "I AM AN ARRAY";
}
else
{
echo "I AM NOT AN ARRAY";
}
$m_message_name = $this->c_arr_stored_message_data['message-name'];
$m_arr_stored_message_data = $this->c_arr_stored_message_data['message-retrieved-data'];
foreach((array)$m_arr_stored_message_data as $m_message_value)
{
$m_message_row = explode(',', $m_message_value);
$m_message_values .= '<tr>';
$m_message_values .= '<td>' . $m_message_row[0] . '</td>';
$m_message_values .= '<td>' . $m_message_row[1] . '</td>';
$m_message_values .= '<td>' . $m_message_row[2] . '</td>';
$m_message_values .= '</tr>';
}
$this->c_html_page_content = <<< VIEWSTOREDMESSAGEDATA
<div id="lg-form-container">
<h2>Message name: $m_message_name</h3>
<h3>Message Data</h3>
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Date</th>
<th>Time</th>
<th>Message Values</th>
</tr>
$m_message_values
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<form method="post" action="$m_address">
<label for="anothergo">Another Message?</label>
<button name="feature" value="display_message_data">Review Stored Message Data</button>
</form>
</div>
VIEWSTOREDMESSAGEDATA;
}
Constructor to show you it is set up as an array
private $c_arr_stored_message_data;
private $c_error_message;
private $c_page_content;
// ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
public function __construct()
{
$this->c_arr_stored_message_data = array();
$this->c_error_message = '';
$this->c_page_content = '';
}
But, if you try it on a different function, it works.
Trial Code That Works!
// ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
public function set_stored_message_data($p_arr_stored_message_data)
{
$this->c_arr_stored_message_data = $p_arr_stored_message_data;
if ($this->c_arr_stored_message_data)
{
echo "I AM AN ARRAY";
}
else
{
echo "I AM NOT AN ARRAY";
}
}

Answer 1

Your "I AM AN ARRAY" checks don't work quite as you think:
$x = array();
if ($x) {
echo 'I AM AN ARRAY';
} else {
echo 'I AM NOT AN ARRAY';
}
That prints out 'I AM NOT AN ARRAY', as an empty array evaluates to false in PHP. You can use var_dump to see exactly what content your variables have.
You have a variable named $c_page_content but later you refer to $c_html_page_content. Perhaps a mistake?
If the "messages" can contain user-supplied text, then there are XSS vulnerabilities in your code. It is essential to use htmlspecialchars to render text in HTML. For example, if $m_message_row[0] is text, you must write '<td>' . htmlspecialchars($m_message_row[0]) . '</td>'. Ditto for any other values that are not supposed to contain HTML markup that are written to HTML.
Your main issue, that the data is apparently not being stored in your c_arr_stored_message_data variable, is not possible to reproduce without seeing the connecting code that calls set_stored_message_data and do_display_message_details. All I can suggest is that you make sure you're calling them in the right order on the same instance of the same class.