Php echo variables from a function outside the function when calling it - php

Question

I have this php function which looks up rows from a database table
if (!function_exists("ContactLookup")) {
function ContactLookup($column, $clause, $value, $limit1=0, $limit2=1)
{
global $conn;
$ContactLookup_Sql= "select * from contacts where $column $clause $value LIMIT $limit1, $limit2";
$ContactLookup_Rs = mysql_query($ContactLookup_Sql,$conn);
while ($ContactLookup_Result = mysql_fetch_array($ContactLookup_Rs)) {
$foremame =$ContactLookup_Result["forename"];
$surname = $ContactLookup_Result["surname"];
}
}
}
This just echoes the results but if I wanted to put the results into a select element how would I do this
Within the while loop would I create the variables then echo the variables when I call the function? Or is there another way around this?
Like:
<?php ContactLookup("company_sequence", "=", $result["contact"],"0","10"); ?>
><select name="contactsequence" id="contactsequence">
<option value=""><?php echo $forename; ?></option>
</select

Answer 1

Make your function return an array
function ContactLookup ($column, $clause, $value, $limit1=0, $limit2=1) {
global $conn;
$ContactLookup_Sql= "select * from contacts where $column $clause $value LIMIT $limit1, $limit2";
$ContactLookup_Rs = mysql_query($ContactLookup_Sql,$conn);
$results = [];
while($ContactLookup_Result = mysql_fetch_array($ContactLookup_Rs))
{
$results[] = [
'forename'=> $ContactLookup_Result["forename"],
'surname'=> $ContactLookup_Result["surname"]
];
}
return $results;
}
Then you can loop through it:
<?php
$names = ContactLookup("company_sequence", "=", $result["contact"],"0","10");
echo '<select name="contactsequence" id="contactsequence">';
foreach($names AS $name){
echo '<option value="">'.$name['forename'].'</option>';
}
echo '</select>';

Answer 2

Change the function to return the results as a variable, rather than echo them.
function ContactLookup ($column, $clause, $value, $limit1=0, $limit2=1) {
global $conn;
$ContactLookup_Sql= "select * from contacts where $column $clause $value LIMIT $limit1, $limit2";
$ContactLookup_Rs = mysql_query($ContactLookup_Sql,$conn);
$results=array();
while($ContactLookup_Result = mysql_fetch_array($ContactLookup_Rs))
{
$results[] = array('forename'=>$ContactLookup_Result["forename"],'surname'=>$ContactLookup_Result["surname"];
}
return $results;
}
Then in your display loop,
<?php $contacts=ContactLookup("company_sequence", "=", $result["contact"],"0","10"); ?>
<select name="contactsequence" id="contactsequence">
foreach($contacts as $k=>$contact){?>
<option value="<?php echo $k;?>"><?php echo $contact['forename']; ?></option>
<?php
}
</select>