PHP Web Counter - php

Question

I'm trying to do a web counter, that count number who visit my website.
I use a txtfile as a counter, however when I start loading my web there was an error encounter.
Message: file_put_contents() [function.file-put-contents]: Filename cannot be empty
<?php if(! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');
class Login extends CI_Controller{
function _construct(){
parent::__construct();
}
function index(){
//Function Web Counter (count visitor)
$filename = 'counterePOD.txt';
function inc_count() {
global $filename;
if (file_exists($filename)){
$current_value = file_get_contents($filename);
}else{
$current_value = 0;
}
file_put_contents($filename, ++$current_value);
}
inc_count();
}
$this->load->view('login_view');
}
}
?>
Somebody can tell what is the exact meaning of the error msg: "Filename cannot be empty"??

Answer 1

You should use a more OOP approach and pass the filename to the inc_count function:
<?php if(! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');
class Login extends CI_Controller{
function _construct(){
parent::__construct();
}
function inc_count($filename) {
if (file_exists($filename)){
$current_value = file_get_contents($filename);
}else{
$current_value = 0;
}
file_put_contents($filename, ++$current_value);
}
function index(){
//Function Web Counter (count visitor)
$this->inc_count('counterePOD.txt');
$this->load->view('login_view');
}
}
?>

Answer 2

Pass the filename as an argument of the function like this. using global variable is not a good practice..
//Function definition
function inc_count($filename) {
if (file_exists($filename)){
$current_value = file_get_contents($filename);
}else{
$current_value = 0;
}
file_put_contents($filename, ++$current_value);
}
//Function call
$filename = 'counterePOD.txt';
inc_count($filename);