Variable invisible outside a function - php

Question

I have written a query to get customer information from my database but say I want to use it on another page. I don't want to have to copy and paste to the other page to use it.
I have looked at a function but I don't know how to get the variables out of the function.
This is my current function:
function getCustomer($customerid) {
$getcustomer = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM hire_customers WHERE id='".$customerid."'");
$fetch = mysql_fetch_assoc($getcustomer);
$cust_firstname = $fetch['firstname'];
$cust_lastname = $fetch['lastname'];
$cust_address = $fetch['address'];
$cust_town = $fetch['town'];
$cust_postcode = $fetch['postcode'];
$cust_cont1 = $fetch['contact1'];
$cust_number1 = $fetch['contactnumber1'];
$cust_cont2 = $fetch['contact2'];
$cust_number = $fetch['contactnumber2'];
$cust_email = $fetch['email'];
$cust_idform1 = $fetch['idform1'];
$cust_idnfo1 = $fetch['idinfo1'];
$cust_idform2 = $fetch['idform2'];
$cust_idinfo2 = $fetch['idinfo2'];
$cust_enterdby = $fetch['enteredby'];
}
This is my customer page
getCustomer($customerid);
echo $cust_firstname;
but nothing is echoed out.
Do I need to be looking at a class or object to do this? Have I gone wrong with my function.
What I would like to do is have a PHP file with all my customer functions (update, select, etc) in one place.

Answer 1

I think you should just return $fetch and then access it as a variable outside of the function.
function getCustomer($customerid) {
$customerid = mysql_real_escape_string($customerid);
$getcustomer = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM hire_customers WHERE id='".$customerid."'");
$fetch = mysql_fetch_assoc($getcustomer);
return $fetch;
}
$data=getCustomer($customerid);
echo data['firstname'];

Answer 2

This should get you started:
function getCustomer($customerid) {
$getcustomer = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM hire_.. etc");
$customer_data = mysql_fetch_assoc($getcustomer);
return $customer_data; // return here
}
$customer = getCustomer($customerid);
$cust_firstname = $customer['firstname'];

Answer 3

you need to return a value from your function return $variable;

Answer 4

In your code, variable $cust_firstname; is visible only inside that function.
Please read this: PHP variable scope
It works like this to reduce memory usage on web server - when function ends - variable is destroyed and memory freed.
Basically - you have to return that value somehow. Dave Chen wrote nice answer above/below, you can use his code.
BTW you can use extract(); function and reduce your code size and save a lot of time.
It works like this:
$fetch = mysql_fetch_assoc($getcustomer);
extract($fetch, EXTR_PREFIX_ALL, "cust_"); // creates variables from associative array
echo $cust_firstname; // magic! :)