PHP code execution sequence - php

Question

I am trying to execute some lines of php code, but it seems that tey are not being execute in the required order. Here is a code snippet:-
if( !empty($_POST['val']) )
{
$val = Get_Val($sid, $_POST['val'], $lnk);
if($val)
{
echo "<br />Here Value : " . $val;
}
else
{
echo "Invalid Value.";
}
}
When I echo the value before returning in function Get_Val() it shows a positive number for some set of valid arguments, which means that the If-condition is true, but when I execute the code the Else part is being executed. Though the output appear in order, they are not consistent. I hope I have made the problem clear.
Any amount of help is appreciated. Thanks!
Here is Get_Val() function:-
function Get_Val( $sid, $a, $link)
{
//check is name is already present in table
$query = "SELECT val FROM store WHERE name = \"" . $a . "\""; //val is auto incremented in sql
$result = mysql_query( $query ,$link ) or die( mysql_error());
if($result)
{
$count = mysql_num_rows($result);
if( $count == 0 ) //insert name and the return val
{
$query_x = "INSERT INTO store(name) VALUES('" . $a . "')";
$result = mysql_query( $query_x ,$link ) or die( mysql_error());
if($result)//If new name inserted then return the 'val'
{
Get_Val($sid, $a,$link);
}
}
else
{
$row = mysql_fetch_assoc( $result );
echo "Val in Get_Val : " . $row['val'];
return $row['val'];
}
}
else
{
echo "Unexpected Error Occured...!!!";
exit(0);
}
}

Answer 1

what's with this:
if( $count Val in Get_Val : " . $row['val'];
return $row['val'];
}
are you sure that $_POST['val'] is a valid value that is stored in the db?

Answer 2

Get_Val does not return a value if $count == 0. Add a return statement before the recursive call. Like this:
...
if( $count == 0 ) //insert name and the return val
{
$query_x = "INSERT INTO store(name) VALUES('" . $a . "')";
$result = mysql_query( $query_x ,$link ) or die( mysql_error());
if($result)//If new name inserted then return the 'val'
{
return Get_Val($sid, $a,$link);
}
}
...