set maximum of items that you can make in function - php

Question

How can I say in/with the follow (see below) function that you can make max 3 items? And if you will make more than three items the function will stop and you get a warning?
function addSection() {
global $compid;
$sectionOb = new Item();
$sectionOb->i_id_pk = $sectionOb->newId();
$sectionOb->i_mod_comp_id_fk = $compid;
$sectionOb->c_titel = '';
$sectionOb->c_content = '';
$sectionOb->i_sort = $sectionOb->newSort($compid);
$sectionOb->insert();
}
if($action == 'add') {
addSection();
}
<a href="<?php echo $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] ?>&action=add" />new section</a>

Answer 1

Use a static counter variable:
function limited() {
static $invocationcount = 0;
++$invocationcount;
if($invocationcount <= 3) {
echo "You have called this function $invocationcount times.";
}
else {
echo "Stop doing that!";
}
}
See it in action.

Answer 2

If you are not too concerned about URL spoofing, I would add a counter variable in the URL which is passed to the addSection() method like so:
function addSection($count) {
if ($count >= 3) { return $count; }
global $compid;
$sectionOb = new Item();
$sectionOb->i_id_pk = $sectionOb->newId();
$sectionOb->i_mod_comp_id_fk = $compid;
$sectionOb->c_titel = '';
$sectionOb->c_content = '';
$sectionOb->i_sort = $sectionOb->newSort($compid);
$sectionOb->insert();
// Return incremented count
return $count + 1;
}
// Retrieve the last count from the URL
$count = isset($_GET['count']) ? intval($_GET['count']) : 0;
// Increment the count if the action is add and the addSection method suceedes
if($action == 'add') {
$count = addSection($count);
}
// Add count to the URL so we know what it is
<a href="<?php echo $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] ?>&action=add&count=<?php echo $count; ?>" />new section</a>

Answer 3

Thanks a lot for help!! I have do it as follow:
function limit() {
global $compid;
$i = 0;
++$i;
$a_all = page1::page2Id($compid);
$i = sizeof($a_all);
if($i <= 2) {
$sectionOb = section();
$sectionOb->i_id_pk = $sectionOb->newId();
$sectionOb->i_mod_comp_id_fk = $compid;
$sectionOb->c_titel = '';
$sectionOb->c_content = '';
$sectionOb->i_sort = $sectionOb->newSort($compid);
$sectionOb->insert();
return true;
}
else {
return false;
}
}