Retrieving array values from within a class - php

Question

Working on my first OOP app and I am having some trouble accessing the values of an array returned by a public function within my class. Here is the function -
//Process new transaction
public function addTransaction($amount, $payee, $category, $date, $notes) {
global $db;
//Check to see if payee exists in Payee table
$checkPayee = $db->prepare("SELECT * FROM payees WHERE name = ?");
$checkPayee->execute(array($payee));
$checkPayeeNum = $checkPayee->fetchColumn();
$payeeDetails = $checkPayee->fetch();
if ($checkPayeeNum < 1) {
$insertPayee = $db->prepare("INSERT INTO payees (name, cat) VALUES(?, ?)");
$insertPayee->execute(array($payee, $cat));
} else {
if ($payeeDetails['cat'] == "") {
$updatePayee = $db->prepare("UPDATE payees SET cat=? WHERE name=?");
$updatePayee->execute(array($cat, $payee));
}
}
//Process the transaction
$proc = $db->prepare("INSERT INTO transactions (amount, payee, cat, date, notes) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)");
$proc->execute(array($amount, $payee, $cat, $date, $notes));
//Prepare array for JSON output
$todaysTrans = $this->fetchDailyTotal();
$weeklyTotal = $this->fetchWeeklyTotal();
$accountBalance = $this->balanceAccount();
$jsonOutput = array("dailyTotal" => $todaysTrans, "weeklyTotal" => $weeklyTotal, "accountBalance" => $accountBalance);
return $jsonOutput;
}
Instantiating the object is not the issue, trying to figure out how to access the $jsonOutput array. How would one accomplish this?
Thanks!

Answer 1

// In some other PHP file...
include 'YourClass.php';
$yourObject = new YourClass();
$returnedArray = $yourObject->addTransaction(...);
// Access the returned array values
echo 'Daily Total: ', $returnedArray['dailyTotal'], "\n";
echo 'Weekly Total: ', $returnedArray['weeklyTotal'], "\n";
echo 'Account Balance: ', $returnedArray['accountBalance'], "\n";
Also, for what it's worth, it's very confusing for you to be returning a PHP array called $jsonOutput, as it's not JSON encoded, which is what most developers will expect it to be. If you're wanting it to be JSON encoded, use json_encode() (see here for more info).