Question

How can I place a variable inside a function when it is run in order to preg_match the right information. Here is my existing code:

$username = "test";
function is_txt($file) {
return preg_match('/backup-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+_[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}_'.$username.'.tar.gz/', $file) > 0;
}

What I am attempting to do is pull the $username variable from outside the function and allow it to be seen within it so I can pull the right matches in my while loop. While the previous comes back blank, if i do the following it works:

$username = "test";
function is_txt($file) {
$username = "test";
return preg_match('/backup-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+_[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}_'.$username.'.tar.gz/', $file) > 0;
}

Answer 1

You need to import the var with global:

function is_txt($file) {
    global $username;
    return preg_match('/backup-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+_[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]  {2}_'.$username.'.tar.gz/', $file) > 0;
}

But passing the value in as a parameter as explained by Jonah is a better solution in most cases.