Troubles Accessing Global Variables

Hi, I'm having troubles accessing the global variables. From my understanding of PHP, when you declare a variable 'global' it is no longer just in the local scope, but becomes known in the global scope of the program. In file, 'layout.php' ... function top_sidebar_header() { global $g_graphic; echo $g_graphic; } In file, 'body.php' ... include_once( $GLOBALS["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/include/layout.php" ); top_sidebar_header(); // function is called, but when "echo $g_graphic" is executed, // nothing prints out because $g_graphic is empty or "" In file, 'about/index.php' ... $g_graphic = "/media/image.jpg"; include_once( $GLOBALS["DOCUMENT_ROOT"] . "/body.php" ); Have I overlooked something crucial? I haven't been able to find much documentation on this topic. (Please keep in mind that I am also a newbie at PHP. :) ) ~ It'd be really great if any of you have suggestions on this. Thanks in advance, Adelaide