Re: Excellent language PHP5 is!

* Robert Meyer <robert@rmpse.com>: > There is one thing I hope is implemented in PHP soon. That is the ability > to pass by reference and receive the reference in variable parameter lists. > You can pass by reference to a function taking a variable number of > parameters, but func_get_arg() only returns the value and therefore, any > changes to that variable do not change the variable as seen by the caller. > Maybe a func_get_refarg() could be implemented. Indeed, there's a comment on the func_get_arg() manual page to this very effect. One possibility is to wrap the reference into an array: // in functioncall(): function functioncall() { $args = func_get_arg(0); $arg =& $args[0]; // retrieving reference from array $arg++; } $arg = 1; functioncall(array(&$arg)); // passing an array with a ref echo $arg; I tested this, and it works. Requires a bit more work in the function, but a little architecting could get it working. Another possiblity is to pass associative arrays to your functions; then, in your function, check for the existence of keys you need. The beauty of this approach is that you don't have to muck about with the func_get_arg() calls, you still get a variable number of arguments, and you can easily pass references. -- Matthew Weier O'Phinney | WEBSITES: Webmaster and IT Specialist | http://www.garden.org National Gardening Association | http://www.kidsgardening.com 802-863-5251 x156 | http://nationalgardenmonth.org mailto:matthew@garden.org | http://vermontbotanical.org