RE: [PHP] Declaring variables from the url

> PHP list, > > I have many times set the value of a variable by declaring it in the > URL, like so: > > http://www.domain.com/index.php?var=1 > > And then, to use the variable, all I have to do is use it in > the script, > like so: > > echo "This is the value of the variable: " . $var; > > But, for some reason, in a script I'm writing now, this > simple process > isn't working. > > The only thing I can think of that is different between > before and now > is that the new script is being executed in PHP5, whereas before was > with PHP4. > > In my new script, I check the value of $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'], the > value is contained in there, so it is being assigned and > contained somehow. > > What could I possibly be missing in what should be a super > simple process? To expand on Jay's excellent advice, you have been depending on "register globals" to set the variable names for you. This is widely regarded as a bad practice, because you don't know for sure where $var came from. You should ALWAYS use $var=$_GET['var'] when taking values from the url to set a variable. For more information on the evils of register globals, STFA. There have been many discussions in this list on that topic. JM