php: function breaks when included from different file

Question

I'm trying to write a wrapper around Image_Graph bar charts. I actually wrote the whole thing but in the end didn't work, so now I'm back to the basics. This code below is taken directly from the ImageGraph website as a bar chart example. I just wrapped it in a function (where $data is ignored for now).

This function works fine if I call it from the same file it's defined in (say, function.php). However, if I make a second file, caller.php where I just include_once or require_once this file function.php and then just call the function, it breaks.

Can anyone help me? I'm probably doing some basic mistake but I just can't figure it out. It might also be something specific to Image_Graph because if I make a simple function that just prints Hello World and call that from another file, it works fine.

Thanks, Daniel

<?php
include_once('Image/Graph.php');

function DrawBarChart($width, $height, $data)
{
 // create the graph
 $graph = Image_Graph::factory('graph', array($width, $height));

 // create the plotarea
 $plotArea =& $graph->addNew('plotarea');

 // create a dataset
 $dataset =& Image_Graph::factory('dataset');

 // add points
 $dataset->addPoint('Denmark', 10); 
 $dataset->addPoint('Norway', 3); 
 $dataset->addPoint('Sweden', 8); 
 $dataset->addPoint('Finland', 5); 

 $plot =& $plotArea->addNew('bar', &$dataset); 

 $graph->done();
}
?>

Daniel - first thing, could you be more specific than "it breaks"? :) Pasting the error message or how it's broken would be useful in coming up with a good answer. — rjh
– rjh, Commented Mar 5, 2010 at 1:56
When I say it breaks it actually means different things depending on what I'm trying to do :) - If I try an empty script that only calls that function - On IE I get an empty page with the broken-link image on the top-left corner. - On Firefox I get an error message "The image “localhost/test.php” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors." - If I include this function call in another page I have that already shows some graphs I get what looks like a binary output converted to text: �PNG �� IHDR��,��ݽK — Daniel
– Daniel, Commented Mar 5, 2010 at 2:32
Do you have PHP errors turned on? The PHP errors would be useful to see. — staticsan
– staticsan, Commented Mar 5, 2010 at 4:09

s1d · Accepted Answer · 2010-03-05 04:55:58Z

2

It seems you are trying to output the image through your php file itself. Do you have a line in your original script which reads like header('Content-Type:image/jpeg') ?

You might want to just write the image to a directory and then load it via img src='path' on html instead of just loading it via php.

answered Mar 5, 2010 at 4:55

s1d

5404 silver badges15 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Daniel Over a year ago

That's it. I just added an <img> tag in my caller script and it worked perfectly. <img src="function.php"> Thanks s1d :)

Zak · Accepted Answer · 2010-03-05 01:59:14Z

0

Check to make sure the files are both in the same location. If they are in different directories, that can cause a problem if your included file isn't picking up the library from an include path.

answered Mar 5, 2010 at 1:59

Zak

25.3k11 gold badges42 silver badges68 bronze badges

1 Comment

Daniel Over a year ago

They are in different directories but I even tried setting absolute paths on my includes. Thing is, it seems to find the files alright, because if I change the function to something simpler, like printing Hello World, it works fine.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

php: function breaks when included from different file

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

1 Comment

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

1 Comment

Related