PHP Script Trouble

[kbjradmin]

i have a php script designed to build the code for an HTML format résumé. however, every time i run this script, the $resumeCode variable (where i'm storing the HTML) turns up empty. i tried dumping the value of the variable and it returned NULL. here is the script:

<?php



// sets category code block for resume
function resumeCategory($title){
    $code = '<div class="category"><h1>'.$title.'</h1><hr /></div>';
    return $code;
}



// sets education code block for resume
function resumeEdu($school,$loc,$degree,$date){
    $code = '<div class="eduBlock"><p>'.$school.' '.$loc.'<br />'.$degree.'<br />'.$date.'</p></div>';
    return $code;
}



// sets two column list for resume
function resumeList($items){
    $minItems = 4;            # any list containing this many or less items will be one column
    if ( count($items) <= $minItems ){
        $code = '<div class="itemlist">';
        for ($i = 0; $i <= count($items); $i++){
            $code = $code.'<p>'.$items[$i].'</p>'."\n";
        }
        $code = $code.'</div>';
    }
    else{
        $numItemsHalf = count($items) / 2;
        $code1 = '<div class="itemlist1">';
        for ($i = 0; $i <= $numItemsHalf-1; $i++){
            $code1 = $code1.'<p>'.$items[$i].'</p>'."\n";
            $code1 = $code1.'</div>';
        }
        $code2 = '<div class="itemlist2">';
        for ($i = $numItemsHalf; $i <= count($items); $i++){
            $code2 = $code2.'<p>'.$items[$i].'</p>'."\n";
            $code2 = $code2.'</div>';
        }
        $code = '<div class="compoundList">'.$code1."\n".$code2.'</div>';
    }
    return $code;
}



// sets experience block for resume
function resumeExp($title,$compName,$date,$desc){
    $code = '<div class="exp"><h1>'.$title.'</h1><h2>'.$compName.'</h2><h3>'.$date.'</h3><p>'.$desc.'</p></div>';
    return $code;
}



// sets reference block for resume
function resumeRef($name,$relation,$phone,$email){
    $code = '<div class="ref"><h1>'.$name.'</h1><h2>'.$relation.'</h2><h3>'.$phone.'</h3><h4>'.$email.'</h4></div>';
    return $code;
}




// sets resume code
$resumeCode = '<div id="resume">'.

//*
resumeCategory(
    'Education'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeEdu(
    'Clark College',
    'Vancouver, Wa',
    'Associates in Applied Technology',
    'To Be Completed: June 2009'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeCategory(
    'Major College Courses'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeList(
    array(
        'Intro To Programming',
        'Intro To Unix',
        'Calculus I'
        )
    ).//*/

//*
resumeCategory(
    'Skills'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeList(
    array(
        'Microsoft Office 2003/2007',
        'XHTML 1.0, CSS',
        'PHP',
        'Python',
        'Logical Problem Solving',
        'Windows XP / Vista / DOS (also 95 and 98)',
        'Debian Linux (can use VI)',
        'Unix Shell Scripting',
        'Higher Level Mathematics',
        'Website Administration',
        'Currently Studying Perl'
        )
    ).//*/

//*
resumeCategory(
    'Experience'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeExp(
    'Webmaster',
    '',
    '',
    'Designed and coded personal portfolio site using XHTML, CSS, and PHP. Site validated for XHTML Transitional 1.0 and CSS Level 2.1. I am also currently in the process of building a template selling site and a form/mailing script generating site. All sites are available through my main portal at http://kbjr.x10hosting.com.'
    ).//*/
    
//*
resumeExp(
    'Shell Programmer',
    '',
    '',
    'Wrote multiple useful Linux shell scripts. Scripts were written under Debian Linux using VI and written for use in the bash shell. Scripts written include a script for echoing text in color and locking the Linux terminal.'
    ).//*/
    
//*
resumeExp(
    'Python Programmer',
    '',
    '',
    'Wrote multiple simple scripts including an extension to the built-in math library, a statistics library, a basic module for converting between strings and lists, a card deck handling system, and a text-interface poker game.'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeCategory(
    'References'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeRef(
    'Gail Thurber',
    'Web Design Instructor',
    '(360) 604 - 6227',
    ''
    ).//*/

'</div>';
//*/



?>

please help

[leafypiggy]

Why would you write such a complicated script when you could just do it with plain HTML?

[kbjradmin]

Why would you write such a complicated script when you could just do it with plain HTML?

two reasons; one, so it will be easier to change in the future, and two, because i want to get better at my PHP.

[Livewire]

It's gunna be extra work, but for the sake of argument, echo the result of each function on a separate line in html - my guess is one of them is going to return a blank(null) line, and that may very well be messing up the entire $resumeCode line.


Course that also brings up another question - why not just echo the result of each function back to HTML, instead of putting it in $resumeCode? If you're only gunna need it all once, you might as well just dump it straight to user instead of storing it in a variable first.

[kbjradmin]

ok, so i tried putting this in the actual page:

<?php echo resumeCategory("test"); ?>

but it still won't show up, and on top of that, everything below that point in the source code doesn't show up either.

i know this isn't just the resumeCategory() function because i tried the resumeEdu() function as well, and it did the same thing.

[leafypiggy]

if you echo the string in the function

its just

theFunction(); 

[kbjradmin]

i didn't echo the results, i used return; but i will try it with echo in the function.

edit:
nope, didn't work.

[leafypiggy]

Then nothing is being passed to the script

[kbjradmin]

what do you mean?

in case it helps, here are the files i used.

resume.php (the actual page):

<?php
$id = 2;        # unique page id number
include('resumeconfig.php;');
include('config.php');
?>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">

<head>

<!--Data Tags-->
<title><?php echo $pageTitle[0].$pageTitle[$id]; ?></title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
<meta name="Author" content="James Brumond" />

<!--Includes-->
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="media/favicon.ico" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" />
<!--[if IE]><link rel="stylesheet" href="ie.css" /><![endif]-->

</head>

<body>

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="maindiv.js"></script><!--Open Centered DIV Tag-->

<?php
echo $headCode;
echo $menuCode;
?>

<div id="frame">

<div id="content">
<div id="resumelinks">
<label>View in Microsoft Word (.doc) format - <a href="<?php echo $menuUrls[0].'resume.doc'; ?>">Click Here</a></label><br />
<label>View in Portable Document Format (.pdf) - <a href="<?php echo $menuUrls[0].'resume.pdf'; ?>">Click Here</a></label>
</div>

<p class="para">The HTML Version of This Page is Currently Down For Rebuilding.</p>

<?php
echo $resumeCode;
?>

</div>

</div>

<?php echo $footCode; ?>

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="close.js"></script><!--Close Centered DIV Tag-->

</body>

</html>

resumeconfig.php:

<?php



// sets category code block for resume
function resumeCategory($title){
    $code = '<div class="category"><h1>'.$title.'</h1><hr /></div>';
    return $code;
}



// sets education code block for resume
function resumeEdu($school,$loc,$degree,$date){
    $code = '<div class="eduBlock"><p>'.$school.' '.$loc.'<br />'.$degree.'<br />'.$date.'</p></div>';
    return $code;
}



// sets two column list for resume
function resumeList($items){
    $minItems = 4;            # any list containing this many or less items will be one column
    if ( count($items) <= $minItems ){
        $code = '<div class="itemlist">';
        for ($i = 0; $i <= count($items); $i++){
            $code = $code.'<p>'.$items[$i].'</p>'."\n";
        }
        $code = $code.'</div>';
    }
    else{
        $numItemsHalf = count($items) / 2;
        $code1 = '<div class="itemlist1">';
        for ($i = 0; $i <= $numItemsHalf-1; $i++){
            $code1 = $code1.'<p>'.$items[$i].'</p>'."\n";
            $code1 = $code1.'</div>';
        }
        $code2 = '<div class="itemlist2">';
        for ($i = $numItemsHalf; $i <= count($items); $i++){
            $code2 = $code2.'<p>'.$items[$i].'</p>'."\n";
            $code2 = $code2.'</div>';
        }
        $code = '<div class="compoundList">'.$code1."\n".$code2.'</div>';
    }
    return $code;
}



// sets experience block for resume
function resumeExp($title,$compName,$date,$desc){
    $code = '<div class="exp"><h1>'.$title.'</h1><h2>'.$compName.'</h2><h3>'.$date.'</h3><p>'.$desc.'</p></div>';
    return $code;
}



// sets reference block for resume
function resumeRef($name,$relation,$phone,$email){
    $code = '<div class="ref"><h1>'.$name.'</h1><h2>'.$relation.'</h2><h3>'.$phone.'</h3><h4>'.$email.'</h4></div>';
    return $code;
}




// sets resume code
$resumeCode = '<div id="resume">'.

//*
resumeCategory(
    'Education'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeEdu(
    'Clark College',
    'Vancouver, Wa',
    'Associates in Applied Technology',
    'To Be Completed: June 2009'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeCategory(
    'Major College Courses'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeList(
    array(
        'Intro To Programming',
        'Intro To Unix',
        'Calculus I'
        )
    ).//*/

//*
resumeCategory(
    'Skills'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeList(
    array(
        'Microsoft Office 2003/2007',
        'XHTML 1.0, CSS',
        'PHP',
        'Python',
        'Logical Problem Solving',
        'Windows XP / Vista / DOS (also 95 and 98)',
        'Debian Linux (can use VI)',
        'Unix Shell Scripting',
        'Higher Level Mathematics',
        'Website Administration',
        'Currently Studying Perl'
        )
    ).//*/

//*
resumeCategory(
    'Experience'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeExp(
    'Webmaster',
    '',
    '',
    'Designed and coded personal portfolio site using XHTML, CSS, and PHP. Site validated for XHTML Transitional 1.0 and CSS Level 2.1. I am also currently in the process of building a template selling site and a form/mailing script generating site. All sites are available through my main portal at http://kbjr.x10hosting.com.'
    ).//*/
    
//*
resumeExp(
    'Shell Programmer',
    '',
    '',
    'Wrote multiple useful Linux shell scripts. Scripts were written under Debian Linux using VI and written for use in the bash shell. Scripts written include a script for echoing text in color and locking the Linux terminal.'
    ).//*/
    
//*
resumeExp(
    'Python Programmer',
    '',
    '',
    'Wrote multiple simple scripts including an extension to the built-in math library, a statistics library, a basic module for converting between strings and lists, a card deck handling system, and a text-interface poker game.'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeCategory(
    'References'
    ).//*/

//*
resumeRef(
    'Gail Thurber',
    'Web Design Instructor',
    '(360) 604 - 6227',
    ''
    ).//*/

'</div>';
//*/



?>

config.php:

<?php

#
# config.php
# By: James Brumond
# Created: 27 January, 2009
#

// declare arrays for use
$pageTitle = array();           # page titles
$menuUrls = array();            # urls used in menuGen() function
$menuText = array();            # text used in menuGen() function

// flags
$flags[0] = 1;          # display copyright?
$flags[1] = 1;          # display center index?
$flags[2] = 1;          # display valid XHTML/CSS?

// define page titles
$pageTitle[0] = 'James Brumond - Professional Portfolio';       # base prepended to all titles
$pageTitle[1] = ' - Home';                                      # ~/www/index.php
$pageTitle[2] = ' - R&eacute;sum&eacute;';                      # ~/www/resume.php
$pageTitle[3] = ' - Portfolio';                                 # ~/www/portfolio/*.php
$pageTitle[4] = ' - Contact Me';                                # ~/www/contact/index.php
$pageTitle[5] = ' - Site Map';                                  # ~/www/sitemap.php
$pageTitle[6] = ' - Contact Me';                                # ~/www/contact/process.php
$pageTitle[10] = ' - Error: '.$eCode.$eName;                    # ~/www/error.php

// define menu urls
$menuUrls[0] = 'http://portfolio.kbjr.x10hosting.com/'; # base url
$menuUrls[1] = $menuUrls[0].'index.php';                # home page
$menuUrls[2] = $menuUrls[0].'resume.php';               # resume page
$menuUrls[3] = $menuUrls[0].'portfolio/';               # porfolio page
$menuUrls[4] = $menuUrls[0].'contact/';                 # contact page
$menuUrls[5] = $menuUrls[0].'sitemap.php';              # sitemap page

// define menu text
$menuText[1] = 'Home';                          # home page
$menuText[2] = 'R&eacute;sum&eacute;';          # resume page
$menuText[3] = 'Portfolio';                     # portfolio page
$menuText[4] = 'Contact Me';                    # contact page
$menuText[5] = 'Site Map';                      # sitemap page
$menuText[6] = 'Contact Me - '.$success;        # contact process page
$menuText[10] = 'Error: '.$eCode.' - '.$eName;  # error page

// define header data
$headData['img'] = $menuUrls[0].'media/header.png';
$headData['logo'] = $menuUrls[0].'media/logoSmall.png';
$headData['text'] = 'James Brumond - Profesional Portfolio';
$headData['sub'] = $menuText[$id];

function headGen($headData){
    $headCode = '<div id="head">
    <img src="'.$headData['logo'].'" class="logo" alt="" />
    <img src="'.$headData['img'].'" class="head" alt="" />
    <h1 class="head">'.$headData['text'].'</h1>
    <h2 class="head">'.$headData['sub'].'</h2>'./*
    <a href="javascript:hidden();" class="hidden"><img src="'.$menuUrls[0].'media/blank.gif" class="hidden" alt="" /></a>
    .*/'</div>';
    return $headCode;
}

function menuGen($menuUrls, $menuText){
    $menuCode = '<div id="menu"><p>'."\n";
    for ( $i = 1; $i <= count($menuUrls)-1; $i++ ){
        $menuCode = $menuCode.'<a href="'.$menuUrls[$i].'" class="menu">'.$menuText[$i].'</a>';
        $menuCode = $menuCode."\n";
    }
    $menuCode = $menuCode.'</p></div>';
    return $menuCode;
}

function footGen($flags, $menuUrls, $menuText){
    $footCode = '<div id="foot">
    <div id="left">';
    // first flag
    if ($flags[0]){ $footCode = $footCode.'<p>Copyright 2009.</p>'; }
    $footCode = $footCode.'</div>
    <div id="center">';
    // second flag
    if ($flags[1]){
        $menuIndex = '<p>'."\n";
        for ( $i = 1; $i <= (count($menuUrls)-1); $i++ ){
            $menuIndex = $menuIndex.'<a href="'.$menuUrls[$i].'" class="index">'.$menuText[$i].'</a>'."\n";
            if ( $i != 5 ){
                $menuIndex = $menuIndex.' | '."\n";
            }
            else{
                $menuIndex = $menuIndex."\n";
            }
        }
        $footCode = $footCode.$menuIndex.'</p>';
    }
    $footCode = $footCode.'</div>
    <div id="right">';
    // third flag
    if ($flags[2]){
        $footCode = $footCode.'<p>Valid <a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer" class="valid">XHTML</a>
        and <a href="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/" class="valid">CSS</a>!</p>';
    }
    $footCode = $footCode.'</div>
    </div>';
    return $footCode;
}

function sitemapItem($num,$url,$title,$description){
    $code = '<div class="sitemap'.$num.'">
    <a href="'.$url.'">'.$title.'</a>
    <p>'.$description.'</p>
    </div>';
    return $code;
}

$headCode = headGen($headData);
$menuCode = menuGen($menuUrls, $menuText);
$footCode = footGen($flags, $menuUrls, $menuText);

?>

[kbjradmin]

i'm also having trouble with a function that's supposed to generate the html for a navagation menu.

here is the php function

function menuGen($menuUrls, $menuText){
    $menuCode = '<div id="smoothmenu1" class="ddsmoothmenu"><ul>';
    for ( $i = 1; $i <= count($menuUrls)-1; $i++ ){
    
        if ( is_array($menuUrls[$i]) ){
            $menuCode = $menuCode."\n".'<li><a href="'.$menuUrls[$i][0].'">'.$menuText[$i][0].'</a>'."\n".'<ul>';
            
            for ( $n = 1; $n <= count($menuUrls[$i])-1; $n++ ){
            
                if ( is_array($menuUrls[$i][$n]) ){
                    $menuCode = $menuCode."\n".'<li><a href="'.$menuUrls[$i][$n][0].'">'.$menuText[$i][$n][0].'</a>'."\n".'<ul>';
                    
                    for ( $m = 1; $m <= count($menuUrls[$i][$n])-1; $m++ ){
                        $menuCode = $menuCode."\n".'<li><a href="'.$menuUrls[$i][$n][$m].'">'.$menuText[$i][$n][$m].'</a></li>';
                    }
                    
                    $menuCode = $menuCode."\n".'</ul>';
                else{
                    $menuCode = $menuCode."\n".'<li><a href="'.$menuUrls[$i][$n].'">'.$menuText[$i][$n].'</a></li>';
                }
                
            }
            
            $menuCode = $menuCode."\n".'</ul>';
        }
        else{
            $menuCode = $menuCode."\n".'<li><a href="'.$menuUrls[$i].'">'.$menuText[$i].'</a></li>';
        }
        
            
    }
    $menuCode = $menuCode.'</ul></div>';
    return $menuCode;
} 

and its supposed to generate this html output

<div id="smoothmenu1" class="ddsmoothmenu">
<ul>
<li><a href="http://portfolio.kbjr.x10hosting.com">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="resume.php">Resume</a>
  <ul>
  <li><a href="resume.php">HTML Format</a></li>
  <li><a href="resume.pdf">PDF Format</a></li>
  <li><a href="resume.doc">MS Word Format (.doc)</a></li>
  </ul>
</li>
<li><a href="portfolio">Portfolio</a>
  <ul>
  <li><a href="portfolio/web">Web Development</a>
    <ul>
    <li><a href="portfolio/web/#">Item</a></li>
    <li><a href="portfolio/web/#">Item</a></li>
    <li><a href="portfolio/web/#">Item</a></li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li><a href="portfolio/python">Python Scripting</a>
    <ul>
    <li><a href="portfolio/python/#">Item</a></li>
    <li><a href="portfolio/python/#">Item</a></li>
    <li><a href="portfolio/python/#">Item</a></li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  
  <li><a href="portfolio/shell">Shell Programming</a>
    <ul>
    <li><a href="portfolio/shell/#">Item</a></li>
    <li><a href="portfolio/shell/#">Item</a></li>
    <li><a href="portfolio/shell/#">Item</a></li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  </ul>
</li>
<li><a href="contact.php">Contact Me</a></li>

<li><a href="sitemap.php">Site Map</a></li>
</ul>
</div>

but all i get is a blank page.
please help.