Quickie (I guess...) - What does =& do?

Trying to learn php, and came across

=&

as in

$form =& $HTTP_POST_VARS;

I can't find any reference to =&, with no success in searching for a
definition (as though it's _so_ obvious it doesn't need explanation).

Thanks!

Glutinous wrote:
> Trying to learn php, and came across
>
> =&
>
> as in
>
> $form =& $HTTP_POST_VARS;
>
> I can't find any reference to =&, with no success in searching for a
> definition (as though it's _so_ obvious it doesn't need explanation).
>
> Thanks!
>
It sets $form to be another refernce to $HTTP_POST_VARS. Thus changing
the contents of one affects the other. Without the ampersand $form
becomes a copy of $HTTP_POST_VARS.

Glutinous wrote:
> Trying to learn php, and came across
> I can't find any reference to =&, with no success in searching for a
> definition (as though it's _so_ obvious it doesn't need explanation).

it's a reference

same as

$form = &$HTTP_POST_VARS;

--
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
jack@croatiabiz.com

On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 10:06:55 +0000, Kevin Thorpe <kevin@pricetrak.com>
wrote:

>Glutinous wrote:
>> Trying to learn php, and came across
>>
>> =&
>>
>> as in
>>
>> $form =& $HTTP_POST_VARS;
>>
>> I can't find any reference to =&, with no success in searching for a
>> definition (as though it's _so_ obvious it doesn't need explanation).
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>It sets $form to be another refernce to $HTTP_POST_VARS. Thus changing
>the contents of one affects the other. Without the ampersand $form
>becomes a copy of $HTTP_POST_VARS.

Thank you so much! Very helpful...

So whatever happens to the one, happens to the other also (in a manner
of speaking). As in ($input and $output being arbitary names):

<?php

$input =& $output;

echo '$input and $output are unassigned.<br>This is $input:'."
"."$input<br>";
echo 'This is $output:'." "."$output<br><br>";

$input = "Dogs";

echo '$input is now set to "Dogs".<br>This is $input:'."
"."$input<br>";
echo 'This is $output:'." "."$output<br><br>";

$output = "Cats";

echo '$output is now set to "Cats".<br>This is $input:'."
"."$input<br>";
echo 'This is $output:'." "."$output<br>";

?>

?

On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 11:09:37 +0100, "k-caj" <jack@iskrica.com> wrote:

>Glutinous wrote:
>> Trying to learn php, and came across
>> I can't find any reference to =&, with no success in searching for a
>> definition (as though it's _so_ obvious it doesn't need explanation).
>
>it's a reference
>
>same as
>
>$form = &$HTTP_POST_VARS;

Thank you. Your 'same as &$' enabled me to look up more info. I
appreciate your help!

Glutinous wrote:
>
> Thank you. Your 'same as &$' enabled me to look up more info. I
> appreciate your help!

Slightly off topic, but I've had trouble in the past looking up non-text
functions and operators (<<<, &, @, etc.). It seems Google likes to ignore
them, even when quoted. Does anyone know a good method/place to look these up?

Thanks,
Shawn

--
Shawn Wilson
shawn@glassgiant.com
http://www.glassgiant.com

On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 10:39:48 -0400, Shawn Wilson
<shawn@glassgiant.com> wrote:

>Glutinous wrote:
>>
>> Thank you. Your 'same as &$' enabled me to look up more info. I
>> appreciate your help!
>
>Slightly off topic, but I've had trouble in the past looking up non-text
>functions and operators (<<<, &, @, etc.). It seems Google likes to ignore
>them, even when quoted. Does anyone know a good method/place to look these up?
>
>Thanks,
>Shawn

Well, there's here... :-)

I even found searching the pdf-format php manual wasn't much help with
my query, and I didn't have any success with searching for lists of
functions and operators...

Shawn Wilson wrote:

> Slightly off topic, but I've had trouble in the past looking up non-text
> functions and operators (<<<, &, @, etc.). It seems Google likes to ignore
> them, even when quoted.

news:d6a0a71c.0201210351.671b1a4c@posting.google.c om

Mostly, nonalphanumerics aren't taken literally. But Google at
least treats ampersands literally. The hash character is an odd
one though.

--
Jock

"John Dunlop" <john+usenet@johndunlop.info> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:MPG.1a0789008961c1a3989793@news.freeserve.net ...
> Shawn Wilson wrote:
>
> > Slightly off topic, but I've had trouble in the past looking up non-text
> > functions and operators (<<<, &, @, etc.). It seems Google likes to
> > ignore
> > them, even when quoted.
>
> news:d6a0a71c.0201210351.671b1a4c@posting.google.c om

do you mean this?
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...ing.google.com

Does anybody know a good search engine for strings like 'en/(*)'? Google
will search for 'en *' instead of 'en/(*)'.

>
> Mostly, nonalphanumerics aren't taken literally. But Google at
> least treats ampersands literally. The hash character is an odd
> one though.
>
> --
> Jock

bye,
Markus

John Dunlop wrote:
>
> Shawn Wilson wrote:
>
> > Slightly off topic, but I've had trouble in the past looking up non-text
> > functions and operators (<<<, &, @, etc.). It seems Google likes to ignore
> > them, even when quoted.
>
> news:d6a0a71c.0201210351.671b1a4c@posting.google.c om
>
> Mostly, nonalphanumerics aren't taken literally. But Google at
> least treats ampersands literally. The hash character is an odd
> one though.
>
> --
> Jock

Thanks, that'll help in the future.

Shawn
--
Shawn Wilson
shawn@glassgiant.com
http://www.glassgiant.com