I'm trying to create and call a PHP function that uses multiple statements

Question

I'm writing an NPC generator for use with D&D 3.5, and I've gotten the kinds of results I want by "randomly" sampling various PHP arrays using

print_r(array_rand($a,1));

The whole bit which generates an NPC is of that style, with arrays labeled $a through $e. A result from my code comes out like this (array labels added for a little clarification)

($a)Half-Orc ($b)male: ($c)Young, ($d)with a relaxed, peaceful disposition 
($e)and some items that need to be fetched/located.

My problem is that I can't figure out exactly how to make a block of these statements into a function which can be called. I've tried using

function Generator(){
print_r(array_rand($a,1));
print_r(array_rand($b,1));
print_r(array_rand($c,1));
print_r(array_rand($d,1));
print_r(array_rand($e,1));
}

But it's gotten me nowhere when I try to call it using

Generator();

Am I just being stupid, or is there something I'm seriously missing?

Answer 1

A function/method consists of the statements inside the braces (in this case none) What you probably mean to do is put the print_r statements inside the function;

function Generator(){
    print_r(array_rand($a,1));
    print_r(array_rand($b,1));
    print_r(array_rand($c,1));
    print_r(array_rand($d,1));
    print_r(array_rand($e,1));
}

Also, unless $a - $e are global variables, you'll want to pass them in as parameters;

function Generator($a, $b, $c, $d, $e){
    print_r(array_rand($a,1));
    print_r(array_rand($b,1));
    print_r(array_rand($c,1));
    print_r(array_rand($d,1));
    print_r(array_rand($e,1));
}

...and call it using;

Generator($a, $b, $c, $d, $e);