how to break loop from nested function?

Question

Heres the problem

public function loop (){
    while($this->controlFunction()){
        //do stuff
    }
}
public function controlFunction (){
     $this->nestedFunction();
}

public function nestedFunction (){
   if($condA){ //whatsoever the condition
       break;
   } 
}

Is that possible ? I dont wanna return and then use a flag to return back again, seems like spaghetti code

Thanks for the answer guys, after thought, my question seems quite stupid though... Anyways thank you :)

Answer 1

As per the documentation :

break ends execution of the current for, foreach, while, do-while or switch structure

as calling a function changes the scope, the break statement will have no effect on the previous scope executing the while -loop.

In fact, because the scope is different than in the nestedFunction method, calling break will result in a fatal error ( E_ERROR ) because that scope is not aware of the while -loop running in the previous scope.

Fatal error: Cannot break/continue 1 level

So no, it is not possible.

Answer 2

Have you tried it yet? Regardless, returning a value is a better approach for clarity of what the function is supposed to do. You should always try to make functions independent, it is good practice.