PHP require_once variable scope

Question

Consider below scenario -

File : array.php

<?php
    $array1 = array();
    $array1['name'] = "Adam";
    $array1['gender'] = "Male";
    $array1['age'] = 34;

File : file1.php

<?php 
    function printArrayContent(){
        require_once 'array.php';
        var_dump($array1);
    }
printArrayContent();

include_once "file2.php";

File : file2.php

<?php 
    require_once "array.php";
    echo "File 2";
    print_r($array1);

When I run file1.php I get below output -

OUTPUT

array(3) {
 'name' =>
 string(4) "Adam"
 'gender' =>
 string(4) "Male"
 'age' =>
 int(34)
}
File 2PHP Notice:  Undefined variable: array1 in /private/tmp/file2.php on line 4
PHP Stack trace:
PHP   1. {main}() /private/tmp/file1.php:0
PHP   2. include_once() /private/tmp/file1.php:11

Notice: Undefined variable: array1 in /private/tmp/file2.php on line 4

Call Stack:
 0.0212     230512   1. {main}() /private/tmp/file1.php:0
 0.0226     232424   2. include_once('/private/tmp/file2.php') /private/tmp/file1.php:11

Why am I not able to access $array1 in file2 ? What is the solution for this (except storing $array1 in $GLOBALS variable)?

Answer 1

require_once includes ONCE a same file. Since your already have included it in your file1.php , PHP engine does not include it another time in your file2.php and so you don't have access to the variables in your file2.php scope.