What am I doing wrong with this function?

I suspect it's because $capxsum is an object, not an array.

Try var_dump($capxsum) and see it's type.

HTH,
Dan

Add error_reporting(E_ALL) to the top of all of your PHP scripts.  Then things like incorrect data types and undefined variables will be visible and you won't be left in the dark, guessing.  This will not prevent logic errors, but it will reveal a multitude of potential problems.

Omit the "global" declaration for $_SESSION.  It's a superglobal.  Instead, print it out with var_dump($_SESSION) to see what data is in there.  It's a logic inflection point in your script.

Part of successful programming is using cleanly written code to demonstrate the logic you seek to achieve.  Unfortunately (unlike Python) PHP does not enforce coding standards so the programmer must deliberately write clean code.  If you line up the control structures you can often see what the logic is intended to do.

I do not know if this is the correct logic, but it will at least give you a starting point so you can visualize the logic flow and see what is in the variables.  You might give it a try and see if any surprises show up.

If you make these changes one thing is certain - your script will produce browser output when it calls the function.  If you make these changes and do not see browser output there is a logic error somewhere that is causing the function call to cer_capxsum() to be bypassed.

if(!function_exists('cer_capxsum')) 
{
    function cer_capxsum($mID)
    {
         global $edb;
         var_dump($edb);
         
         $sql_data = "exec cer_CapxSum $mID";
         var_dump($sql_data);
         
         if ($_SESSION["portaladmin"] == 1 && $_SESSION["showsql"] != "no")
         {
              $x = display_detail("cer/cer_functions.php", $sql_data);
              var_dump($x);
              
              $result_data = odbc_exec($edb, $sql_data);
              var_dump($result_data);
         }
         else
         {
             var_dump($_SESSION);
         }
    }
}
else
{
    trigger_error('Cer_CapXSum() ALREADY EXISTS', E_USER_ERROR);
}

Select allOpen in new window

I went back and retooled my code so I could better monitor what exactly was being chewed on and spit out. Here's what I did:

    if(!function_exists('cer_capxsum')) {
        function cer_capxsum($mID) {
         global $edb, $_SESSION;
         
         $data=array();
         $sql_data = "exec cer_CapxSum $mID";
          if ($_SESSION["portaladmin"] == 1 && $_SESSION["showsql"] != "no")
            echo display_detail("cer/cer_functions.php",$sql_data);
        $result_data = odbc_exec($edb, $sql_data);
            
            $count=0;
            while (odbc_fetch_row($result_data))
                  {
                  $count++;
                  $data[$count]["capxtotal"] = odbc_result($result_data, "capxtotal");
                   }  
             $data["count"]=$count;
             return $data;
    }

By doing this, I was able to incorporate the various pieces of counsel documented above and, as always, I'm grateful. Experts Exchange is the best Hamilton I part with every month!