Function is finding an entry, but not returning it

Question

I want to loop through database fields till I find the mother of all children. When I echo the $page->id in the findMother() function (instead of returning it) it gives me the correct page id, but it doesn't return it to the second function.

private function findMother($id) {
    $page = Page::find($id);
    if($page->parent_id != 0 || $page->parent_id != null) {
        $this->findMother($page->parent_id);
    } else {
        // if I echo the $page->id here it shows me the correct mother page id
        return $page->id;
    }
}

private function loadSubPages($api) {
    $page = Page::where('api', $api)->first();
    $mother = $this->findMother($page->id);
    die('mother: ' . $mother); // $mother is empty
}

Anybody have an idea what I am missing here?

You are calling findMother recursively and you die on first call. Try to replace die with var_dump and you will see the result. I don't if is a good thing to call findMother recursively (many db queries). — Mirceac21, Dec 23 '15 at 16:19

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 23 '15 at 16:02

1

You should return the result of the function call :

do

return $this->findMother($page->parent_id);

instead of

$this->findMother($page->parent_id);

This way you will return the result

answered Dec 23 '15 at 16:02

jiboulex

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Ooh jeez. It must be my last working day for this year :$ You are right, I should've put something like `$mother = $this->findMother($page->parent_id);` and then return `$mother` – Alvin Bakker Dec 23 '15 at 16:33

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 23 '15 at 16:40

Thanks to jiboulex I solved it with below changes:

private function findMother($id) {
    $page = Page::find($id);
    $return = $page->id;
    if($page->parent_id != 0 || $page->parent_id != null) {
        return $this->findMother($page->parent_id);
    } else {
        return $return;
    }
}

Function is finding an entry, but not returning it

2 Answers2