multiple returns in a php loop function

Question

I'm building a webscraper where I loop through multiple pages and 20 items per page.

Can I return this or should I use echo? I use echo right now but want to switch to return to have more control over the output per file (using this function in multiple pages).

function function1(){
    $link = $url;
    $url_items = $url2;
    for($pageNr=1; $pageNr<11; $pageNr++){
        $client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client(['base_uri' => $link]);
        $response = $client->request('GET', '/zoeken', [
            'query' => [
                'page' => $pageNr
            ]
        ]);
        if($response->getStatusCode() === 200){
            echo "Pagina: " . $pageNr . "<br/>";
            for($item = 1; $item <=20; $item++){
                $url = $url . "?" . $pageNr;
                $html = file_get_html($url);
                if(!empty($html)){
                    $content = $html->find("#resultitem-$item", 0)->find('.item-description2', 0)->find('.title', 0)->find('a', 0)->plaintext;
                    $content_url = $html->find("#resultitem-$item", 0)->find('.item-description2', 0)->find('.title', 0)->find('a', 0)->getAttribute('href', 0);
                    if(!empty($content)){
                        echo $item . ". <a href='" . $url_items . $content_url .  "'>" . $content ."</a><br/>";
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        sleep(2);
    }
}

I'm echoing a link back, but I want just the values so I can control it in my other pages.

I want to return $content and $content_url, how can I change this to return?

Answer 1

Make an array and then return it.

In your case here is an example:

function function1(){
    $link = $url;
    $url_items = $url2;
    $dataArr = array();
    for($pageNr=1; $pageNr<11; $pageNr++){
        $client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client(['base_uri' => $link]);
        $response = $client->request('GET', '/zoeken', [
            'query' => [
                'page' => $pageNr
            ]
        ]);
        if($response->getStatusCode() === 200){
            $data['pageNo'] = $pageNr;
            for($item = 1; $item <=20; $item++){
                $url = $url . "?" . $pageNr;
                $html = file_get_html($url);
                if(!empty($html)){
                    $content = $html->find("#resultitem-$item", 0)->find('.item-description2', 0)->find('.title', 0)->find('a', 0)->plaintext;
                    $content_url = $html->find("#resultitem-$item", 0)->find('.item-description2', 0)->find('.title', 0)->find('a', 0)->getAttribute('href', 0);
                    if(!empty($content)){
                        $data['content']        = $content;
                        $data['content_url']    = $content_url;
                        array_push($dataArr,$data);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        sleep(2);
    }
    return $dataArr;
}