PHP - Return reference -

i m trying create function take array , create columns , values don't know how return references functions. appreciated.

private function data($data) {      $columns = "";     $values = array();      foreach ($data $column => $value) {         $columns .= ($columns == '') ? '' : ', ';         $columns .= $column;         $values[$column] = &$data[$column];     }      return array($columns, $values);  } 

this function inserts data in database.

/** * insert item items table. * * @param (array) $data - column => value array created in item class. */ public function insertitem($data) {      $columns = "";     $values = array();      $prep = "isiisiisiiis";      /*foreach ($data $column => $value) {         $columns .= ($columns == '') ? '' : ', ';         $columns .= $column;         $values[$column] = &$data[$column];     }*/      $thedata = $this->data($data);      $a = str_repeat('?, ', count($data) );     $b = substr_replace($a, '', -2);      $q = $this->db->mysqli->prepare("insert items ($columns) values ($b)");      call_user_func_array( array($q, 'bind_param'), array_merge(array($prep), $values) );     $q->execute();     $q->close();      //return id     return $this->db->mysqli->insert_id;  } 

edit ** working code:

private function data(&$data) {      $columns = "";     $values = array();      foreach ($data $column => $value) {         $columns .= ($columns == '') ? '' : ', ';         $columns .= $column;         $values[$column] = &$data[$column];     }      return array($columns, $values);  } 

and accessing this:

$thedata = $this->data($data); $thedata[0]; //$columns $thedata[1]; //$values 

try this: add & in function param , remove & inside foreach loop.

private function data (&$data) {      $columns = "";     $values = array ();      foreach ($data $column => $value)     {         $columns .= ($columns == '') ? '' : ', ';         $columns .= $column;         $values[$column] = $data[$column];     }      return array ($columns, $values); } 

inside public function insertitem remove $thedata =

public function insertitem ($data) {     [..]     $this->data ($data); }