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<title>return</title>
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</div><hr /><div id="function.return" class="sect1">
<h2 class="title">return</h2>
<p class="verinfo">(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)</p>
<p class="simpara">
<em>return</em> returns program control to the calling module.
Execution resumes at the expression following the called module's invocation.
</p>
<p class="simpara">
If called from within a function, the <em>return</em>
statement immediately ends execution of the current function, and
returns its argument as the value of the function
call. <em>return</em> also ends the execution of
an <span class="function"><a href="function.eval.html" class="function">eval()</a></span> statement or script file.
</p>
<p class="simpara">
If called from the global scope, then execution of the current
script file is ended. If the current script file was
<span class="function"><a href="function.include.html" class="function">include</a></span>d or <span class="function"><a href="function.require.html" class="function">require</a></span>d,
then control is passed back to the calling file. Furthermore, if
the current script file was <span class="function"><a href="function.include.html" class="function">include</a></span>d, then
the value given to <em>return</em> will be returned as
the value of the <span class="function"><a href="function.include.html" class="function">include</a></span> call. If
<em>return</em> is called from within the main script
file, then script execution ends. If the current script file was
named by the <a href="ini.core.html#ini.auto-prepend-file" class="link">auto_prepend_file</a> or <a href="ini.core.html#ini.auto-append-file" class="link">auto_append_file</a>
configuration options in <var class="filename">php.ini</var>,
then that script file's execution is ended.
</p>
<p class="simpara">For more information, see <a href="functions.returning-values.html" class="link">Returning values</a>.
</p>
<p class="para">
<blockquote class="note"><p><strong class="note">Note</strong>:
<span class="simpara">
Note that since <em>return</em> is a language
construct and not a function, the parentheses surrounding its
argument are not required and their use is discouraged.
</span>
</p></blockquote>
<blockquote class="note"><p><strong class="note">Note</strong>:
<span class="simpara">
If no parameter is supplied, then the parentheses must be omitted
and <strong><code>NULL</code></strong> will be
returned. Calling <em>return</em> with parentheses but
with no arguments will result in a parse error.
</span>
</p></blockquote>
</p>
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