I have created a file called onlineusers.php that figures out how many users there currently are online. At the end of the script is a variable that captures the final number. I want to be able to use ONLY this variable in a separate file called members.php

How do I go about doing something like this?

include('onlineusers.php');
echo $variable;

Or better yet, transform this script in a function, and make it available site wide by having this file included in each page.

Then getting that number would simply be

PHP Code:

$users=countUsers(); 


in any page to fetch the current user count.

How to transform the script in a function you might ask?
Take this code for example:

PHP Code:

<?php
$users=0;
$query="select count(*) as cnt from users where activ=1";
$r=mysql_query($query);
while($o=mysql_fetch_object($r)){
  $users=$o->cnt;
}

To transform this in a function, simply add the definition at the beginning, and return the value you fetched:

PHP Code:

<?php
function userCount(){
  $users=0;
  $query="select count(*) as cnt from users where activ=1";
  $r=mysql_query($query);
  while($o=mysql_fetch_object($r)){
    $users=$o->cnt;
  }
  return $users;
}

And then a simple

PHP Code:

<?php
print userCount();

will fetch the value and display it.

Thanks for the tips. Got it working