Variable Scope and using ByRefs, Referencing non-updated IE object

[bailey1274]

No specific code to reference but the situation popped up a few times already. 

$oIE is created as a global inside an include file via a function in main script.

No declarations of $oIE occur in main script or at any other point.

At the very beginning in the main, the $oIE does some web scraping stuff (lets say from google.com) and then clicks the first link and passes the $oIE via a ByRef (also named $oIE) variable to a new function.

This is where I believe something weird is happening because without an _IEAttach at the very start of the new function, any _IE functions return values associated with the past page (google.com) and not the new one we are on.

I am thinking this may be a scope issue but I am not sure. My guess is that the new ByRef variable inside the function is referencing an old oIE object (back when it was on google.com) and not the updated oIE. 

 

These are not my scripts and I would think it better to just have a global oIE and not use any ByRefs as I would think they are used for Local variables but I am still trying to learn these things in AutoIt. Any help would be greatly appreciated and if this is a very specific type of problem that would need specific code then I can always post it next time I come across the same problem. Just hoping that someone has seen this issue before and would know the answer without debugging.

[jchd]

3 hours ago, bailey1274 said:

My guess is that the new ByRef variable inside the function is referencing an old oIE object (back when it was on google.com) and not the updated oIE.

This is the meaning of ByRef: this creates a reference to the variables passed as argument.  The external variable isn't copied locally and any change made on the reference will affect the "outer" variable.

Without posting short sample code you don't help yourself.