how can i grab connection settings from config.php

[ztempuser]

im trying to get info from my config file and put it into a var for the script im trying to use

// Load the database settings into $VAR;
function boardmodule_import_db_settings()
{
    require_once ("../includes/config.php");
    global $VAR;
    $VAR["db_host"]         = "localhost;
    $VAR["db_username"]     = "my database user for forum db";
    $VAR["db_password"]     = "my database password for forum db";
    $VAR["db_name"]         = "my database name for forum db";
    $VAR["db_tblprefix"]    = "";
    $VAR["db_persistant"]   = "0";

this setup works fine now but, i want to make it where many people can use the script im makeing and not have to edit this file
can i put like

    $VAR["db_name"]         = $dbname;

i tried this and it didn't work it would give error

Notice: Undefined variable: dbname in /home/user/public_html/forum/to/my/script/dir/vb3.inc.php on line 34

whats the correct way to get db name user and passy?

(vb 3.6.1)