declaring a variable inside of global.php

[derekbeau]

I am trying to declare a variable inside of global.php... at the VERY end of the code.

For example, after the large comment box that states the download date and release number, I add the simple declaration (not my real variable, but same concept)

/*======================================================================*\
|| ####################################################################
|| # Downloaded: 01:10, Fri Aug 12th 2005
|| # CVS: $RCSfile: global.php,v $ - $Revision: 1.321 $
|| ####################################################################
\*======================================================================*/

$cat = 'dog';
?>

Now, if i try to print that variable immediately after... it is there. However, if I try to print that variable later on, in an included file, it doesnt work.

I am trying to print the variable from the included file in this hook in global_start:

ob_start();
require('library/templates/header.php');
$header_plugin = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();

So what I am trying to do is a <? print $cat; ?> inside of header.php

Any ideas what I am doing wrong and how I can make this work?

Note: I cant just move the variable to the header file. The variable is actually created with a database call and a bit of string manipulation, and I need to keep its code outside of the header.php file.