Plugin Parameters and Functions

[sebaot]

I've created a plugin. I'm repeating the same code 3 times in my forumhome_start plugin PHP code. I'd like to:

1 - make a function of the code called 3 times, so I can call it once and use its return value
2 - break out the "global" variables in my plug in code (example: the row limit) and put it in a storage where I can change the settings externally instead of in the code

Are there any pointers of threads on this? (I googled and used the search but no top results matched my query.)

--------------- Added [DATE]1247613097[/DATE] at [TIME]1247613097[/TIME] ---------------

Discovered "enable debug" so I could provide it with some settings. :-)