variable value disappears in a second loop

Question

i can't manage to "see" the value of $originalArticle in echo '/'.$originalArticle.'== &'.$sameArticle; : i tried with "global" before, but it does not work... The output is for example :

/== &48

Any help?

<div id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class(); ?>>

                <?php $originalArticle = the_ID(); //this works ?>
        <h2 class="entry-title">…</h2>
        <div class="entry-utility">…</div><!-- .entry-utility -->
                <?php 
                $cats = get_the_category();
                $cat_obj = array_shift($cats);
                $cat_id = (int) $cat_obj->cat_ID;

                $second_query = new WP_Query( 'cat='.$cat_id.'&posts_per_page=2' );
                while ( $second_query->have_posts() ) : $second_query->the_post();

                    $sameArticle = get_the_ID();

                    /* HERE */ echo '/'.$originalArticle.'== &'.$sameArticle; //output : /== &48

                    if ( $originalArticle == $sameArticle )
                    {
                    } else {
                        //...

Thanks for your help

Answer 1

Use get_the_ID(), not the_ID(). The latter just prints the value, it does not return a value you can store in a variable.

So …

$originalArticle = get_the_ID();

Answer 2

<?php $originalArticle = the_ID(); //this works ?>

this should be changed to

<?php $originalArticle = get_the_ID(); //this works ?>