controller code re-use

[eluser]Unknown[/eluser]
I have a controller and I have quite a few functions that use the same block of code

Code:

//Load the cart library
$this->load->library('cart');
        
//Get the contents, total amount and total items of the cart
$aData['cart'] = $this->cart->contents();
$aData['cart_total'] = $this->cart->total();
$aData['total_items'] = $this->cart->total_items();

As I use this block several times I decided to put it in a function.

Code:

function getCart() {
    //Load the cart library
    $this->load->library('cart');
        
    //Get the contents, total amount and total items of the cart
    $aData['cart'] = $this->cart->contents();
    $aData['cart_total'] = $this->cart->total();
    $aData['total_items'] = $this->cart->total_items();

    return $aData;
}

However when I try to call this function from a another one it never works and the variables are empty.

If I do

Code:

$this->getCart();

or this

Code:

$aData = $this->getCart();

It never works. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?