Wordpress, can't get get_posts method to work correctly

I am trying to write an add-on to my wordpress blog that show the most recent post in each category. whenever I try to use the get_posts() method, it always returns the most recent post, regardless of what argument I use. even if I tell it to get 5 posts, it just returns the first post 5 times! here is a snippet of the code I am using:

function the_category_box(){

     $catIDs = get_all_category_ids(); 
     $control = 0;  //total number posted so far
     $columns = 3; //number of columns in table
     
     echo "<table>";
     foreach($catIDs as $cat){
	         $catName = get_catname($cat); //getting cagegory name
	         $args = array(
	                 numberposts => 1
                         cat => $cat
	                 );
	         $catPosts = get_posts($args); //<-- THE PROBLEM
	         if($control%$columns == 0){   echo "<tr>";   } 
	         echo "<td> <h4> Latest in <b>$catName</b></h4>";
	             foreach($catPosts as $post){
		             setup_postdata($post);
			         the_title();
			         echo "<a href=\"";
			         the_permalink();
			         echo"\">Read More--></a>";
	             }
	         echo"</td>";
	         if($control%$columns == 2){   echo "</tr>";   }
	         $control++;
          }     
     }
     echo "</table></div>";   
     return;
}

PHP:

Is there a better way to do this?

 

That argument list doesn't look right. Going by the codex, there should be single quotes, a separating comma, and cat should be category.

$args = array(
     'numberposts' => 1,
     'category' => $cat
     );

Code (markup):

 

tried that, same problem.

 

Maybe it's because the_title() and the_permanlink() are only used in the Wordpress loop. I think you need to read them differently in plugins.

I haven't tried this but maybe it will work:

     $catIDs = get_all_category_ids(); 
     $control = 0;  //total number posted so far
     $columns = 3; //number of columns in table
     global $post;

     .........

     foreach($catPosts as $post){
          setup_postdata($post);
          echo $post->post_title;
          echo "<a href=\"";
          echo get_permalink($post->ID);
          echo"\">Read More--></a>";
     }

Code (markup):

 

Ok, I'll give that a shot later. sounds like that could be the fix to the problem.