Make my div disappear if variable is empty? - php

Question

Im making a form using PHP/HTML.
I have divided all my fields into divs, and i get all my values from a table from SQL server.
I want to make some divs disappear if the value im getting from the table is empty.
I know how to do it, but it just does not work if the variable is empty.
For example;
<div <?php if (empty($trabalhoSemCarteira)){?>style="display:none"<?php }?>>
<h2>Trabalho sem registro em carteira:</h2>
<div>
<label><?php echo $trabalhoSemCarteira;?></label>
</div>
</div>
This does not work,and i have no idea why.
On the other hand;
<div <?php if ($numeroFilhos<3){?>style="display:none"<?php }?>>
<label>Nome do Filho: <?php echo $nomeFilho3;?></label>
<label>Idade: <?php echo $idadeFilho3;?></label><br>
</div>
This one works like a charm. I'm doing exactly the same thing in both of them. I think the problem is with the ''empty'' function, I don't know, but that is literally the only difference.
EDIT:I have tried using ==null,is_null() instead of empty and nothing works.

Answer 1

I'm not super well versed with your database collection code, so I can't say with absolute certainty what the problem is. First off, as CBroe mentioned, use var_dump($trabalhoSemCarteira) to find what your variable actually is when you get nothing back. Then just key it into the if statement. Example:
<?php if($trabalhoSemCarteira === $a){?>style="display:none;"<?php }?>
Of course, $a is meant to be whatever var_dump($trabalhoSemCarteira) outputs.
Note: Please make you code cleaner. I actually couldn't really tell at first if the format would even work. Unless you're using the empty blocks for something else(such as displaying the blocks later with JS, in which case your approach makes absolute sense), to prevent you rendering unnecessary blocks of useless code, only render the block if the variable does exist. Example:
<?php if($trabalhoSemCarteira !== $a): ?>
<div>
<h2>Trabalho sem registro em carteira:</h2>
<div>
<label><?php echo $trabalhoSemCarteira;?></label>
</div>
</div>
<?php endif; ?>
Obviously, again, $a is whatever your var_dump($trabalhoSemCarteira) output.
Edit: I just read the notes and you say that it gives you an empty space. Replace $a in the examples with .

Answer 2

Make my div disappear if variable is empty?
You can approach this a different way and instead of using a conditional in PHP, you can use the
:empty
pseudo-class in CSS which applies styles to HTML elements which don't contain anything.
Working Example:
.outer-div {
display: inline-block;
margin-right: 12px;
width: 120px;
height: 120px;
background-color: rgb(255, 0, 0);
vertical-align: top;
}
.inner-div {
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
width: 96px;
height: 96px;
margin: 12px;
text-align: center;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);
}
.inner-div:empty {
opacity: 0;
}
<div class="outer-div">
<div class="inner-div">PHP String Variable Echoed Here</div>
</div>
<div class="outer-div">
<div class="inner-div">A</div>
</div>
<div class="outer-div">
<div class="inner-div"></div>
</div>
Further Reading:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/:empty

Answer 3

Your value is not empty it contains a single blank space, the easiest way to check is by trimming the value before checking
<?php $trabalhoSemCarteira=" "; ?>
<div <?php if (empty(trim($trabalhoSemCarteira))){?>style="display:none"<?php }?>>
<h2>Trabalho sem registro em carteira:</h2>
<div>
<label><?php echo $trabalhoSemCarteira;?></label>
</div>
</div>
BTW, TIP: indeed, as Ruvee mentioned syntax you're using for generating your HTML with PHP is just messy and it is error-pron, use something cleaner pls:
<?php
$trabalhoSemCarteira=" ";
$clazz = (empty(trim($trabalhoSemCarteira))) ? 'none' : 'block';
?>
<div style="display: <?php echo $clazz ?>">
<h2>Trabalho sem registro em carteira:</h2>
<div>
<label><?php echo $trabalhoSemCarteira;?></label>
</div>
</div>
or even cleaner
<?php
$trabalhoSemCarteira=" ";
$clazz = (empty(trim($trabalhoSemCarteira))) ? 'none' : 'block';
echo "<div style='display: {$clazz}'>
<h2>Trabalho sem registro em carteira:</h2>
<div>
<label>{$trabalhoSemCarteira}</label>
</div>
</div>"
TIP2: If you're gonna build some larger project in the feature consider using some MVC framework and/or some template engine like i.e. Twig, Smarty or others.