Setting variable value on PHP ternary case - php

Question

I am trying to use ternary output to do 2 things on the latter case.
The issue I have is setting a text value to the variable in the latter case, after incrementing the error count.
I have tried a few things, here's two attempts, but these both fail on setting the $errors_log value.
Q. How can i set a variable value within an output of ternary.
$errors_v=0;
if (validate_username() == false ? null : $errors_v++ && $errors_log='username invalid');
if ($errors_v != 0) {
echo $errors_log;
}
function validate_username() {
return true;
}
$errors_v=0;
$errors_log[];
if (validate_username() == false ? null : $errors_v++ && $errors_log[]='username invalid');
if ($errors_v != 0) {
var_dump($errors_log);
}
function validate_username() {
return true;
}

Answer 1

I would do my ternary like below, and then check if $errors_log is not empty and if it's not, print out the errors.
$errors_log[] = validate_username() === false ? null : 'username invalid';
if (!empty($errors_log)) {
foreach($errors_log as $error) {
echo $error;
}
}
function validate_username() {
return true;
}
If it's needed to have a counter aswell, even though I really recommend you count on the $errors_log array instead, you could do something like this:
if (!validate_username()) {
$errors_log[] = 'username invalid';
$errors_v++;
}

Answer 2

You are mixing "longhand" and "shorthand" conditional syntax.
Your ambiguous function name coupled with its return value is confusing/unintuitive. I recommend renaming your function or reversing the boolean it returns.
Always endeavor to use DRY and DAMP coding practices.
The approach in the second half of your code looks better than the first.If you are going to generate an array of errors, don't bother with incrementing a counter, just count the array when you wish.
I don't see any need to fancy up your code with shorthand conditionals.
Code: (Demo)
function bad_username(){ // new meaningful function name
return true;
}
$errors_log=[]; // declare the variable as an array
if(bad_username()){
$errors_log[]='username invalid'; // push the value
}
if(sizeof($errors_log)){ // count elements in array, if 1 or more display them
var_export($errors_log);
}else{
echo "No Error";
}
Output:
array (
0 => 'username invalid',
)

Answer 3

You can't perform two operations in a ternary case. You could just check if $errors_log is empty and if it is increment $errors_v inside the if statement like this:
if (validate_username() == false ? null : $errors_log='username invalid');
if (!empty($errors_log)) {
$errors_v++;
echo $errors_log;
}
function validate_username() {
return true;
}