Problems with Empty Strings. Empty() not working - php

Question

I'm building a form that'll create a Word doc. There's a part where the user will create a list, and will separete the list lines by using the " | " (vertical bar) as a delimeter. I'm trying to explode() a string like this: "First line| Second line| Third and last line |". As you guys saw, I placed a vertival bar delimiter after the last line, that's 'cause the user will probably do this mistake, and it will generate a empty line on the list.
I'm trying to avoid this error by using something like this:
$lines = explode("|",$lines);
for($a=0;$a<count($lines);$a++)
{
if(!empty($lines[$a]) or !ctype_space($lines[$a]))
{
//generate the line inside de Word Doc
}
}
This code works when I create the string by my own while testing the code, but won't work when the string come from a Form. And keep generating a empty line list inside the Word Doc.
When I var_dump() the $lines array it shows the last key as: [2]=> string(0) ""
I'm using Laravel and the form was created with the Form:: facade.(don't know if this matter, prob not)
If you guys could help me, I'd apreciate.

Answer 1

Alternatively just use array_filter with the callback of trim to remove elements that are empty or contain spaces before you iterate.
<?php
$string = '|foo|bar|baz|bat|';
$split = explode('|', $string);
$split = array_filter($split, 'trim');
var_export($split);
Output:
array (
1 => 'foo',
2 => 'bar',
3 => 'baz',
4 => 'bat',
)
However you might not want to remove some empty values!
You could just trim off your pipes to begin with:
<?php
$string = '|foo|bar|baz|bat|';
$string = trim($string, '|');
$split = explode('|', $string);
var_export($split);
Output as above.
Or use rtrim.

Answer 2

You may want to use PHP's && (and) rather than or.
For reference, see Logical Operators.
You only want to output the line if both empty() and ctype_space() return false. With your current code, blank strings will pass your if test because ctype_space() returns false even though empty() does not. Strings made up entirely of spaces will also pass because empty() returns false even though ctype_space() does not.
To correct the logic:
if(!empty($lines[$a]) && !ctype_space($lines[$a])) { ... }
Alternatively, I'd suggest trimming white space from the string before checking empty():
$lines = explode("|",$lines);
if (!empty($lines)) {
foreach ($lines as $line) {
if (!empty(trim($line)) {
// output this line
}
}
}
Also, see 'AND' vs '&&' as operator.