chaining if else statements - php

Question

I have a form field in my website which i use for a table in my database. i'm using checkboxes for a true/false value. In my case my checkboxes send out an empty string if left unchecked.
I made an if else statement to make sure the empty string is made boolean. however, my if else statements only works for the first one ($ringe). the last two ($halskaeder and $armbaand) does not seem to work, as my database does not register any inputs.
I'm guessing my if else statements has flaws or syntax errors, i'm just too hopeless at PHP to figure out what's wrong.
if ($_REQUEST['ringe'] == ""){
$ringe = '0';
}
else {
$ringe = '1';
}
if ($_REQUEST['halskaeder'] == ""){
$halskaeder = '0';
}
else {
$halskaeder = '1';
}
if ($_REQUEST['armbaand'] == ""){
$armbaand = '0';
}
else {
$armbaand = '1';
}
Any help is highly appreciated!
UPDATE!!!
So I realized my issue is that an unchecked checkbox in html doesn't send and signal. So i have to change that no matter what

Answer 1

AFAIK the check box is not sent if it's not checked. You can do something like:
$default = array(
'ringe' => 0,
'halskaeder' => 0,
'armbaand' => 0,
);
$myFormParams = array_replace($default, $_REQUEST);
var_dump($myFormParams);

Answer 2

few Suggestions... I may add more if you post your form..
1) Trim whitespace from user input (unless you need it)
$input = trim($_REQUEST['user_input']);
2) In this case, you should use empty(), because this function checks to see if the variable exists, and if it's empty, and if it's falsy. You can kill three birds with one stone.
3) Use ternary. It's shorthand for what you're doing.
$input = trim($_REQUEST['user_input']);
$input = empty($input) ? "0" : "1";

Answer 3

I found an answer. My problem wasnt the php code, but the checkboxed not sending any input when unchecked. The workaround is simply putting a hidden input field to send a false signal no matter what. You give it the same name attribute as your real checkbox, which will override when checked.
looks like this:
<input type="hidden" name="ringe" value="0" /><input type="checkbox" name="ringe" value="1" /><p>Ringe</p>
thanks for the help though!