If statement inside elseif statement causing error - php

Question

Okay, so I used to have this code and it worked fine:
$lastpost = ForumPos::where('user_id', '=', Auth::id())->orderby('created_at', 'desc')->first();
if ($validator->fails())
{
return Redirect::to('/forum/topic/'.$id.'/new')
->withErrors($validator->messages());
}
elseif ($lastpost->created_at->diffInSeconds() < 15)
{
return Redirect::to('/forum/topic/'.$id.'/new')
->withErrors('You really need to slow down with your posting ;)');
}
else
{
$new_thread = new ForumThr;
$new_thread->topic = $id;
$new_thread->user_id = Auth::id();
$new_thread->title = Input::get('title');
$new_thread->save();
$new_post = new ForumPos;
$new_post->thread = $new_thread->id;
$new_post->user_id = Auth::id();
$new_post->body = Input::get('body');
$new_post->save();
return Redirect::to('/forum/thread/'.$new_thread->id.'');
}
and this worked fine, until I noticed a little problem so I had to change this a bit to get this:
$hasposted = ForumPos::where('user_id', '=', Auth::id())->count();
if ($validator->fails()){
return Redirect::to('/forum/topic/'.$id.'/new')
->withErrors($validator->messages());
} elseif ($hasposted != 0) {
$last_post = ForumPos::where('user_id', '=', Auth::id())->orderBy('created_at', 'DESC')->first();
if ($last_post->created_at->diffInSeconds() < 15) {
return Redirect::to('/forum/topic/'.$id.'/new')
->withErrors('You really need to slow down with your posting ;)');
}
} else {
$new_thread = new ForumThr;
$new_thread->topic = $id;
$new_thread->user_id = Auth::id();
$new_thread->title = Input::get('title');
$new_thread->save();
$new_post = new ForumPos;
$new_post->thread = $new_thread->id;
$new_post->user_id = Auth::id();
$new_post->body = Input::get('body');
$new_post->save();
return Redirect::to('/forum/thread/'.$new_thread->id.'');
}
Now when I post a thread and get to the if statement inside the elseif statement, I hit a roadblock. I get the following error:
I only get this error when I haven't specified the title variable in the controller so the view gets it, however there shouldn't be a view. Any ideas? :S

Answer 1

Take a look at your elseif block (second condition)
if(...)
{
//first condition
return ...;
}
elseif ($hasposted != 0) {
{
//second condition
$last_post = ForumPos::where('user_id', '=', Auth::id())->orderBy('created_at', 'DESC')->first();
if ($last_post->created_at->diffInSeconds() < 15) {
return Redirect::to('/forum/topic/'.$id.'/new')
->withErrors('You really need to slow down with your posting ;)');
}
}
else
{
//third condition
return ...;
}
When your nested if statement fails
$last_post->created_at->diffInSeconds() < 15
this block finishes, and the rest of the conditional finishes without issuing a Redirect. That is, your nested if statement knows nothing about the third conditional. PHP/Laravel are doing what you told it to -- so tell it to do something else.
This is purely a style suggestion, but I've reached a point where I avoid multiple branch conditionals whenever possible, especially when returning from inside a branch. A style more like
if(...)
{
return Redirect(); //...
}
if(...)
{
return Redirect(); //...
}
if(...)
{
return Redirect(); //...
}
if(...)
{
return Redirect(); //...
}
might look longer on the page, but it's much clearer what's going on.
If this? Do something and go away (`return`)
Still here? Well if this-other-thing then do something and go away (`return`)
**Still** here? Well if this-other-thing then do something and go away (`return`)
You end up thinking in a series of yes/no tests, and avoid the very human/programmer problem you ran into with nested conditional logic.

Answer 2

In all your other conditions you do a redirect. If the elseif succeeds, but the if does not succeed then you do nothing. It is then trying to render a page using your master template but you have not set any of the variables that it needs. You could fix this by adding another redirect:
if ($last_post->created_at->diffInSeconds() < 15) {
return Redirect::to('/forum/topic/'.$id.'/new')
->withErrors('You really need to slow down with your posting ;)');
}
else
{
return Redirect::to('/somewhere/else/');
}

Answer 3

After discussing this in the Laravel IRC room, we found the solution (and I believe answers here would have sufficed too)
In the end, I came up with this:
$hasposted = ForumPos::where('user_id', '=', Auth::id())->count();
if ($validator->fails()){
return Redirect::to('/forum/topic/'.$id.'/new')
->withErrors($validator->messages());
} elseif ($hasposted != 0) {
$last_post = ForumPos::where('user_id', '=', Auth::id())->orderBy('created_at', 'DESC')->first();
if ($last_post->created_at->diffInSeconds() < 15) {
return Redirect::to('/forum/topic/'.$id.'/new')
->withErrors('You really need to slow down with your posting ;)');
}
}
$new_thread = new ForumThr;
$new_thread->topic = $id;
$new_thread->user_id = Auth::id();
$new_thread->title = Input::get('title');
$new_thread->save();
$new_post = new ForumPos;
$new_post->thread = $new_thread->id;
$new_post->user_id = Auth::id();
$new_post->body = Input::get('body');
$new_post->save();
return Redirect::to('/forum/thread/'.$new_thread->id.'');
If it passes all the if statements, it'll get through to the final request and now I'm happy to say it all works as planned. Thanks, lads!