PHP Array Conditional Short Syntax - php

Question

Here is what I have, I know I can rewrite my conditional syntax but I just wanted to see if there was something else I can do with what I have.
$sleeping[] = ($a->day_bed == 1) ? 'Day Bed' : false;
$sleeping[] = ($a->fold_up_bed == 1) ? 'Fold Up Bed' : false;
$sleeping[] = ($a->murphy_bed == 1) ? 'Murphy Bed' : false;
$sleeping[] = ($a->trundle_bed == 1) ? 'Trundle Bed' : false;
I'm trying to test for an empty array or not and rather than an empty array I get:
Array
(
[0] =>
[1] =>
[2] =>
[3] =>
)
This never registers as "empty". As far as I can tell I need the "else" syntax on there otherwise it fails.
Is there something else I can use besides NULL or FALSE? Or any other way to format it? I like this format because I have around 600 of these and it makes it much easier to read. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

You'll have to change the format as the check for existence needs to happen before you push another element onto the array. This should work:
if ($a->day_bed == 1) $sleeping[] = 'Day Bed';
You can save yourself lots of work by automating this task, eg like this
$bedTypes = array(
"day_bed" => "Day Bed",
"fold_up_bed" => "Fold up bed"
);
foreach ($bedTypes as $key=>$val) {
if ($a->{$key} == 1)
$sleeping[] = $val;
}

Answer 2

Another alternative is to use array_filter() with no callback to remove all falsy elements in the array:
<?php
$a = new stdClass();
$a->day_bed = false;
$a->fold_up_bed = false;
$a->murphy_bed = false;
$a->trundle_bed = false;
$sleeping[] = ($a->day_bed == 1) ? 'Day Bed' : false;
$sleeping[] = ($a->fold_up_bed == 1) ? 'Fold Up Bed' : false;
$sleeping[] = ($a->murphy_bed == 1) ? 'Murphy Bed' : false;
$sleeping[] = ($a->trundle_bed == 1) ? 'Trundle Bed' : false;
$emptySleeping = array_filter($sleeping);
if(empty($emptySleeping)) {
// here code if the array is empty.
}
var_dump($sleeping);
var_dump($emptySleeping);
See it in action