Multiple else if not working correctly PHP - php

Question

I'm having an issue with a login script. The rest of it works fine, but there is something odd happening here. The issue is that even though $IPCHK is returning true the elseif function does not execute. It only executes when I set $IPCHK to jibberish. Any help would be great. Thanks in advance
if ($Numrows == 0)
{
if ($Fail >= 3)
{
$Connection = connectToDb();
//return true, false,pending
$IPCHK = checkIP();
$IPCHK = true; //forcing it to be true and still broke
//If no ip id there
if($IPCHK == false)
{
$IP = getIP();
$Query = "INSERT INTO ip VALUES ('','$IP',Now())";
mysqli_query($Connection, $Query)
or die(error(mysqli_error($Connection)));
echo "You have failed to login too many times";
echo "<br />Please <a href='login.php'>try again</a> later.";
$Lock = true;
}
//If ip is there but timer is not up
elseif ($IPCHK == 'pending')
{
echo "You have failed to login too many times";
echo "<br />Please <a href='login.php'>try again</a> later.";
$Lock = true;
}
//Timers Up
elseif ($IPCHK == true) //here does not execute when it returns true
{
$_SESSION['FailedLogin'] = 0;
$Lock = false;
}
else
{
error("End of if check");
}
}
else
{
$Fail = 3 - $Fail;
$_SESSION['FailedLogin'] = $_SESSION['FailedLogin'] + 1;
$Error = $Error."<br />You have ".$Fail." attempts remaining";
}
}

Answer 1

In your Condition you have
elseif ($IPCHK == 'pending')
then
elseif ($IPCHK == true)
the second else will never execute because $IPCHK == 'pending' means also that $IPCHK == true
if you want to execute your second else you have to change the seconde condition to somethig like this
elseif($IPCHK == 'done')
or simply use === like this
elseif($IPCHK === 'pending')
then
elseif($IPCHK === true)

Answer 2

Lamari Alaa is correct, and the relevant documentation entry on type juggling can help understand why.
The following script outputs: boolean = string:
$test = true;
if( $test == 'pending' ) {
echo 'boolean = string';
} else if ( $test ) {
echo 'boolean != string';
}
This is because the string 'pending' is being coerced into a boolean value before being compared to the boolean value true. Since it evaluates as true, the first condition is taken. Consider replacing == 'pending' to === 'pending'