How would I reduce nesting for form validation in PHP? - php

Question

This is function is taking up a lot of lines on my Functions page.
I can't figure out on how to take it down unless putting them into an array, then using a foreach loop. But I want it to be specific on what is not allowed to be blank.
if ($EmployeeID === "")
{
echo "EmployeeID Is Blank.";
}
else
{
if ($Firstname === "")
{
echo "Firstname Is Blank.";
}
else
{
if ($Lastname === "")
{
echo "Last Name Is Blank";
}
else
{
if ($PhoneNumber === "")
{
echo "Phone Number Is Blank";
}
else
{
if ($Address === "")
{
echo "Address Is Blank";
}
else
{
if ($City === "")
{
echo "City Is Blank";
}
else
{
if ($State === "")
{
echo "Sate Is Blank";
}
else
{
if ($Zip === "")
{
echo "Zip Is Blank";
}
else
{
if ($Email === "")
{
echo "Email Is Blank";
}
else
{
if ($Password === "")
{
echo "Password Is Blank";
}
else
{
echo "All Success";
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
The Solution I have Found which takes the lines down, but doesn't give me the exact on what field is left empty is:
$Array = array();
$Array[] = $EmpID;
$Array[] = $FirstName;
$Array[] = $Lastname;
$Array[] = $PhoneNumber;
$Array[] = $Address;
$Array[] = $City;
$Array[] = $State;
$Array[] = $Zip;
$Array[] = $Email;
$Array[] = $Password;
foreach ($Array AS $Checking)
{
if (empty($Checking))
{
echo "One Or More Is Left Blank";
exit;
}
}

Answer 1

try{
if(empty($EmployeeID)){
throw new Exception('EmployeeID Is Blank.');
}elseif(empty($Firstname)){
throw new Exception('Firstname Is Blank.');
}elseif(empty($Lastname)){
throw new Exception('Lastname Is Blank.');
}elseif(empty($PhoneNumber)){
throw new Exception('PhoneNumber Is Blank.');
}elseif(empty($Address)){
throw new Exception('Address Is Blank.');
}elseif(empty($City)){
throw new Exception('City Is Blank.');
}elseif(empty($State)){
throw new Exception('State Is Blank.');
}elseif(empty($Zip)){
throw new Exception('Zip Is Blank.');
}elseif(empty($Email)){
throw new Exception('Email Is Blank.');
}elseif(empty($Password)){
throw new Exception('Password Is Blank.');
}
echo 'All Success';
}catch(Exception $e){
echo $e->getMessage();
}

Answer 2

Maybe you can reorganize it like this:
$messages = array();
if (empty($EmployeeID)){
$messages[] = "EmployeeID Is Blank.";
}
if (empty($Firstname)){
$messages[] = "Firstname Is Blank.";
}
// and so on for the rest.
At the end you can check if $messages is empty to validate:
if (empty($messages)){
echo "All Success";
}else {
echo "Errors:";
foreach($messages as $message){
echo "$message <br>";
}
}

Answer 3

Why are you using al these else statements? I would present all errors all at once to avoid messing with the user (the user fixes the error and then all of a sudden another pops up...).
An easy example:
echo empty($EmployeeID) ? 'EmployeeID Is Blank.' : '';
echo empty($Firstname) ? 'Firstname Is Blank.' : '';
//etc.
I would probably add all error messages to an array and loop through that / check if it is empty:
$errors = array();
if (empty($EmployeeID))
{
$errors['employeeid'] = 'EmployeeID Is Blank.';
}
if (empty($Firstname))
{
$errors['firstname'] = 'Firstname Is Blank.';
}
// etc.
if (count($errors) > 0)
{
// error handling
}
// and you can use the array keys to display the appropriate messages at the appropriate place if it is set:
if (isset($errors['employeeid']))
{
// display the EmployeeID error message where the field should be filled in
}

Answer 4

You could use an associative array like this:
$formValues = array(
'Employee ID' => $EmployeeID,
'First Name' => $Firstname,
'Last Name'=> $Lastname,
'Phone Number'=> $PhoneNumber,
'Address'=> $Address,
'City'=> $City,
'State'=> $State,
'Zip'=> $Zip,
'Email'=> $Email,
'Password'=> $Password,
);
$error=false;
foreach ($formValues as $key => $value) {
if(empty($value)) {
echo($key.' is blank');
$error=true;
}
}
if(!$error) {
echo("All Success");
}

Answer 5

Wrap it all up in a form validator:
<?php
function is_form_valid() {
if ($Firstname === "") { return false; }
if ($Lastname === "") { return false; }
// ...
return true;
}
?>
Of course, this only highlights the idea and you will need to determine the best method for passing in your form fields. Then use that as a single call in your main processing routine:
<?php
if (is_form_valid()) {
// do stuff
} else {
// report error
}
?>
To make it more useful, you can create a shared class for valid input in name fields, emails, etc and call that from your form validation. Imagining such a class exists, your method would look like:
<?php
function is_form_valid() {
if (! $validator->is_valid_name($Firstname)) { return false; }
if (! $validator->is_valid_name($Lastname)) { return false; }
if (! $validator->is_valid_email($Email)) { return false; }
if (! $validator->is_valid_phone($Phone)) { return false; }
// ...
return true;
}
?>
Just be aware of the many regional differences regarding names, phone numbers, addresses, etc. You can read about common pitfalls here. There are also several questions on this forum about the subject of data validation.

Answer 6

Most of the other answers are better, but you should also learn to use elseif():
if ($EmployeeID === "") {
echo "EmployeeID Is Blank.";
} elseif ($Firstname === "") {
echo "Firstname Is Blank.";
} elseif ($Lastname === "") {
echo "Last Name Is Blank";
} //etc

Answer 7

$errors = "";
if($EmployeeID == "")
{
$errors .= "Employee ID blank<br />";
}
if($Firstname == "")
{
$errors .= "First Name blank<br />";
}
if($errors != "")
{
echo $errors;
}