Default Option and returning NULL - php

Question

Trying to figure out how to better write this chunk of code. I'm wanting to get the list of the roster members and then create an array of options for the view dropdown to display inside the select dropdown and also have it have an option to display "Please Select An Option". However what if what is returned from the getAllRoster function is NULL which is what I have returned if no results are returned from a query. How should I handle that which I just want the empty option displayed.
Also I need to think about is do a function to retrieve all the allies for that specific matter and then display that ally as the default ally in the dropdown for each dropdown.
Controller:
$rosterList = $this->bios->getAllRoster();
$allies = array();
$allies[''] = 'Please Select An Opion';
foreach ($rosterList AS $ally)
{
$allies[$ally->id] = $ally->rosterName;
}
View:
<?php echo form_label( 'Ally 1', 'ally1'); ?>
<div>
<?php echo form_dropdown( 'ally1', $allies, ''); ?>
</div>
<?php echo form_label( 'Ally 2', 'ally2'); ?>
<div>
<?php echo form_dropdown( 'ally2', $allies, ''); ?>
</div>
<?php echo form_label( 'Ally 3', 'ally3'); ?>
<div>
<?php echo form_dropdown( 'ally3', $allies, ''); ?>
</div>
EDIT :
What I am wanting to do is if the allies array is empty it needs to display the message No wrestlers in database but its instead giving me an error in my view file.
Controller:
pastebin.com/1Bf721zJ
View:
<?php echo form_label( 'Ally 1', 'ally1'); ?>
<div>
<?php if ($allies[''] == 'No Wrestlers In Database') {
echo $allies[''];
}
else {
echo form_dropdown( 'ally1', $allies, '');
} ?>
</div>
I also am curious about something. I have the alliesList variable that either has a value of a resultset or null and what I want to do if its a result set is have each of the allies be the default value in each of the dropdowns.

Answer 1

You could do something like this:
$rosterList = $this->bios->getAllRoster();
$allies = array();
if (empty($rosterList) {
$allies[] = 'nothing to display';
}
else
{
$allies[] = 'Please Select An Option';
foreach ($rosterList AS $ally)
{
$allies[$ally->id] = $ally->rosterName;
}
}
also in your view, if you don't want to display a drop down you could put a conditional in to display something else, e.g.:
<?php if ($allies[0] == 'nothing to display') {
echo $allies[0]
}
else {
echo form_dropdown( 'ally1', $allies, '');
} ?>

Answer 2

Im not sure i fully understand your question but if im right cant you just do
if $_GET['allies'] == "Please select an option"{
$something = Null
}
else{
$something = $_GET['allies']
}
and use $something where you would have used $_GET['allies']?