Rewrite this code in a neater fashion, without so many else's - php

Question

I want to rewrite this code without so many "else's", but still keep it efficient in terms of not checking things or running queries if not needed.
Can someone suggest a better way to write this function?
public static function fetch($content) {
products_library::init();
self::$cache = $cache = url::assetsPath() . '../cache/soldout_cache';
//check the cache
if (file_exists($cache)) {
$cache_date = filectime($cache);
db::select('date_modified');
db::orderBy('date_modified DESC');
db::limit(1);
$mod_date = db::get('sc_module_products')->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
if ($mod_date) {
$mod_date = strtotime('date_modified');
if ($cache_date >= $mod_date) { //serve the cache
try {
$soldout = filewriter::read($cache);
$soldout = unserialize($soldout);
} catch (Exception $e) {
$soldout = self::query();
}
}
else
$soldout = self::query();
}
else
$soldout = self::query();
}
else
$soldout = self::query();
$data['items'] = $soldout; // print_r($items); exit;
$html = view::load('Product_Display', $data, true);
return $html;
}
Thanks

Answer 1

Refactored it into a method that returns instead of else statements
private static function getSoldout() {
self::$cache = $cache = url::assetsPath() . '../cache/soldout_cache';
//check the cache
if (!file_exists($cache)) {
return self::query();
}
$cache_date = filectime($cache);
db::select('date_modified');
db::orderBy('date_modified DESC');
db::limit(1);
$mod_date = db::get('sc_module_products')->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
if (!$mod_date) {
return self::query();
}
$mod_date = strtotime('date_modified');
if ($cache_date < $mod_date) {
return self::query();
}
try {
//serve the cache
$soldout = filewriter::read($cache);
$soldout = unserialize($soldout);
return $soldout;
} catch (Exception $e) {
return self::query();
}
}
public static function fetch($content) {
products_library::init();
$soldout = self::getSoldout();
$data['items'] = $soldout; // print_r($items); exit;
$html = view::load('Product_Display', $data, true);
return $html;
}
I don't understand this line, is there a bug there?
$mod_date = strtotime('date_modified');

Answer 2

Set $soldout to NULL. Then remove the else $soldout = self::query() statement.
After the if statement test $soldout for NULL and it true run the query.

Answer 3

A switch-case block would work wonders here. You'd just have a break statement that would point to a default case. However, if I were in your shoes, I'd attempt to refactor the whole thing, which would take more than a quick fix.

Answer 4

Something like this might work. I'm not sure what's happening inside all the ifs and why you need so many, it might be more compact.
public static function fetch($content) {
products_library::init();
self::$cache = $cache = url::assetsPath() . '../cache/soldout_cache';
$soldout = self::fetchCache($cache);
if ($soldout === false)
{
$soldout = self::query();
}
$data['items'] = $soldout; // print_r($items); exit;
$html = view::load('Product_Display', $data, true);
return $html;
}
public static function fetchCache($cache) {
if (file_exists($cache)) {
$cache_date = filectime($cache);
db::select('date_modified');
db::orderBy('date_modified DESC');
db::limit(1);
$mod_date = db::get('sc_module_products')->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
if ($mod_date) {
$mod_date = strtotime('date_modified');
if ($cache_date >= $mod_date) { //serve the cache
try {
$result = filewriter::read($cache);
$result = unserialize($soldout);
return $result;
} catch (Exception $e) {
return false;
}
}
}
}
return false;
}

Answer 5

Seems to me as if you could default $soldout to be self::query() by setting it to that before the first if check then remove all the elses, so if the conditions doesn't match it will still be self::query(). Might not work depending on what self::query() does.