Remove specific definitions from a variable in PHP - php

Question

I have a PHP mail script that validates name, email address, and phone number before sending the mail. This then means that the Name, Email address, and Phone fields are Required Fields.
I want to have it so that the Name and EITHER Email or Phone are required. Such that if a name and phone are inputted, it sends the mail, or if a name and an email are inputted, it also sends the email.
The way the script works right now is it has several IF statements that check for (1) name, (2) email and (3) phone. Here's an example of an if statement of the code:
if ( ($email == "") ) {
$errors .= $emailError; // no email address entered
$email_error = true;
}
if ( !(preg_match($match,$email)) ) {
$errors .= $invalidEmailError; // checks validity of email
$email_error = true;
}
And here's how it sends the mail:
if ( !($errors) ) {
mail ($to, $subject, $message, $headers);
echo "<p id='correct'>";
echo "ההודעה נשלחה בהצלחה!";
echo "</p>";
} else {
if (($email_error == true)) {
$errors != $phoneError;
/*echo "<p id='errors'>";
echo $errors;
echo "</p>";*/
}
if (($phone_error == true)) {
$errors != $emailError;
$errors != $invalidEmailError;
/*echo "<p id='errors'>";
echo $errors;
echo "</p>";*/
}
echo "<p id='errors'>";
echo $errors;
echo "</p>";
}
This doesn't work though. Basically this is what I want to do: If no email address was entered or if it was entered incorrectly, set a variable called $email_error to be true. Then check for that variable, and if it's true, then remove the $phoneError part of the $errors variable.
Man I hope I'm making some sense here. Does anyone know why this doesn't work? It reports all errors if all fields are left empty :(
Thanks!
Amit

Answer 1

You need at first to build up an array of errors, i.e.:
$errors = array();
if (!$phone) { // add more validation as required
$errors['phone'] = $phoneError;
}
if (!$email) {
$errors['email'] = 'No email provided';
}
if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
$errors['email'] = 'Invalid email provided';
}
Then you send, or display the errors:
if (!isset($errors['phone']) || !isset($errors['email'])) {
// send mail here, only if either the phone or the email error is missing
} else {
// display errors
echo '<p id="errors">';
foreach ($errors as $error) {
echo $error;
}
echo '</p>';
}

Answer 2

so...
$sent=false;
if(!$name){
$errors[]='No Name was supplied.';
return($errors);
}
if($phone && validatePhone($phone)){
//send the phone message however...
$sent=true;
}
if($email && validateEmail($email)){
//send the email here...
$sent=true;
}
if(!$sent){
$errors[]='Neither an email or a phone was supplied';
return($errors);
}
classed:
class Communication {
var $sent=false;
var $errors=false;
public function __construct(){
$this->phone=$_POST['phone'];
$this->email=$_POST['email'];
$this->name=$_POST['name'];
if($this->validateName()){
$this->validateEmail();
$this->validatePhone();
}
}
public function validateEmail(){
//do your regex here and eval either false or true to $status
if(!$status){
$this->errors['ErrorInvalidEmail']=ErrorInvalidEmail;
}else{
$this->sendEmail();
}
}
public function validatePhone(){
//do your regex here and eval either false or true to $status
if(!$status){
$this->errors['ErrorInvalidPhone']=ErrorInvalidPhone;
}else{
$this->sendText();
}
}
public function validateName(){
//do your regex here and eval either false or true to $status
if(!$status){
$this->errors['ErrorInvalidName']=ErrorInvalidName;
return(false);
}else{
return(true);
}
}
public function sendEmail(){
$this->sent=true;
//do your sending by email HERE
}
public function sendText(){
$this->sent=true;
// do your sending by text/phone here
}
}
$c=new Communication();
print_r($c->errors);

Answer 3

I believe
if ( !($errors) )
should be
if ( !$errors )
//or
if( !isset( $errors ) )

Answer 4

While there is no benefit over doing it Selsaek's way (above), one way to do it is with a bit mask (a set of constants which are powers of 2, and one storage variable). You OR the storage variable with the constant, and then when you AND the two together later, a nonzero result means the flag was tripped. No reason you can't use an array to store the flag and the text:
$WARNING_MASK = array('name' => 1, 'email' => 2, 'phone' => 4);
$warningflag = 0;
to set a flag an error (you OR the storage variable with a constant):
$warningflag = $warningflag | $WARNING_MASK['name'];
to test for an error (you AND the storage value with the constant):
if ($warningflag & $WARNING_MASK['name']) {}