Does anybody know if there is a shortcut for the following statement in PHP?
$output = isset($some_value) ? $some_value : "Some Value Not Set";
echo $output;
This something that I often run into, where $some_value is actually very long and possibly involves a function, such as:
$output = $this->db->get_where('my_db',array('id'=>$id))->row()->some_value) ? $this->db->get_where('my_db',array('id'=>$id))->row()->some_value) : "Some Value Not Set";
echo $output;
It seems that there should be an operator or function that does this. I could easily write one, and I am not looking for that answer, but rather if anybody knows of a built-in shortcut.
Since PHP 5.3, it is possible to leave out the middle part of the ternary operator. Expression expr1 ?: expr3 returns expr1 if expr1 evaluates to TRUE, and expr3 otherwise.
http://php.net/manual/en/language.operators.comparison.php
if you need to reuse the long expression from the test after the ?, you can assign it to a variable inside the test (because assignments are expressions returning the assigned value) and use this variable after the ?:
$output = ($some_value = $this->db->get_where('my_db', array('id' => $id))->row()->some_value))
? $some_value
: "Some Value Not Set";
echo $output;
You should be setting a variable with the results of your database call before using the conditional operator for this purpose. Your example makes the database call twice.
For example:
$output = $this->db->get_where('my_db',array('id'=>$id))->row()->some_value);
$output = $output ? $output : "Some Value Not Set";
echo $output;
And with that established, this is a good case where it's really wiser to not use the conditional operator, which really isn't meant to be used as a general purpose if-then shortcut.
You seem to be afraid of whitespace. Use it! Liberally! Your code is much eaiser to read if you add a space before and after the question mark and the colon, respectively. If your statements get too long, add a newline. Try it, it won't hurt you.
I do believe that the conditional operator is the shortcut :) For the sake of saving function calls and readability, I suggest saving the value to a variable first.
$some_value = $this->db->get_where('my_db',array('id'=>$id))->row()->some_value);
$output = $some_value ? $some_value : "Some Value Not Set";
echo $output;
Best way is to:
$output = $this->db->get_where('my_db',array('id'=>$id))->row()->some_value)
echo $output =($output)?$output:"Some Value Not Set";
Only executes once then!
Related
I want to check if the usr_name of user is empty, then get his email and adjust a new variable to it.
So here is the traditional way:
if(auth()->user()->usr_name != null){
$user_input = auth()->user()->usr_name;
}else{
$user_input = auth()->user()->usr_email;
}
Now I want to write this with ternary condition operators, so I tried this:
$user_input = empty(auth()->user()->usr_name) ? auth()->user()->usr_name : auth()->user()->usr_email;
But this is wrong, since it returns null for $user_input.
So what is the correct way of writing this with ternary operators?
$user_input = auth()->user()->usr_name ?: auth()->user()->usr_email;
Ternary operator has a short syntax in PHP. The above code is the same as
if (auth()->user()->usr_name) {
$user_input = auth()->user()->usr_name;
} else {
$user_input = auth()->user()->usr_email;
}
Which is most likely equivalent to your code, considering the non strict != null check.
Tenary operator check the result before "?" and if true returns first pair distinguished with ":" if not return second pair.
Let say A = true
C = A ? 1: 2 ;
here C equals to 1
In your example you must changed order of tenary result values
$user_input = empty(auth()->user()->usr_name) ?auth()->user()->usr_email : auth()->user()->usr_name
You just have your logic back to front
$user_input = empty(auth()->user()->usr_name) ? auth()->user()->usr_email : auth()->user()->usr_name;
So to be clear, you are giving priority to usr_name if it is set, otherwise use the usr_email
Note that you could put this in an accessor and then call something like auth()->user()->identifier anywhere in your project
If you use PHP >= 7.0 you could use the null-coalescing operator to write a really beautiful statement instead.
It would look something like:
$user_input = auth()->user()->usr_name ?? auth()->user()->usr_email;
I want to evaluate a simple ternary operator inside of a string and can't seem to find the correct syntax.
My code looks like this:
foreach ($this->team_bumpbox as $index=>$member)
echo ".... class='{((1) ? abc : def)}'>....";
but I can't seem to get it to work properly. Any ideas on how to implement this?
You can't do it inside the string, per se. You need to dot-concatenate. Something like this:
echo ".... class='" . (1 ? "abc" : "def") . "'>....";
Well, you can do it actually:
$if = function($test, $true, $false)
{
return $test ? $true : $false;
};
echo "class='{$if(true, 'abc', 'def')}'";
I'll let you decide whether it is pure elegance or pure madness. However note that unlike the real conditional operator, both arguments to the function are always evaluated.
I am looking to expand on my PHP knowledge, and I came across something I am not sure what it is or how to even search for it. I am looking at php.net isset code, and I see isset($_GET['something']) ? $_GET['something'] : ''
I understand normal isset operations, such as if(isset($_GET['something']){ If something is exists, then it is set and we will do something } but I don't understand the ?, repeating the get again, the : or the ''. Can someone help break this down for me or at least point me in the right direction?
It's commonly referred to as 'shorthand' or the Ternary Operator.
$test = isset($_GET['something']) ? $_GET['something'] : '';
means
if(isset($_GET['something'])) {
$test = $_GET['something'];
} else {
$test = '';
}
To break it down:
$test = ... // assign variable
isset(...) // test
? ... // if test is true, do ... (equivalent to if)
: ... // otherwise... (equivalent to else)
Or...
// test --v
if(isset(...)) { // if test is true, do ... (equivalent to ?)
$test = // assign variable
} else { // otherwise... (equivalent to :)
In PHP 7 you can write it even shorter:
$age = $_GET['age'] ?? 27;
This means that the $age variable will be set to the age parameter if it is provided in the URL, or it will default to 27.
See all new features of PHP 7.
That's called a ternary operator and it's mainly used in place of an if-else statement.
In the example you gave it can be used to retrieve a value from an array given isset returns true
isset($_GET['something']) ? $_GET['something'] : ''
is equivalent to
if (isset($_GET['something'])) {
echo "Your error message!";
} else {
$test = $_GET['something'];
}
echo $test;
Of course it's not much use unless you assign it to something, and possibly even assign a default value for a user submitted value.
$username = isset($_GET['username']) ? $_GET['username'] : 'anonymous'
You have encountered the ternary operator. It's purpose is that of a basic if-else statement. The following pieces of code do the same thing.
Ternary:
$something = isset($_GET['something']) ? $_GET['something'] : "failed";
If-else:
if (isset($_GET['something'])) {
$something = $_GET['something'];
} else {
$something = "failed";
}
It is called the ternary operator. It is shorthand for an if-else block. See here for an example http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.operators.comparison.php#language.operators.comparison.ternary
? is called Ternary (conditional) operator : example
What you're looking at is called a Ternary Operator, and you can find the PHP implementation here. It's an if else statement.
if (isset($_GET['something']) == true) {
thing = isset($_GET['something']);
} else {
thing = "";
}
If you want an empty string default then a preferred way is one of these (depending on your need):
$str_value = strval($_GET['something']);
$trimmed_value = trim($_GET['something']);
$int_value = intval($_GET['somenumber']);
If the url parameter something doesn't exist in the url then $_GET['something'] will return null
strval($_GET['something']) -> strval(null) -> ""
and your variable $value is set to an empty string.
trim() might be prefered over strval() depending on code (e.g. a Name parameter might want to use it)
intval() if only numeric values are expected and the default is zero. intval(null) -> 0
Cases to consider:
...&something=value1&key2=value2 (typical)
...&key2=value2 (parameter missing from url $_GET will return null for it)
...&something=+++&key2=value (parameter is " ")
Why this is a preferred approach:
It fits neatly on one line and is clear what's going on.
It's readable than $value = isset($_GET['something']) ? $_GET['something'] : '';
Lower risk of copy/paste mistake or a typo: $value=isset($_GET['something'])?$_GET['somthing']:'';
It's compatible with older and newer php.
Update
Strict mode may require something like this:
$str_value = strval(#$_GET['something']);
$trimmed_value = trim(#$_GET['something']);
$int_value = intval(#$_GET['somenumber']);
I have this code
$myvar = is_object($somevar) ? $somevar->value : is_array($somevar) ? $somevar['value'] : '';
issue is that sometime I am getting this error
PHP Error: Cannot use object of type \mypath\method as array in /var/www/htdocs/website/app/resources/tmp/cache/templates/template_view.html.php on line 988
line 988 is the above line I included. I am already checking if its object or array, so why this error then?
It has something to do with priority, or the way PHP is evaluating your expression. Grouping with parentheses solves the problem:
$myvar = is_object($somevar) ? $somevar->value : (is_array($somevar) ? $somevar['value'] : '');
See the notes here: http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.operators.comparison.php#language.operators.comparison.ternary
Note:
It is recommended that you avoid "stacking" ternary expressions. PHP's
behaviour when using more than one ternary operator within a single
statement is non-obvious:
Example #3 Non-obvious Ternary Behaviour
<?php
// on first glance, the following appears to output 'true'
echo (true?'true':false?'t':'f');
// however, the actual output of the above is 't'
// this is because ternary expressions are evaluated from left to right
// the following is a more obvious version of the same code as above
echo ((true ? 'true' : false) ? 't' : 'f');
// here, you can see that the first expression is evaluated to 'true', which
// in turn evaluates to (bool)true, thus returning the true branch of the
// second ternary expression.
?>
You need to place parenthesis around the second ternary:
$myvar = is_object($somevar) ? $somevar->value : (is_array($somevar) ? $somevar['value'] : '');
This must have something to do with operator precedence, though I'm not sure why yet.
Opinion: The ternary with or without parenthesis is difficult to read IMHO. I'd stick with the expanded form:
$myvar = '';
if(is_object($somevar)) {
$myvar = $somevar->value;
} elseif(is_array($somevar)) {
$myvar = $somevar['value'];
}
This below does not seem to work how I would expect it, event though $_GET['friendid'] = 55 it is returning NULL
<?PHP
$_GET['friendid'] = 55;
$friendid = (!isset($_GET['friendid'])) ? $_GET['friendid'] : 'empty';
echo $friendid;
exit;
?>
As of PHP 7's release, you can use the null-coalescing operator (double "?") for this:
$var = $array["key"] ?? "default-value";
// which is synonymous to:
$var = isset($array["key"]) ? $array["key"] : "default-value";
In PHP 5.3+, if all you are checking on is a "truthy" value, you can use the "Elvis operator" (note that this does not check isset).
$var = $value ?: "default-value";
// which is synonymous to:
$var = $value ? $value : "default-value";
Remove the !. You don't want to negate the expression.
$friendid = isset($_GET['friendid']) ? $_GET['friendid'] : 'empty';
If you're lazy and risky, you can use error control operator # and short form of ternary operator.
$friendid = #$_GET['friendid']?: 'empty';
Currently you're working with the ternary operator:
$friendid = (!isset($_GET['friendid'])) ? $_GET['friendid'] : 'empty';
Break it down to an if-else statement and it looks like this:
if(!isset($_GET['friendid']))
$friendid = $_GET['friendid'];
else
$friendid = 'empty';
Look at what's really happening in the if statement:
!isset($_GET['friendid'])
Note the exclamation mark (!) in front of the isset function. It's another way to say, "the opposite of". What you're doing here is checking that there is no value already set in $_GET['friendid']. And if so, $friendid should take on that value.
But really, it would break since $_GET['friendid'] doesn't even exist. And you can't take the value of something that isn't there.
Taking it from the start, you have set a value for $_GET['friendid'], so that first if condition is now false and passes it on to the else option.
In this case, set the value of the $friendid variable to empty.
What you want is to remove the exclamation and then the value of $friendid will take on the value of $_GET['friendid'] if it has been previously set.
The best solution for this question, i.e. if you also need to 'check for the empty string', is empty().
$friendid = empty($_GET['friendid']) ? 'empty' : $_GET['friendid'];
empty() not only checks whether the variable is set, but additionally returns false if it is fed anything that could be considered 'empty', such as an empty string, empty array, the integer 0, boolean false, ...
I am using Null coalescing operator operator in if condition like this
if($myArr['user'] ?? false){
Which is equivalent to
if(isset($myArr['user']) && $myArr['user']){
From your reply to Philippe I think you need to have a look at the differences between empty and isset.
To summarise, isset() will return boolean TRUE if the variable exists. Hence, if you were to do
$fid = $_GET['friendid'] = "";
$exists = isset($fid);
$exists will be TRUE as $_GET['friendid'] exists. If this is not what you want I suggest you look into empty. Empty will return TRUE on the empty string (""), which seems to be what you are expecting. If you do use empty, please refer to the documentation I linked to, there are other cases where empty will return true where you may not expect it, these cases are explicitly documented at the above link.
if friendid is NOT set, friendid = friendid otherwise friendid = empty
Okay, I may have been having a similar issue not being familiar with the ! situation as jasondavis had.
Kind of confusing but finding out not having the ! as in... isset($avar) compared to !isset($avar) can make quite the difference.
So with the ! in place, is more stating a YES as in
since $_GET['friendid'] = 55; has been initialized...
tell me 'no' - the opposite - that it hasn't and set it to empty.
$friendid = (!isset($_GET['friendid'])) ? $_GET['friendid'] : 'empty';
where not having the ! tells me yes it has something in it, leave it be.
$friendid = (!isset($_GET['friendid'])) ? $_GET['friendid'] : 'empty';
Was far less confusing with if A$="" then.... work it. ( or if $A="" for those of PHP ).
I find this use of strings and variables all as strings to be very daunting at times. Even through the confusion, I can actually understand why... just makes things a tad difficult to grasp for me.
For me, if I need to know BOTH are true
key is set
value is truthy
and if not, use another result:
the shortest way is
$result = ($arr['b'] ?? 0) ?: $arr['a'];
(ie. if b is_set AND has a real value, use it. Otherwise use a)
So in this scenario:
$arr = ['a' => 'aaa', 'b' => 'bbb'];
$result = 'aaa'