Php shorthand isset and not empty

Stupid question, I know, but if I don't know whether a variable $var is set or not, should I use

isset[$var] && !empty[$var]

to check if it has any value in it, or is

!empty[$var] enough? Would there be a problem if $var is null in the second case?

asked Nov 30, 2011 at 22:57

federico-tfederico-t

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4

isset and empty are both language constructs. And empty[] internally does an isset check first, then negates that, or alternatively also checks for values that equate FALSE in boolean context.

So yes, !empty[] is sufficient.

answered Nov 30, 2011 at 23:00

7

Yes, you can drop the isset[]:

empty[] is the opposite of [boolean] var, except that no warning is generated when the variable is not set.

You can see this with the following code:

error_reporting[E_ALL];

var_dump[empty[$var]];

bool[true]

[Note the lack of an undefined variable warning]

answered Nov 30, 2011 at 23:00

Tim CooperTim Cooper

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You should use isset[], as !empty[] will return false if your $var is 0.

answered Nov 30, 2011 at 23:01

kylexkylex

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1

I think you can drop that isset[] completely in case you're using empty[], because empty[] checks whether variable is set first, too

so after all, use

if [!empty[$var]] {
    //isset and not empty
}

answered Nov 30, 2011 at 23:00

Martin.Martin.

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0

PHP has two special shorthand conditional operators.

• Ternary Operator
• Null Coalescing Operator

PHP Ternary Operator

The ternary operator is a short way of performing an if conditional.

Ternary Syntax

[] ? [] : []

• If the condition is true, the result of on true expression is returned.
• If the condition is false, the result of on false expression is returned.
• Since PHP 5.3, you can omit the on true expression. [condition] ?: [on false] returns the result of condition if the condition is true. Otherwise, the result of on false expression is returned.

PHP Ternary Operator Example