Getting rid of "undefined index" in one line without duplication

Question

I am processing the result of a GROUP BY query which does not produce result for all the permutation of constants. It obviously gives an "Undefined Index" notice which I want to get of.

Of course I could use isset but it would mean duplication of code (of the index). An other way would be to use a variable to store the index, but it would mean every such line of code is now two line. I like the readability of this line of code.

$stat->setMapped($companyStats["Account"][mypackage_MyClass::$STATUS_ACCEPTED]);

Is there any way (except the error operator @ to avoid this notice)?

So you will end up calling `$stat->setMapped(NULL)` in cases where you don't have the index? — lanzz, May 31 '12 at 08:10
Is readability important or correctness/bug free code important? — Josnidhin, May 31 '12 at 08:12
@lanzz Yet, that is acceptable. I also could use the php way `0+NULL` to where I explicitly need a number. — vbence, May 31 '12 at 08:12
I'd go the `@` way in your case, I don't see the need for a different solution. — lanzz, May 31 '12 at 08:13
My suggestion is dont use '@' as it will suppress any error. — Josnidhin, May 31 '12 at 08:22

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 31 '12 at 08:13

You should start with an array that has all the keys defined and then merge your array into it. The result will have your values where they are defined and null (or whatever defaults you set) where they were not.

$allTheKeysYouWant = array('key1' => null, 'key2' => null, ...);
$keysFilled = array_merge($allTheKeysYouWant, $yourArray);

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 01 '12 at 10:54

1

In the setMapped function declaration, accept the parameter by reference, i.e.

function setMapped(&$companyStats) {
    if (isset($companyStats)) {
         ....

answered Jun 01 '12 at 10:54

snez

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That would work, but it would be a bit of an overkill to do in a setter function. – vbence Jun 01 '12 at 11:10

Getting rid of "undefined index" in one line without duplication

2 Answers2