Can 'if X, then echo X' be shortened in PHP?

Question

The shortest way to echo out stuff in views in PHP - when not using template engines - is, afaik, this one:

<?php if (!empty($x)) echo $x; ?>

For a deeper explanaition why using !empty is a good choice please look here.

Is it possible to write this without writing the variable name twice (like in other languages), something like

!echo $x;

or

echo? $x;

Rebirth · Answer 1 · 2014-08-11T23:34:15.910

4

echo @$x;

It's not exactly the right way to do it, but it is shorter. it reduces the need to check if $x exists since @ silences the error thrown when $x == null;

edit

echo empty($x) ? "" : $x;

is a shorter way, which is not really that much shorter nor does it solve your problem.

guess the other answers offer a better solution by addressing to make a short function for it.

edited Aug 11 '14 at 23:34

answered Aug 11 '14 at 23:14

Rebirth

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Using `@` is officially very bad syntax as it surpresses notices (I think the PSR guys have defined that). Not an option in modern development anymore! – Sliq Aug 11 '14 at 23:16
4

I quote: "It's not exactly the right way to do it, but...". – Rebirth Aug 11 '14 at 23:17
2

My +1 is for your first example. Your second doesn't solve the "only write the variable once" part though. – scrowler Aug 11 '14 at 23:30

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 11 '14 at 23:15

3

Built in? No.

However - you could write your own wrapper function to do it:

$x = 'foobar';
myecho($x); // foobar

function myecho($x) {
    echo !empty($x) ? $x : '';
}

This fits the bill of "only writing the variable once", but doesn't give you as much flexibility as the echo command does because this is a function that is using echo, so you can't do something like: myecho($x . ', '. $y) (the argument is now always defined and not empty once it hits myecho())

answered Aug 11 '14 at 23:15

scrowler

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Do not forget to check if `myecho` function exists with [function_exists](http://php.net/manual/en/function.function-exists.php) to prevent fatal error. – Vitaly Chirkov Aug 11 '14 at 23:25
@VitalyChirkov so you are writing ` – Christian Gollhardt Aug 11 '14 at 23:36
@ChristianGollhardt Nope, I use namespaces :P – Vitaly Chirkov Aug 11 '14 at 23:39
2

@VitalyChirkov i wanted to say, if i see a fatal error it is better for debugging then call a function that is not the one i think it is ;) – Christian Gollhardt Aug 11 '14 at 23:42
1

@ChristianGollhardt yep, agree. I take it back. – Vitaly Chirkov Aug 11 '14 at 23:52

Christian Gollhardt · Answer 3 · 2014-08-11T23:22:48.653

2

Yes, you can write a function:

function echoIfNotEmpty($val) {
   if (!empty($val)) {
       echo $val;
   }
}

Usage:

echoIfNotEmpty($x);

Sure you can shorten the function name.

If you don't know, if the var is intialized you can also do:

function echoIfNotEmpty(&$val = null) {
   if (!empty($val)) {
       echo $val;
   }
}

Most times we want do prefix and append something

function echoIfNotEmpty(&$val = null, $prefix = '', $suffix = '') {
   if (!empty($val)) {
       echo $prefix . $val . $suffix;
   }
}

echoIfNotEmpty($x, '<strong>', '</strong>');

edited Aug 11 '14 at 23:22

answered Aug 11 '14 at 23:15

Christian Gollhardt

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Good one! I've not even thought about this possibility. – Sliq Aug 11 '14 at 23:15

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 11 '14 at 23:15

2

Easy approach would be to define an helper function so:

function mEcho($someVariable) {
  if(!empty($someVariable) echo $someVariable;
}

I'm not sure though if that's what you intended.

answered Aug 11 '14 at 23:15

Ende Neu

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Can 'if X, then echo X' be shortened in PHP?

4 Answers4