How can I have if/else condition inside a large php string variable?

Question

I have a large php string variable. I want to put php if/else condition inside it, so the edit and delete buttons to be displayed only to the author of the comment and not to everyone, but my code is not working. I used a colon to define the if/else condition, but it doesn’t work. Regular if/else condition also doesn’t work.

Here is my php code:

$user_id = $_SESSION['user_id'];

$if = "if ($user_id == $row['user_id']): ";

$else = "else: ";

$endif = "endif; ";

foreach($result as $row)
{
 $output .= '
<div class="panel panel-default">
  <div class="panel-body">'.$row["comment"].'</div>

  <div class="panel-footer">

     '. $if .'

     <form  class="input-group form-row" action="comment_delete1.php" method="post" enctype = "multipart/form-data">
        <div class="input-group-prepend">
         <input type="hidden" name="comment_id" id="comment_id" value="'.$row["comment_id"].'" />
         <input type="hidden" name="user_id" id="user_id" value="'.$row["user_id"].'" />
         <input type="submit" name="submit" id="submit" class="submit btn btn-default" value="Delete" />
        </div>
      </form>   

      <button type="button" class="btn btn-default edit" id="'.$row["comment_id"].'" >Edit</button>  

    '. $else .'

      <button type="button" class="btn btn-default reply" id="'.$row["comment_id"].'" >Reply</button>

    '. $endif .'

    </div>
</div>
 ';
}
echo $output;

`$if`? `$else`? those aren't conditions, those are variables. The variables will not be evaluated as a construct, they will be evaluated as a part of the string. — Jay Blanchard, Feb 24 '20 at 17:24
Yes, I put the conditions inside variables. I also did put the conditions directly inside the string, but that didn't work either. — Brian, Feb 24 '20 at 17:26
Because you're just making it all a string which will not be evaluated. — Jay Blanchard, Feb 24 '20 at 17:30
You need to get in the habit of [accepting answers](http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5234/how-does-accepting-an-answer-work) which help you to solve your issues. You'll earn points and others will be encouraged to help you. You need to revisit each of your previous questions to make sure you're doing this. — Jay Blanchard, Feb 24 '20 at 17:37

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 24 '20 at 17:33

0

In order to do this correctly the condition must be evaluated:

foreach($result as $row)
{
 $output .= '
<div class="panel panel-default">
  <div class="panel-body">'.$row["comment"].'</div>

  <div class="panel-footer">';

if ($user_id == $row['user_id']) {

     $output .=  '<form  class="input-group form-row" action="comment_delete1.php" method="post" enctype = "multipart/form-data">
        <div class="input-group-prepend">
         <input type="hidden" name="comment_id" id="comment_id" value="'.$row["comment_id"].'" />
         <input type="hidden" name="user_id" id="user_id" value="'.$row["user_id"].'" />
         <input type="submit" name="submit" id="submit" class="submit btn btn-default" value="Delete" />
        </div>
      </form>   

      <button type="button" class="btn btn-default edit" id="'.$row["comment_id"].'" >Edit</button>';

} else {

      $output .= '<button type="button" class="btn btn-default reply" id="'.$row["comment_id"].'" >Reply</button>
    </div>
</div>
 ';
    }
}
echo $output;

This is really not a good way to do this and you should consider refactoring your code to make this much neater and easier to read.

answered Feb 24 '20 at 17:33

Jay Blanchard

34,243
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I tried it, but the if/else statement itself is displayed on the website, and it doesn't work. – Brian Feb 24 '20 at 17:37
The PHP code is displayed? If it is you are either not running a web server or you're accessing the files incorrectly or https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12142172/apache-shows-php-code-instead-of-executing – Jay Blanchard Feb 24 '20 at 17:37
What URL are you using to access your PHP file? – Jay Blanchard Feb 24 '20 at 17:39
It is local host in Windows PC. – Brian Feb 24 '20 at 17:42
Do you have PHP configured to run on your local web server? – Jay Blanchard Feb 24 '20 at 17:44
Yes, I have been using it for a long time. I don't think there is any problem with my XAMPP. – Brian Feb 24 '20 at 17:45
If you're seeing the PHP code in your output then there is an issue with XAMPP – Jay Blanchard Feb 24 '20 at 17:45
So the issue shows itself when I put conditions inside php string variable? There are multiple conditions all over my program, and I never had any issue. – Brian Feb 24 '20 at 17:47
If you did it just like I wrote it and the server is working properly you would not see any PHP code at all. – Jay Blanchard Feb 24 '20 at 17:49
Do you have the PHP tags in that page? – Jay Blanchard Feb 24 '20 at 17:50
It shows the if else statements then the reply, edit, delete buttons. Except that one closing bracket is after the reply button. – Brian Feb 24 '20 at 17:52
it shows this: `if ($user_id == $row["user_id"]) { } else {` Reply button `}` Edit button, Delete button – Brian Feb 24 '20 at 17:54
Does the page have the opening PHP tag? ` – Jay Blanchard Feb 24 '20 at 17:54
Yes, it does. There are other codes before the php string variable. – Brian Feb 24 '20 at 17:55
Maybe you should post the code of the whole page in your question. – Jay Blanchard Feb 24 '20 at 17:56
I don't think it helps. What particular Apache file should I look for? – Brian Feb 24 '20 at 17:57
httpd.conf is the apache file where Apache is configured. – Jay Blanchard Feb 24 '20 at 17:58
What should I change in it? – Brian Feb 24 '20 at 18:00
1

I have no idea. You said your XAMPP was working properly and has never had a problem before, so I don't think there is anything to change unless you have modified something. – Jay Blanchard Feb 24 '20 at 18:01

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 25 '20 at 20:26

Here is the solution:

If we put conditions inside php string or heredoc, php will treat them as string and will display them on the screen as string. So we cannot have conditions inside string.

I put the if else conditions outside the php string variable, and I created two php string variables, one with delete and edit buttons, and the other one without delete and edit buttons. So if the user_id is equal to session user id, the php string variable with delete and edit buttons will be displayed. And, else if the user_id is not equal to session user id, the php string variable without delete and edit buttons will be displayed. The php string variable will be echoed at the end of all conditions.

Here is the php code:

$user_id = $_SESSION['user_id'];

foreach($result as $row) {

   if ($row['user_id'] === $user_id) {

$output .= '
<div class="panel panel-default">
  <div class="panel-body">'.$row["comment"].'</div>

  <div class="panel-footer">
     <form  class="input-group form-row" action="comment_delete1.php" method="post" enctype = "multipart/form-data">
        <div class="input-group-prepend">
         <input type="hidden" name="comment_id" id="comment_id" value="'.$row["comment_id"].'" />
         <input type="hidden" name="user_id" id="user_id" value="'.$row["user_id"].'" />
         <input type="submit" name="submit" id="submit" class="submit btn btn-default" value="Delete" />
        </div>
      </form>   

      <button type="button" class="btn btn-default edit" id="'.$row["comment_id"].'" >Edit</button>  
      <button type="button" class="btn btn-default reply" id="'.$row["comment_id"].'" >Reply</button>
    </div>
</div>
 ';

    } else if ($row['user_id'] !== $user_id) {

$output .= '
<div class="panel panel-default">
  <div class="panel-body">'.$row["comment"].'</div>

  <div class="panel-footer">
      <button type="button" class="btn btn-default reply" id="'.$row["comment_id"].'" >Reply</button>
  </div>
 </div>
 ';
    }
}

echo $output;

How can I have if/else condition inside a large php string variable?

2 Answers2