Checking if two variables are not empty in PHP

Question

I want to echo variables if either of them aren't empty.

I have written the following PHP but they aren't being shown when the variables aren't empty:

if(!empty($this->element->videos||$this->element->productdownloads)) {
    echo $this->element->videos; 
    echo $this->element->productdownloads; 
}

Just chain the conditions? !empty($this->element->videos) || !empty($this->element->productdownloads) — Terry
– Terry, Commented Feb 2, 2017 at 17:10
From the docs "Prior to PHP 5.5, empty() only supports variables; anything else will result in a parse error." You have a test inside the function and error reporting (perhaps the error logs) would show you this. — Jay Blanchard
– Jay Blanchard, Commented Feb 2, 2017 at 17:12
The order of precedence says that it does $this->element->videos || $this->element->productdownloads first. This evaluates to a boolean value no matter what those variables actually contain. If one of them has some value, this will probably evaluate to true. And doing !empty() on a boolean true will return true. But as Jay Blanchard pointed out, empty() only works on variables so you probably have an error. — Cave Johnson
– Cave Johnson, Commented Feb 2, 2017 at 17:19
(cont.) You probably meant to do !empty() on each variable separately. So if(!empty($this->element->videos) || !empty($this->element->productdownloads)). But that will try to echo both values even if just one of them has something. So you probably want to use AND && instead of OR || — Cave Johnson
– Cave Johnson, Commented Feb 2, 2017 at 17:21

kscherrer · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-02 17:27:25Z

8

When checking with the OR operator (||) the code will execute if one or none of them is empty. But you echo both variables even if one of them is empty.

What I think you want to do is use the AND operator(&&). This way, the code will only execute if none of the variables are empty.

<?php   if(!empty($this->element->videos) && !empty($this->element->productdownloads)) {
    echo $this->element->videos; 
    echo $this->element->productdownloads; }
?>

if you still want to show videos, even if productdownloads is empty (and vice versa), you could do a seperate if for each of them, like this:

if(!empty($this->element->videos){
    echo $this->element->videos; 
}
if(!empty($this->element->productdownloads){
    echo $this->element->productdownloads; 
}

edit: minor grammatical fixes

edited Feb 2, 2017 at 17:27

answered Feb 2, 2017 at 17:15

kscherrer

5,7142 gold badges25 silver badges62 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Mike B · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-02 17:10:44Z

6

    <?php   
      if(!empty($this->element->videos) || !empty($this->element->productdownloads)) {
        echo $this->element->videos; 
        echo $this->element->productdownloads; 
      }
    ?>

answered Feb 2, 2017 at 17:10

Mike B

1,4469 silver badges16 bronze badges

Comments

Sandip Patel · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-02 17:54:09Z

2

if(!$this->element->videos || !$this->element->productdownloads) 
{
    echo $this->element->videos; 
    echo $this->element->productdownloads; 
}

You dont need to use empty by default php checks for empty when you use ! sign with if condition

answered Feb 2, 2017 at 17:54

Sandip Patel

1765 bronze badges

Comments

John Miller · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-22 15:46:00Z

1

Try

if(!($this->element->videos && $this->element->productdownloads)){
    echo $this->element->videos; 
    echo $this->element->productdownloads;  
}

answered Jul 22, 2019 at 15:46

John Miller

7537 silver badges21 bronze badges

Comments

Olaseyo Olumide Dayo · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-02 19:22:29Z

0

Well, I have had quite number of issues like that.

Try to remove empty space from the two variables before comparing them. Sometimes empty spaces comes before the variable and that hinders comparison.

answered Feb 2, 2017 at 19:22

Olaseyo Olumide Dayo

111 bronze badge

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Checking if two variables are not empty in PHP

5 Answers 5

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

5 Answers 5

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related