if block inside echo statement?

Question

I suspect it's not allowable because I am getting "Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_IF in..." error. But I couldn't find a way to accomplish my goal. Here's my code:

<?php 

  $countries = $myaddress->get_countries();

  foreach($countries as $value){
    echo '<option value="'.$value.'"'.if($value=='United States') echo 'selected="selected"';.'>'.$value.'</option>';
  }
  ?>

What it does is it displays a list of countries in a select element and sets United States as the default. I doesn't work sadly...

Jim · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-18T13:09:03.267

183

You will want to use ~~the~~ a ternary operator which acts as a shortened IF/Else statement:

echo '<option value="'.$value.'" '.(($value=='United States')?'selected="selected"':"").'>'.$value.'</option>';

edited Aug 18 '10 at 13:09

answered Aug 17 '10 at 21:21

Jim

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3

So that's where ternary operator is useful. That was quick, thanks a lot! – Joann Aug 17 '10 at 21:27
Its not "my preference" in situations like this. I like the ternary operator for defaulting / setting variables. But given that is what you asked, there is how you do it :) – Jim Aug 17 '10 at 21:28
2

It’s *a* ternary operator but not the ternary operator (although I don’t know any other ternary operator). Another common term is conditional operator. – Gumbo Aug 18 '10 at 06:05
Yea an easily overlooked mistake on my part. Fixed it Gumbo. – Jim Aug 18 '10 at 13:09
'.(($value=='United States')?'selected="selected"':"").' can also be value="'.(($value=='')?' selected ':"").' the first is supposedly XHTML but just using 'selected' should work just fine. Is a bit simpler. – timpng1 Mar 14 '22 at 23:12

score 19 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 17 '10 at 21:23

You can always use the ( <condition> ? <value if true> : <value if false> ) syntax (it's called the ternary operator - thanks to Mark for remining me :) ).

If <condition> is true, the statement would be evaluated as <value if true>. If not, it would be evaluated as <value if false>

For instance:

$fourteen = 14;
$twelve = 12;
echo "Fourteen is ".($fourteen > $twelve ? "more than" : "not more than")." twelve";

This is the same as:

$fourteen = 14;
$twelve = 12;
if($fourteen > 12) {
  echo "Fourteen is more than twelve";
}else{
  echo "Fourteen is not more than twelve";
}

As @Gumbo pointed out, this is just one ternary operator, not "the". "Another common term is conditional operator." — strager, Aug 18 '10 at 13:10

score 10 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 17 '10 at 21:23

Use a ternary operator:

echo '<option value="'.$value.'"'.($value=='United States' ? 'selected="selected"' : '').'>'.$value.'</option>';

And while you're at it, you could use printf to make your code more readable/manageable:

printf('<option value="%s" %s>%s</option>',
    $value,
    $value == 'United States' ? 'selected="selected"' : ''
    $value);

score 7 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 18 '10 at 13:27

In sake of readability it should be something like

<?php 
  $countries = $myaddress->get_countries();
  foreach($countries as $value) {
    $selected ='';
    if($value=='United States') $selected ='selected="selected"'; 
    echo '<option value="'.$value.'"'.$selected.'>'.$value.'</option>';
  }
?>

desire to stuff EVERYTHING in a single line is a decease, man. Write distinctly.

But there is another way, a better one. There is no need to use echo at all. Learn to use templates. Prepare your data first, and display it only then ready.

Business logic part:

$countries = $myaddress->get_countries();
$selected_country = 1;

Template part:

<? foreach($countries as $row): ?>
<option value="<?=$row['id']?>"<? if ($row['id']==$current_country):> "selected"><? endif ?>
  <?=$row['name']?>
</option>
<? endforeach ?>

if block inside echo statement?

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