Check multiple variables at once in PHP using IF

Question

With these variables:

$var1='a';
$var2='b';

How can I check if they are both empty at once without the need of doing this:

if(empty($var1) && empty($var2)){
}

or

if($var1=='' && $var==''){
}

I mean something like:

if(($var1 && $var)==''){
}

`!empty` is what you want. This checks if something is NOT empty. — Adam, Mar 26 '19 at 17:33
Here is an ideea, concatenate the variables: `if(empty($var1 . $var2))...` — CoursesWeb, Mar 26 '19 at 17:34
The shortest way isn't always the best way - but you're probably better off using arrays than separate variables if you can. — Qirel, Mar 26 '19 at 17:37

esqew · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-26T17:43:41.223

1

Depending on your scale requirements and how large the data you'll be storing in these vars is, you could just do a straight concatenation:

if($var1 . $var2 == '') {
    // blank strings in both
}

Alternatively, using empty():

if(empty($var1 . $var2)) {
    // blank strings in both
}

^Repl.it

edited Mar 26 '19 at 17:43

answered Mar 26 '19 at 17:33

esqew

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Interesting, you can concat variables in an IF statement? – Adam Mar 26 '19 at 17:34
1

Of course you can, @Adam. :-) – Qirel Mar 26 '19 at 17:36
Today I learned, awesome! – Adam Mar 26 '19 at 17:36
`empty()`considers `[]` as empty. This approach won't work if one of the variable is an empty array `[]`. – Aniket Sahrawat Mar 26 '19 at 17:50

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 26 '19 at 17:37

1

How about a utility function:

function is_any_empty() {
    $args = func_get_args();
    foreach($args as $arg) {
        if(empty($arg)) return true;
    }
    return false;
}
var_dump(is_any_empty("")); // bool(true)
var_dump(is_any_empty("ds", "")); // bool(true)
var_dump(is_any_empty("ds", "dd")); // bool(false)

answered Mar 26 '19 at 17:37

Aniket Sahrawat

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Alternatively you can use the splat operator instead of func_get_args() – Daan Mar 26 '19 at 17:39

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 26 '19 at 17:36

0

I mean, that's kinda how you do it. But if you want to ensure that they both are not empty, you'd probably want your if statement to look more like this:

if(!empty($var1) && !empty($var2)) {
  // Do stuff! They both exist!
}

I'd prefer an empty check because if $var1 and $var2 haven't been defined, you'll get notices all over your error logs.

Hope that helps!

answered Mar 26 '19 at 17:36

Rohjay

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1
7

Aaaaaand I think I misread that. Swear it said "how do I check that they both aren't empty". Welp! My bad =] – Rohjay Mar 26 '19 at 17:38
I suppose you could also try array_merge: `if ( !empty(array_merge($var1, $var2)) ) { // code` – Rohjay Apr 05 '20 at 11:45

Check multiple variables at once in PHP using IF

3 Answers3