Variable returning "empty" even when not? 2

[Katerine]

I'm pretty new to PHP (specifically), so I apologize if I'm missing something obvious. At least this should be a pretty quick question.

Ok, so I have the following test code set up:

	$secure = (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && $_SERVER['HTTPS'] !== 'off') || $_SERVER['SERVER_PORT'] == 443;
	$secure = (empty($secure)) ? false : $secure;
	echo ($secure ? 'True' : 'False'), empty($secure) ? 'Empty' : '';

I'm running it on my development server, which is a Windows machine running IIS 7 with PHP 5.6, on localhost, obviously not over HTTPS. Under those circumstances, the value of $secure should be false. But for some reason, the echo code above consistently returns, "FalseEmpty" - even though I specifically checked for empty and reset it to false. Does false somehow = empty in PHP? If not (and that would be very strange), how do I get it to correctly set to false based on the server settings?

Many thanks!

Katie

 

[ChrisHirst]

From

http://php.net/manual/en/function.empty.php

A variable is considered empty if it does not exist or if its value equals FALSE.

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.
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[feherke]

Hi

Does false somehow = empty in PHP?

Yes. As the documentation says :

Returns FALSE if var exists and has a non-empty, non-zero value. Otherwise returns TRUE.

The following things are considered to be empty:
[ul]
[li]"" (an empty string)[/li]
[li]0 (0 as an integer)[/li]
[li]0.0 (0 as a float)[/li]
[li]"0" (0 as a string)[/li]
[li]NULL[/li]
[li]FALSE[/li]
[li]array() (an empty array)[/li]
[li]$var; (a variable declared, but without a value)[/li]
[/ul]

( PHP Manual | Function Reference | Variable and Type Related Extensions | Variable handling | Variable handling Functions | empty | Return Values )

Maybe you are expecting too much from [tt]empty()[/tt]. Of course, this is matter of personal coding style, but I find it abit overused in your code. For example in the 1[sup]st[/sup] line I would prefer [tt]isset()[/tt] instead of [tt]! empty()[/tt]. And the 2[sup]nd[/sup] line is completely pointless, as it only transforms true or false to the same true or false.

how do I get it to correctly set to false

Your code already sets it correctly to false. The [tt]var_dump()[/tt] function outputs type information too, so is helpful when in doubt regarding a value's type.

Interactive mode enabled

[blue]php >[/blue] $_SERVER = [ 'SERVER_PORT' => 80 ];
[blue]php >[/blue] var_dump($secure = (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && $_SERVER['HTTPS'] !== 'off') || $_SERVER['SERVER_PORT'] == 443);
bool(false)

[blue]php >[/blue] $_SERVER = [ 'SERVER_PORT' => 443 ];
[blue]php >[/blue] var_dump($secure = (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && $_SERVER['HTTPS'] !== 'off') || $_SERVER['SERVER_PORT'] == 443);
bool(true)

[blue]php >[/blue] $_SERVER = [ 'HTTPS' => 'on', 'SERVER_PORT' => 80 ];
[blue]php >[/blue] var_dump($secure = (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && $_SERVER['HTTPS'] !== 'off') || $_SERVER['SERVER_PORT'] == 443);
bool(true)

[blue]php >[/blue] $_SERVER = [ 'HTTPS' => 'off', 'SERVER_PORT' => 80 ];
[blue]php >[/blue] var_dump($secure = (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && $_SERVER['HTTPS'] !== 'off') || $_SERVER['SERVER_PORT'] == 443);
bool(false)

Feherke.
feherke.ga

 

[Katerine]

Thanks, guys. The isset() tip is particularly useful!

Ok, quick follow-up question:

I had actually looked at the manual before posting, but focused more on the stuff later in the article, Particularly when it said:

Returns FALSE if var exists and has a non-empty, non-zero value. Otherwise returns TRUE.

That was the part I read. I'm coming at this from an SQL and VB background... but I'm used to False = 0. Hence the confusion. Does false not have a numeric equivalent in PHP?

Katie

 

[feherke]

Hi

Does false not have a numeric equivalent in PHP?

Not sure to what exactly are you thinking here, but 0 and 0.0 ( even "0" also ) evaluates to false in boolean context :

[blue]php >[/blue] var_dump((int) true, (int) false, (string) true, (string) false); 
int(1)
int(0)
string(1) "1"
string(0) ""

[blue]php >[/blue] var_dump((bool) 1, (bool) 0, (bool) '1', (bool) '');
bool(true)
bool(false)
bool(true)
bool(false)

You can see more on the documentation's PHP type comparison tables page.


Feherke.
feherke.ga

 

[Katerine]

Ok, thanks. It may just be a problem with the verbiage in that one sentence in the manual - if it truly "Returns FALSE if var exists and has a non-empty, non-zero value. Otherwise returns TRUE," - then a boolean set to FALSE (i.e. 0) should return TRUE, because the var exists, and it's not non-empty, and it's not non-zero (sorry about the multiple negatives, but that's how they wrote it). So, just a bit of confusion surrounding the verbiage.

[Edit] ...which is what it did. It did return TRUE. So... Oops. :-D Sorry to bug you guys! I'm going with the excuse that I worked for 10 hours yesterday and am just starting to learn PHP!

Katie