PHP not detecting empty POST variables

Question

I have the following array

Array ( [productid] => 3
[newid] => 3
[name] => 
[description] => 
[price] => 
[onlinestock] => 
[weight] => 
[keywords] => 
[longdescription] => 
[graphic1] => 89.jpeg 
[graphic2] => 
[parameter1] => 
[parameter2] => 
[category1id] => 101 
[category2id] => 
[category3id] => 
[category4id] => 
[category5id] => 
[extra1] => 
[extra2] => 
[extra3] => 
[group1id] => 1575 
[groupprice1] => 0 
[group2id] => 1576 
[groupprice2] => 0 
[group3id] => 1577 
[groupprice3] => 0 
[group4id] => 1578 
[groupprice4] => 0 
[group5id] => 1579 
[groupprice5] => 0

I'm doing the following to check for empty values

 if (empty($_REQUEST["category1id"])){ 
                $_REQUEST["category1id"] = 0;
        }else if (empty($_REQUEST["category2id"])){
                $_REQUEST["category2id"] = 0;
        }else if (empty($_REQUEST["category3id"])){
                $_REQUEST["category3id"] = 0;
        }else if (empty($_REQUEST["category4id"])){
                $_REQUEST["category4id"] = 0;
        }else if (empty($_REQUEST["category5id"])){
                $_REQUEST["category5id"] = 0;
        }else if (empty($_REQUEST["price"])){
                $_REQUEST["price"] = 0;
        }else if (empty($_REQUEST["onlinestock"])){
                $_REQUEST["onlinestock"] = 0;
        }else if (empty($_REQUEST["weight"])){
                $_REQUEST["weight"] = 0;
        }

but somehow it's not detecting any of these values as empty? I'm not sure what this could be I tried $_REQUEST['category1id'] == "" and that also is not working. Any help would be appreciated

If you are only looking for POST variables use $_POST, not $_REQUEST. — BoltClock
– BoltClock, Commented Jan 27, 2011 at 13:59
look on : php.net/manual/en/function.empty.php .The following things are considered to be empty: * "" (an empty string) * 0 (0 as an integer) * "0" (0 as a string) * NULL * FALSE * array() (an empty array) * var $var; (a variable declared, but without a value in a class) — Haim Evgi
– Haim Evgi, Commented Jan 27, 2011 at 14:01

Pekka · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-27 14:04:35Z

7

Your logic is flawed. By using else if, only the conditions will match where the previous condition returned false. Get rid of each else and it should work.

answered Jan 27, 2011 at 14:04

Pekka

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1 Comment

Elitmiar Over a year ago

true fixed it, and it worked, silly from me to have had the else there ;-) Thanx

Stephen · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-27 14:07:31Z

4

Pekka is 100% correct. But I think it would be easier to change your approach. Replace your entire if/else block with this loop:

foreach ($_POST as &$post) {
    $post = empty($post) ? 0 : $post;
}

answered Jan 27, 2011 at 14:07

Stephen

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1 Comment

Jakub Over a year ago

btw, for those that do not know what the $post = empty(.... is, it is a Ternary Operator (php.net/manual/en/language.operators.comparison.php)

Jakub · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-27 14:03:57Z

2

Good comments above, main thing is don't use $_REQUEST:

$_REQUEST contains: $_COOKIE, $_GET, and $_POST variables

if you use $_REQUEST you have no guarantee that the data came from the POST, which leads to security holes in your script. Explicitly declare what you want $_POST/$_GET.

Also read the empty() fn documentation

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

Take a look at isset() as well -- (Determine if a variable is set and is not NULL):

http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.isset.php

answered Jan 27, 2011 at 14:03

Jakub

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Comments

Dimitrios Mistriotis · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-27 14:05:34Z

0

I think you might want to dwell into what is going on there. Sometime times for what you were trying to do I've used isset. The else if answer should be taken into account.

answered Jan 27, 2011 at 14:05

Dimitrios Mistriotis

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