This entire post is dedicated to using the wrong tool for the job… Use isset if ...

ericpp · 2024-09-15T14:47:33 1726411653

It's a common mistake that newcomers to the language make. You assume empty is an empty string check when it's really a falsy check that is equivalent to: (!isset($var) || !$var)

Szpadel · 2024-09-15T13:36:38 1726407398

it's not always that straight forward to connect xdebug to where you need it, especially if that is triggered by some API call from external uncontrolled system. if that error could just trigger some generic error like product/entry/item is invalid so you would have no idea with exact condition failed. finally there in e-commerce offer there are import processes that get thousands of products in single batch, logging will get very messy and getting to that one product that had issue might take some time in each run

we had some errors that were happening to only one client and noone could reproduce that.

croes · 2024-09-15T13:53:41 1726408421

Maybe don't call a screwdriver a hammer.

I don't know enough PHP.

Does isset return true or false if I set a string variable to "" before I call isset?

joshstrange · 2024-09-15T14:05:19 1726409119

`isset` will return true/false and it will only return false if the value is null (never initialized or specifically set to null).

Example:

    $myVar = null;
    var_dump(isset($myVar)); // false
    $myVar = '';
    var_dump(isset($myVar)); // true
    $myVar = '0';
    var_dump(isset($myVar)); // true
    $myVar = 0;
    var_dump(isset($myVar)); // true

If you have a property on a class that was never given a value it will also return `false`:

    class MyClass {
        public $myProp;
        
        function myFunction() {
            var_dump(isset($this->myProp)); // false
        }
    }

croes · 2024-09-15T17:05:35 1726419935

So isset and empty don't actually check what their name suggests.

I think the problem is finding a short name for a little complex functionality

joshstrange · 2024-09-15T17:14:19 1726420459

If you want to find sane function naming, PHP is only going to disappoint you. I say that as someone who likes PHP, the old function names (and argument order) are… not great.

isset is like is_null but one thing isset can do is look at a whole chain (class props or associate array keys) and not blow up.

What I mean by that is you can do

    $test = null;
    isset($test->fake[‘doesNotExist’]->stilFake); // false

Whereas is_null would throw an error trying to walk a fake path. “isset” does essentially a try/catch-type thing around the check it’s doing.