php inside an "if"

[Sergio V Modest]

I am very new to PHP and this is my question:
I have this:

if (something) {
    echo 'blablabla';
    echo '<button type="button" title="<?php echo $this->__('foo') ?>" class="button" onclick="setLocation('<?php echo $this->getUrl('foo') ?>')"><span><span><?php echo $this->__('foo') ?></span></span></button>';
] else

why this isn't right? Not possible php inside an 'if'?

[Atli]

Hey.

You seem to be opening and closing PHP blocks inside a PHP string, which is not going to work. When the PHP parser finds a <?php in your HTML it opens a "PHP block" and starts parsing everything it finds as PHP, until it finds the closing ?> tag.

While inside a PHP block, you can access all PHP variables. Opening another PHP block is redundant and will cause errors.

If you want to place a PHP variable inside a string (such as HTML output you want echoed) you can do:
[code=php]<?php
$name = 'Atli';

# Either do:
echo '<p>My name is: ' . $name . '</p>';

# Or:
echo "<p>My name is: {$name}</p>";
?>[/code]
In the first version I use single-quotes, so I have to break out of the string and concat the variable to it. (The dot does that; adds two strings to each other.)

In the second version I use double-quotes, which allows me to put the variable into the string. PHP searches the string for variables and replaces them with their appropriate values.

Both versions print out: <p>My name is: Atli</p>

[Sergio V Modest]

I think I didn't explain well: I want to show a button with a text if my question is right and another if not.
Something like this:

if (something) {
    echo 'blablabla';
    echo '<button type="button" title="<?php echo $this->__('foo') ?>" class="button" onclick="setLocation('<?php echo $this->getUrl('foo') ?>')"><span><span><?php echo $this->__('foo') ?></span></span></button>';
] else
    echo '<button type="button" title="<?php echo $this->__('foo2') ?>" class="button" onclick="setLocation('<?php echo $this->getUrl('foo2') ?>')"><span><span><?php echo $this->__('foo2') ?></span></span></button>';

[Jay Garland]

I personally choose the easy method, may not be the right one but if it's a script for yourself then why not =)

So I'd do something like

if (something){ ?>
<?php ALL PHP CONTENT HERE ?>
<?php } else { ?>
<?php OTHER PHP CONTENT HERE ?>
<?php } ?>

Sadly, I haven't come across an easier way to do it, but I don't read PHP tutorials much anymore.

[Atli]

I think I didn't explain well: I want to show a button with a text if my question is right and another if not.

OK. If you apply what I said in my previous post to the code you posted, and replace the ] on line #4 with a }, then your code should do that.

It's just a matter of setting up a simple IF-ELSE block to print the proper button.

I personally choose the easy method, may not be the right one but if it's a script for yourself then why not =)

So I'd do something like

if (something){ ?>
<?php ALL PHP CONTENT HERE ?>
<?php } else { ?>
<?php OTHER PHP CONTENT HERE ?>
<?php } ?>

Sadly, I haven't come across an easier way to do it, but I don't read PHP tutorials much anymore.

You don't have to close and open PHP blocks for each line. In fact, it's usually a pretty bad idea. (Makes it a nightmare to read the code.)

Your code is exactly equivalent to doing:

<?php
if (something){
  ALL PHP CONTENT HERE
} else {
  OTHER PHP CONTENT HERE
} 
?>

It's also a good idea use templates and design patterns that promote separation of logic and presentation. Mixing the two usually generates pretty hard to maintain code. - A lot of PHP frameworks are build on the MVC pattern. A very good thing to get used to.

[ziycon]

You need do change your code to be formatted like so:

echo '<button type="button" title="'.$this->__("foo").'"/>';