Change "if" statement based on variable

Question

How can I change my "if" statement based a variable without writing a new statement for each case? My select dropdown "timeline" will be populated with 25+ options so I want to make the if statement in the php script

HTML to set variable:

<p>Current Status: </p> <select name="timeline" id="timeline">
            <option value="completed" selected>Completed</option>
            <option value="active">Active</option>
</select>

PHP:

     $current_state = $_POST['timeline'];
     $current = strtotime("now");

while($row = mysql_fetch_array($results)){




        if($current_state == "completed"){
             $end = strtotime($row['End']);

             $my_if = "if($current > $end){";

        }

        if($current_state == "active"){

           $end = strtotime($row['End']);
           $start = strtotime($row['Start']);

           $my_if = "if($start < $current && $end > $current){";

        }
                //THIS IS WHERE THE IF STATEMENT WOULD BE USED
                echo $my_if;

                            echo '<tr>
                            <td>'. $row['ID']  .'</td>
                            <td>'. $row['Name']  .'</td>
                            <td>'. $row['LastName']  .'</td>

                        </tr>';
                }
}

Geoffrey · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-16 22:37:57Z

2

You should rework your logic completely

$completed = $_POST['timeline'] == 'completed';
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($results)) {
    $end = strtotime($row['End']);
    if (!$completed)
      $start = strtotime($row['Start']);

    if (
        ($completed  && $current > $end) ||
        (!$completed && $start < $current && $end > $current)
    ) {
      // do stuff
    }
}

edited Jul 16, 2012 at 22:37

answered Jul 16, 2012 at 4:27

Geoffrey

11.4k3 gold badges37 silver badges50 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Core Xii · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-16 04:26:12Z

1

Include the conditions of your "meta-if" into the if itself:

if ($current_state == "completed")
    {
    $end = strtotime($row['End']);
    }

if ($current_state == "active")
    {
    $end = strtotime($row['End']);
    $start = strtotime($row['Start']);
    }

if (($current_state == "completed" && $current > $end) || ($current_state == "active" && $start < $current && $end > $current))
    {
    echo '<tr>
    <td>'. $row['ID']  .'</td>
    <td>'. $row['Name']  .'</td>
    <td>'. $row['LastName']  .'</td>
    </tr>';
    }

answered Jul 16, 2012 at 4:26

Core Xii

6,4414 gold badges33 silver badges42 bronze badges

7 Comments

Geoffrey Over a year ago

This is actually slower due to the extra if statements.

Zombaya Over a year ago

The slowndown from a couple of extra if-statements is neglible.

millimoose Over a year ago

Especially compared to the IO done in mysql_fetch_array() for every time these ifs are interpreted.

Geoffrey Over a year ago

@Zombaya - If you adopt the habit of assuming the trade-off is negligible, across a project containing thousands of lines of code your overall performance will suffer, it is poor programming practice to work this way.

Core Xii Over a year ago

@Geoffrey: You're optimizing prematurely. Surely your PHP application is not that performance critical that you need to start worrying about a couple of if statements.

|

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Change "if" statement based on variable

2 Answers 2

Comments

7 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

7 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related