$_GET and isset()

Question

I am getting tried of if isset($_GET['whatever'])... before the rest of my if statement. E_NOTICE errors are way to handy to turn off and for $_POST variables I have a solution in my init script..

$POST = (is_array( $_POST ) && count( $_POST ) > 0);

I find this helps self posting scripts look clean.

if ($POST) {
    // now do something with $_POST...
}

I'm not sure how to dynamically do this if you have no idea what the key is? Can anyone help find a similar solution for $_GET variables?

EDIT:

I simply want if ($_GET['whatever'] == "whatever"); to return false if it's not set and no E_NOTICE errors.

EDIT:

Sorry if I'm unclear I'm looking for a solution for $_GET not $_POST--I only am using $_POST as an example of what I hope to achieve.

Answer 1

The main idea of all that mess is simple: every variable in your program should be initialized before use.
Thus, the best you can do is to set all variables centralized, say, at the very top of your script.

But there are some different cases. For the case you posted, you need none of these but

if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == "POST")

Answer 2

Sometimes I use a global GET function:

function GET($key, $default = null) {
    return isset($_GET[$key]) ? $_GET[$key] : $default;
}

Answer 3

You can make a function to do this for you.

function getVar($item){
    return isset($_GET[$item]) ? $_GET[$item] : '';
}

Then you can do if(getVar('whatever') == "whatever").

Answer 4

When writing these sorts of scripts, I usually do something like this at the top:

$submitted = isset($_POST['submit']) ? true : false;
$username = isset($_POST['username']) ? $_POST['username'] : null;
$password = isset($_POST['password']) ? $_POST['password'] : null;
(etc.)

Then, when testing the values, it looks something like this:

if ($submitted)
{
    if ($username && $password)
    {
        // do stuff with username and password including testing their values
    }
}

It seems to work pretty well for me.

Answer 5

simple I think you want to check if get value is set then need to do the next step otherwise do different

I like the first answer but need to check thats if it works for you

if(isset($_GET['whatever']){ if ($_GET['whatever'] == "whatever");{ //do the rest } else{ //do the rest } }

hope it may help if what I think is your need

Answer 6

Here are two methods.

/*
* Makes any request keys into variables of the same name
*/
foreach($_GET AS $key => $value) {
    ${$key} = ($value);
}    

//Assuming a input key of $_GET['whatever'] 
echo $whatever;

/*
* Casting to an object
*/
$get = (object) $_GET;

//Assuming a input key of $_GET['whatever'] 
echo $get->whatever

A third option that I can think of is making the $_GET into its own class. PHP overloading is handy trick for doing this.

http://php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.overloading.php

I didn't feel like writing up an example demonstrating this. :)

Answer 7

Already answered, but since it wasn't mentioned, also try:

$var = filter_input(INPUT_GET, 'varname');

That will return null if it doesn't exist, without the annoying array notices, and also filters out potential bad stuff in various ways. See also: http://www.php.net/filter