empty strings in mysql (again)

Anon

Im trying to display an address properly formatted, but empty fields in mysql table come out as blank spaces, as below. Does anyone have any tips for getting round this?

The code below gives output like this;

Address housenumber
streetname

        postcode

What im trying to do is show the address as;

Address housenumber
streetname
postcode

First i`m not sure if the code below is correct, and second whether the column type in mysql are correct, i have tried all variations of NULL and not NULL, TEXT and VARCHAR.

Thanx in advance
ollie

$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM fran WHERE ID = '$ID'");

if (!$result) {
echo("Error performing query: " .
mysql_error() . "");
exit();
}
while ( $row = mysql_fetch_array($result) ) {

 $ID = $row["ID"];
 $contact = $row["contact"];
 $add1 = $row["add1"];
 $add2 = $row["add2"];
 $add3 = $row["add3"];
 $add4 = $row["add4"];
 $add5 = $row["add5"];
 $postcode = $row["postcode"];

$a = "";
if( "$add2" !=="" )
{
$a = $a . $add2 . " ";
}

if( "$add3" !=="" )
{
$a = $a . $add3 . " ";
}

if( "$add4" !=="" )
{
$a = $a . $add4 . " ";
}

if( "$add5" !=="" )
{
$a = $a . $add5 . " ";
}

if( "$postcode" !=="" )
{
$a = $a . $postcode . " ";
}

 $tel = $row["tel"];
 $fax = $row["fax"];
 $web = $row["web"];
 $type = $row["type"];
 $invest = $row["invest"];
 $profile = $row["profile"];
 $paid = $row["paid"];

}

[deleted]

Try using "!=" instead of "!==".
Also, you don't need quotes around variables:
instead of
if ("$add1 !== "")

use

if ($add1 != '')

(the single quotes instead of double quotes is not mandatory, but everything inside double-quotes get's parsed by PHP, and everything inside single quotes doesn't , so this should theoretically be faster 🙂 )

jcleary

According to the manual, if the field is empty, then it's not added to the results, so you could try something like this

if ($row["add1"]) {
$a .= $row["add1"] . " ";
}

...etc

This SHOULD work. Failing that, you could try this...

if (strlen(trim($row["add1"])) > 0) {
$a .= $row["add1"] . " ";
}

Anon

genius! cheers vincent

[deleted]

if ($row["add1"])
will fail if $row["add1"] contains a zero.

Your strlen solution should work, but boils down to
if ($row["add1"]!='')

jcleary

Yes - thats true, but if the field is a zero, then its not empty. I mean, a zero in an address doesn't mean much, but it shouldnt be consider empty. But, yes, otherwise your right.

[deleted]

That's what I meant, if a person just types a "0", then testing it with
if ($value) will appear to say it's empty, even though it's not.