Defining a Variable.

[ADL]

hi there,
i'm trying to define a variable, let's call it $this_un.
$this_un should either be 'Application Date: ' or 'This must be filled out' depending on whether there is anything in there.

$begin is an input in a form.

if(trim($begin))
$this_un="<font size=3>Application Date: ".$begin;
else
$this_un="This must be filled out";

This way works but is unsuitable as i want to be able to use a function to check the field with a ereg command.

Is there a way to do something like this:

$this_un=
if(trim($begin))
echo "<font size=3>Application Date: ".$begin;
else
echo "This must be filled out";

If it will only work like my first example, my file is going to become about twice as large.
Hope someone out there can help me.
THX,
ADL

[barand]

Use the '?' operator

$x = (condition) ? valueif true : value if false ;

$this_un= (trim($begin) =="")?
"<font size=3>Application Date: ".$begin : "This must be filled out";