Newbie question on ELSE statement

[imimin]

Can someone please look at my code and tell me what I am doing wrong? I am fairly new at programming (a fascinating science!), but on this I am sure everything looks correct, but for some reason, it does not seem to work like it supposed to. First, let me give you an example of the code that I think should be working right, and then I will explain what is going on. Keep in mind I am new at this stuff and would appreciate any good advice I can get from you experts.

Here is a sample of the code I am dealing with:

	$exclude_gnd=1;

if(strpos($methodName, '2nd') !== false and $exclude_gnd!==0){
	if($twoDayZone != '-'){
		$baseShippingCost = us_get_cost_for_lbs_and_zone('ups_commus48_2da', $evalWeight, $twoDayZone);
		$shipDiscount = $shippingDiscounts['second'];
	}/*elseif($twoDayZone = '-'){$baseShippingCost = 0;}*/
	else {$baseShippingCost = 0;}
}

My present problem is that the ELSE statements at the end of end of the sample does not work (i.e. else{$baseShippingCost = 0;}), it seems to be ignored if the expression evaluates to FALSE. Everything else seems to work correctly.

I would appreciate any help I can get on this 🙂 !

THANK YOU!

[NogDog]

Well, I'm not entirely sure what you want, but as currently structured the else statement will only execute if $twoDayZone is equal to '-', as it immediately follows the end of the if($twoDayZone != '-') if block. If what you wanted is for it to execute if the strpos() if condition is false or if $exclude_gnd equals 0, then you need to move the else statement and its code block to immediately follow the end of that outer if block instead of the inner if block where it is now.

[imimin]

I guess I still have a problem; if I change the code to:

	if(strpos($methodName, '2nd') !== false and $exclude_gnd!==0){
	else {$baseShippingCost = 0;}
		if($twoDayZone != '-')
		{
			$baseShippingCost = us_get_cost_for_lbs_and_zone('ups_commus48_2da', $evalWeight, $twoDayZone);
			$shipDiscount = $shippingDiscounts['second'];
		}/*elseif($twoDayZone = '-'){$baseShippingCost = 0;}*/
		/*else {$baseShippingCost = 0;}*/
	}

I get a parse error. I guess my formatting is wrong. DO YOU MIND TELLING ME WHERE MY FORMATTING IS WRONG?

THANK YOU!

[imimin]

BTW...

I want to execute if the $exclude_gnd condition equals 0.

[imimin]

If I change the code to:

	if(strpos($methodName, '2nd') !== false and $exclude_gnd!==0){
		if($twoDayZone != '-')
		{
			$baseShippingCost = us_get_cost_for_lbs_and_zone('ups_commus48_2da', $evalWeight, $twoDayZone);
			$shipDiscount = $shippingDiscounts['second'];
		}/*elseif($twoDayZone = '-'){$baseShippingCost = 0;}*/
		else {$baseShippingCost = 0;}
	}
	else {$baseShippingCost = 0;}

it works better, BUT I am faced with another problem...I need to go a step further. I am actually using 4 IF statements in sequence like the one above. They look like this:

		$exclude_gnd=1;
	/* a little bit of searching through the name 
	to find out what kind of shipping to use   */

if(strpos($methodName, 'ground') !== false and $exclude_gnd!==0){
	if($groundZone != '-'){
		$baseShippingCost = us_get_cost_for_lbs_and_zone('ups_commus48_gnd', $evalWeight, $groundZone);
		$shipDiscount = $shippingDiscounts['ground'];
	}/*elseif($groundZone = '-'){$baseShippingCost = 0;}*/
	else{$baseShippingCost = 0; }
}
else{$baseShippingCost = 0; }

if((strpos($methodName, 'overnight') !== false or strpos($methodName, "next day") !== false) and $exclude_gnd!==0){
	if($overNightZone != '-'){
		$baseShippingCost = us_get_cost_for_lbs_and_zone('ups_commus48_1da', $evalWeight, $overNightZone);
		$shipDiscount = $shippingDiscounts['overnight'];
	}/*elseif($overNightZone = '-'){$baseShippingCost = 0;}*/
	else{$baseShippingCost = 0; }
}
else{$baseShippingCost = 0; }


if(strpos($methodName, '2nd') !== false and $exclude_gnd!==0){
	if($twoDayZone != '-')
	{
		$baseShippingCost = us_get_cost_for_lbs_and_zone('ups_commus48_2da', $evalWeight, $twoDayZone);
		$shipDiscount = $shippingDiscounts['second'];
	}/*elseif($twoDayZone = '-'){$baseShippingCost = 0;}*/
	else {$baseShippingCost = 0;}
}
else {$baseShippingCost = 0;}


if(strpos($methodName, '3 day') !== false and $exclude_gnd!==0){
	if($threeDayZone != '-'){
		$baseShippingCost = us_get_cost_for_lbs_and_zone('ups_commus48_3ds', $evalWeight, $threeDayZone);
		$shipDiscount = $shippingDiscounts['third'];
	}/*elseif($threeDayZone = '-'){$baseShippingCost = 0;}*/
	else{$baseShippingCost = 0; }
}
else{$baseShippingCost = 0; }

/*else{
	$baseShippingCost = $groundCost;
}*/

$tempArr = array($baseShippingCost, $methodName, $shipDiscount);
return $tempArr;
}

The problem I have now is the ELSE statement at the end of each code block, such as:

	if(strpos($methodName, '2nd') !== false and $exclude_gnd!==0){
		if($twoDayZone != '-')
		{
			$baseShippingCost = us_get_cost_for_lbs_and_zone('ups_commus48_2da', $evalWeight, $twoDayZone);
			$shipDiscount = $shippingDiscounts['second'];
		}/*elseif($twoDayZone = '-'){$baseShippingCost = 0;}*/
		/*else {$baseShippingCost = 0;}*/
	}else {$baseShippingCost = 0;}

is interfering with previous IF code blocks. (writting values to the previous IF statements). Can you tell me how to change my code so this will not happen (it is obvious that I have something wrong :-( )? I NEED TO ISOLATE EACH "ELSE {$baseShippingCost = 0;}" STATEMENT TO THE IF STATEMENT IT IS ASSOSICATED WITH.

BTW...my objective here in this code is to create a drop down list (created from other code that the results of this code is passed to) on a shopping cart. There are 4 shipping methods represented here (ground, overnight, second day and 3 day deliveries). After I finish this part of the script, I will be creating other variables similar to the "$exclude_gnd" variable above that will be used to (in the long run) notify the user if a shipping method is not available.

[imimin]

The bottom line here is I need to isolate each "ELSE {$baseShippingCost = 0;}" statement to the IF statement it is associated with.

[NogDog]

$exclude_gnd=1;

if(strpos($methodName, '2nd') !== false and $exclude_gnd!==0){
    if($twoDayZone != '-'){
        $baseShippingCost = us_get_cost_for_lbs_and_zone('ups_commus48_2da', $evalWeight, $twoDayZone);
        $shipDiscount = $shippingDiscounts['second'];
    } /*elseif($twoDayZone = '-'){$baseShippingCost = 0;}*/
}
else {
    $baseShippingCost = 0;
}

However, there may be a cleaner way to organize it depending on what all the conditions are you need to deal with, perhaps even using a switch construct instead of and if/elseif/else construct.

[NogDog]

Try to start with the most common and basic cases, then deal with the exceptions. For example, you might do something like:

$shipCost = 0;
if($basicCondition == 'some value')
{
   if($specificCondition1 == 'foo')
   {
      $shipCost = 1;
   }
   elseif($specificCondtion2 == 'bar')
   {
      $shipCost = 2;
   }
   else
   {
      $shipCost = 'some default value';
   }
}
elseif($basicCondition = 'some other value')
{
   if($specificCondition1 == 'foo')
   {
      $shipCost = 3;
   }
   elseif($specificCondtion2 == 'bar')
   {
      $shipCost = 4;
   }
   else
   {
      $shipCost = 'some other default value';
   }
}
else
{
   // do whatever needs to be done if none of the main if conditions were true
}

[halojoy]

$exclude_gnd=1;

// if string has '2nd' and $exclude is 1->
if(strpos($methodName,'2nd') !== false && $exclude_gnd !== 0){

// if string has '2nd' and exclude is 1-> and $twoDay is not '-'
if($twoDayZone != '-'){
    $baseShippingCost = us_get_cost_for_lbs_and_zone('ups_commus48_2da', $evalWeight, $twoDayZone);
    $shipDiscount = $shippingDiscounts['second'];
}

// if string has '2nd' and exclude is 1-> and $twoDay is '-'
else{
    $baseShippingCost = 0;
}

}

If the first condition is TRUE then you do 2 things,
depending on $twoDayZone is '-' or not
If the first condition is FALSE, then you do nothing.
Is this what you want?

If you can not see $baseShippingCost = 0; done,
then it is because $twoDayZone is never '-'

The simplest test, is to echo or dump variable values before each IF
And to echo the final result.

<?php

$exclude_gnd=1;

echo "<br>ex_g ".$exclude_gnd;
echo "<br>m_Nm ".$methodName;
echo "<br>twDZ ".$twoDayZone;

// if string has '2nd' and $exclude is 1->
if(strpos($methodName,'2nd') !== false && $exclude_gnd !== 0){

// if string has '2nd' and exclude is 1-> and $twoDay is not '-'
if($twoDayZone != '-'){
    $baseShippingCost = us_get_cost_for_lbs_and_zone('ups_commus48_2da', $evalWeight, $twoDayZone);
    $shipDiscount = $shippingDiscounts['second'];
}

// if string has '2nd' and exclude is 1-> and $twoDay is '-'
else{
    $baseShippingCost = 0;
}

}

echo "<hr>baseSCost ".$baseShippingCost;

?>