[RESOLVED] How do I include browser side code in php

[hwalker1]

I have a recordset from which the values are being retrieved and displayed in a table on the screen. If the recordset (rsports) has no data in it, I don't want to display the table. Obvious solution is an If/else statement. I am having problems with the syntax.
What I want to do in pseudo code is:

If (the recordset contains records) then {display them }
else
{print a message to say there are no records}

so my code is similar to :
<?psp if ($totalRows_rsports > 0) {

<?php do { ?>
<table width="90%" border="0" cellpadding="0" class="mediumleft" id="display">
<th width="78%" >
<?php echo $row_rsports['ref']; ?> - The <a href="bigships.php?ref=<?php echo $row_rsports['ref']; ?>"><?php echo $row_rsports['shipname']; ?> </a>
</th>
<th width="22%" rowspan="3" align="center" valign="middle" scope="col">

   </th>

<tr>
<!-- display the information line -->
<td valign="top"><p class="mediumleft">
<?php if($row_rsports['company'] > "") {echo "Owned by ".$row_rsports['company'];}//print the owner if we have one
else {}?>
<?php if($row_rsports['port'] > "") {echo "and registered at the port of ".$row_rsports['port'];}//and now the port
else {}?>
<?php if($row_rsports['country'] > "") {echo "in ".$row_rsports['country'];} //and now the country
else{}?>
<?php if($row_rsports['Tonnage'] > 0) {echo "she weighs ".$row_rsports['Tonnage']." tonnes.";}//print the tonnage if we have it
else{}?>
<br />
<?php if($row_rsports['ImoNumber'] > 0) {echo "Her IMO number is ".$row_rsports['ImoNumber'];}//print the IMO number if there is one
else{}?>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<?php } while ($row_rsports = mysql_fetch_assoc($rsports)); ?>
else { echo "there are no records for this item";} // end of display info
?>
Problem is that I get an error however I try to enter the code. - Usually a premature end error.
Any ideas?

Howard

[bradgrafelman]

When posting PHP code, please use the board's [noparse]

[/noparse] BBcode tags as they make your code much easier to read and analyze.

As for your problem, I think what you're looking for is something like this:

<?php
if(condition) {
?>
<!-- bunch of HTML code here -->
<?php
} else {
?>
<!-- more HTML code here -->
<?php
}

// rest of PHP code

As you can see, there's no "do" command - just escape out of the PHP tags and insert the HTML code inside the if() statement.

Note, however, how messy this looks and hard it is to "read" the code; this is why I've always recommended separating PHP from HTML. Using template files is a great way to do this, as it could simplify your code down to:

if(condition)
    include('table.inc');
else
    include('no_data.inc');

There are, of course, many other methods of templating - there are even entire templating packages out there (ex. Smarty).

[hwalker1]

This is what I thought. I have used your first suggestion for the moment. However, I will look at the include file way as it looks neater.

I used to program in Pascal back in the 1980s, where you can use procedures. By procedures, I do not mean SQL stored procedures, but blocks of code that you can call which do things - a bit like a PHP function that does things like printing to the screen, rather than returning a value.
That way in pascal I can write:

If its_raining_raise_your_umbrella
else when_the_ sun_comes_out_put_it_away

As far as I can see, the PHP system does not have a procedure equivalent, but the include file looks like it could do the trick.

Th problem with the PHP manual is that it is not at all friendly and seems to be written by top professionals for top professionals.

Thanks for your assistance.
Howard

[bradgrafelman]

If by "procedure equivalent" you mean custom functions, you could certainly do that:

function show_table() {
// print appropriate HTML
}

if(condition)
    show_table();
else
    echo "something else";