[RESOLVED] Why doesn't this conditional evaluate properly?

aquinn

When it comes to speaking the language of PHP, I would say I'm around toddler level. I have a basic grasp and understanding of the structure and logic, and I can throw some words around here and there, but much of the proper grammar is lost on me. Plus, I can make things work without understanding exactly how they work, lol. So now you know what level I'm coming from.

I am working on a theme options page for WordPress. In the options panel, users can things "off" and "on." For example, they can control the column widths by entering a number of grid units (to correspond with the grid system the site uses). To disable a column they enter "0". If they enter "0" for BOTH column widths, I want to hide the ENTIRE div that wraps those two columns (to avoid having empty code). The following conditional is supposed to return TRUE only if BOTH columns don't equal zero. This is how I want it to work:

If LEFT COLUMN WIDTH does NOT equal zero AND if RIGHT COLUMN WIDTH does NOT equal zero....
Load left & right column container div.

Here's the conditional I have....

<?php if (get_option('cpress_topbar_left_column_width') !=0 && get_option('cpress_topbar_right_column_width') !=0) { ?> 

<div class="container">....stuff...</div>

<?php } ?>

The problem is, the conditional is behaving like an "OR" statement. If I set one of the column widths to 0, it returns true and does not load the div. I want it to return true ONLY if BOTH columns are zero.

I've been fiddling with it for about an hour, adding parentheses and more, but can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Thanks in advance for any insights.

NogDog

I'm confused by your conflicting requirements.

As currently coded, the <div> will only be displayed if both columns are NOT zero, which agrees with your first statement of:

This is how I want it to work:

If LEFT COLUMN WIDTH does NOT equal zero AND if RIGHT COLUMN WIDTH does NOT equal zero....
Load left & right column container div.

But then you say that what you want is:

I want it to return true ONLY if BOTH columns are zero.

If that is truly what you want, then you should change the != comparisons to == comparisons. But at this point I'm not sure what you really want...are you? 😉 😃

aquinn

Sorry for the confusion. I want it to work like this:

If the user sets the left column width to "0", ONLY the right column shows.
If the user shows the right column width to "0", ONLY the left column shows.
If the user sets BOTH columns to "0", the div does not show.

This is how I have the code set up:

<?php if (get_option('cpress_topbar_left_column_width') !=0 && get_option('cpress_topbar_right_column_width') !=0) { ?> 

<div class="container">

<?php if (get_option('cpress_topbar_left_column_width') !=0) { ?>
      <div class="leftcolumn">....</div>
<?php } ?>

<?php if (get_option('cpress_topbar_left_column_width') !=0) { ?>    
   <div class="rightcolumn">...</div>
   <?php } ?>

</div>

<?php } ?>

But if I enter "0" for the value of EITHER column, the container div does not show at all. The div should be hidden only if BOTH columns are "0". Right now, the conditional is acting like an "or" statement.

bradgrafelman

After that if() statement, add the following code and paste its output for us, that way we know what values you're working with:

var_dump( get_option('cpress_topbar_left_column_width') );
echo "<br>\n";
var_dump( get_option('cpress_topbar_right_column_width') );

EDIT: Before you do that, you might want to try fixing the get_option() function call for the right column, as the text says "_left_column_width" for both columns inside the if() statement.

aquinn

Wow, what fast replies! Yes, the code above was a typo, it should say "right" instead of "left" for the right column function call. Here is the fixed code:

<?php if (get_option('cpress_topbar_left_column_width') !=0 && get_option('cpress_topbar_right_column_width') !=0) { ?>

<div class="container">

<?php if (get_option('cpress_topbar_left_column_width') !=0) { ?>
      <div class="leftcolumn">....</div>
<?php } ?>

<?php if (get_option('cpress_topbar_left_column_width') !=0) { ?>    
   <div class="rightcolumn">...</div>
   <?php } ?>

</div>

<?php } ?>

This is what I got when I did the var dump after setting both columns widths to 6:

string(1) "6"
string(1) "6"

And this is what I got after setting the left column to zero (causing the entire containing div to be hidden. I only want the containing div hidden when BOTH are hidden).

string(1) "0"
string(1) "6"

aquinn

Oops, I didn't actually correct the code in my last post. I can't find the edit post button but here is the corrected code:

<?php if (get_option('cpress_topbar_left_column_width') !=0 && get_option('cpress_topbar_right_column_width') !=0) { ?>

<div class="container">

<?php if (get_option('cpress_topbar_left_column_width') !=0) { ?>
      <div class="leftcolumn">....</div>
<?php } ?>

<?php if (get_option('cpress_topbar_right_column_width') !=0) { ?>    
   <div class="rightcolumn">...</div>
   <?php } ?>

</div>

<?php } ?>

NogDog

aquinn;10943975 wrote:
... The div should be hidden only if BOTH columns are "0". Right now, the conditional is acting like an "or" statement.

Actually, it's acting like an "and", but you want it to act like an "or", so just change the "&&" to a "||". You want to display the div if the left is not zero or the right is not zero. Remember, != evaluates as true if the function result is not 0. So if you use an "and" between them, then the entire expression will only evaluate as true if both function results are not equal to 0.

aquinn

Hi everyone, thanks so much for all your help, I really appreciate it. Problem solved. Turns out I should used !==0 instead of !=0. You were right in your first reply to me, NogDog.

NogDog -- I am wanting the not zero to be there, because I was telling the website: "only show the entire containing div if BOTH columns are NOT zero". I just didn't use enough equals signs.

And thanks for the varDump tip, that's really handy.