if else shorthand solution

Question

I am not sure if the following validation can be done with if shorthand.

//if $error is set, echo $errro or just echo blank string.
(isset($error)) ? echo $error:echo '';

I know I got it wrong, Anyone here can help me to correct my code? Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

echo isset($error) ? $error : '';

Answer 2

You probably want:

echo (isset($error) ? $error : '');

The inline if is not well implemented in PHP as far as associativity is concerned; see Wikipedia for more info.

Answer 3

There are few good examples in php documentation (ternary operator). But basically usage is:

echo (isset( $error) ? $error : '');

It also has a short form, that can be used in case that $error is always set but is evaluated as (bool)false by default:

echo ($error ?: '');