PHP Warning: Division by zero

Question

I'm learning php and built an experimental form-based calculator (also using html & POST method) that returns values to a table. The calculator is functional when I enter my values and click submit, but I keep getting two "Division by zero" errors on the last line when I first run the code. I can't seem seem to find a logical solution or explanations when searching here or via Google. Any explanation you can provide to a newb will be appreciated.

<?php 

error_reporting(E_ALL ^ E_NOTICE);

//calculate the difference in price

$itemQty = $_POST['num1'];

$itemCost = $_POST['num2'];

$itemSale = $_POST['num3'];

$shipMat = $_POST['num4'];

$diffPrice = $itemSale - $itemCost;

$actual = ($diffPrice - $shipMat) * $itemQty;

$diffPricePercent = (($actual * 100) / $itemCost) / $itemQty ;

?>

Answer 1

You need to wrap your form processing code in a conditional so it doesn't run when you first open the page. Something like so:

if($_POST['num1'] > 0 && $_POST['num2'] > 0 && $_POST['num3'] > 0 && $_POST['num4'] > 0){

  $itemQty = $_POST['num1'];
  $itemCost = $_POST['num2'];
  $itemSale = $_POST['num3'];
  $shipMat = $_POST['num4'];

  $diffPrice = $itemSale - $itemCost;
  $actual = ($diffPrice - $shipMat) * $itemQty;
  $diffPricePercent = (($actual * 100) / $itemCost) / $itemQty ;
}

Answer 2

If a variable is not set then it is NULL and if you try to divide something by null you will get a divides by zero error

Answer 3

If it shows an error on the first run only, it's probably because you haven't sent any POST data. You should check for POST variables before working with them. Undefined, null, empty array, empty string, etc. are all considered false; and when PHP auto-casts that false boolean value to an integer or a float, it becomes zero. That's what happens with your variables, they are not set on the first run, and thus are treated as zeroes.

10 / $unsetVariable

becomes

10 / 0

Bottom line: check if your inputs exist and if they are valid before doing anything with them, also enable error reporting when you're doing local work as it will save you a lot of time. You can enable all errors to be reported like this: error_reporting(E_ALL);

To fix your specific problem: don't do any calculations if there's no input from your form; just show the form instead.

Answer 4

$diffPricePercent = (($actual * 100) / $itemCost) / $itemQty;

$itemCost and $itemQty are returning null or zero, check them what they come with to code from user input

also to check if it's not empty data add:

if (!empty($_POST['num1'])) {
    $itemQty = $_POST['num1'];
}

and you can check this link for POST validation before using it in variable

https://www.virendrachandak.com/techtalk/php-isset-vs-empty-vs-is_null/

Answer 5

try this

if(isset($itemCost) != '' && isset($itemQty) != '')
{
    $diffPricePercent = (($actual * 100) / $itemCost) / $itemQty;
}
else
{
    echo "either of itemCost or itemQty are null";
}

Answer 6

If the expected value can be 0 (therefore does not need validation), I do this to keep things in one line:

$percentage = $sum1 / ($sum2 ?: 1)

Answer 7

when my divisor has 0 value

if ($divisor == 0) {
    $divisor = 1;
}

Answer 8

Check the variable using * 100 $actual has a value or it will return an error.

if ( ! empty( $actual ) ) :

$diffPricePercent = (($actual * 100) / $itemCost) / $itemQty ;

endif;

Answer 9

A lot of the answers here do not work for (string)"0.00".

Try this:

if (isset($_POST['num1']) && (float)$_POST['num1'] != 0) {
  ...
}

Or even more strict:

if (isset($_POST['num1']) && is_numeric($_POST['num1']) && (float)$_POST['num1'] != 0) {
  ...
}

Answer 10

You can try with this. You have this error because we can not divide by 'zero' (0) value. So we want to validate before when we do calculations.

if ($itemCost != 0 && $itemCost != NULL && $itemQty != 0 && $itemQty != NULL) 
{
    $diffPricePercent = (($actual * 100) / $itemCost) / $itemQty;
}

And also we can validate POST data. Refer following

$itemQty = isset($_POST['num1']) ? $_POST['num1'] : 0;

$itemCost = isset($_POST['num2']) ? $_POST['num2'] : 0;

$itemSale = isset($_POST['num3']) ? $_POST['num3'] : 0;

$shipMat = isset($_POST['num4']) ? $_POST['num4'] : 0;

Answer 11

Try using

$var = @($val1 / $val2);