Ternary operator not working if I am using echo

Question

I am using this ternary operator:

$this->checkIfProductCategoriesContainsString($productId, $categoryNeedle) !== false ? echo "Category containing categoryNeedle exists" : echo "Category does not exist.";

I also tried it like this:

($this->checkIfProductCategoriesContainsString($productId, $categoryNeedle) !== false) ? echo "Category containing categoryNeedle exists" : echo "Category does not exist.";

But my IDE says unexpected echo after ?

Language? The ternary operator usually works for expressions than can be evaluated: `cond ? trueValue : falseVaue` as opposed to `cond ? doIfTrue : doIfFalse`. Does the echo function return something? — vc 74, Feb 28 '19 at 08:38
Then `echo` does not return anything, you can't use it like this but you can use `if else` instead — vc 74, Feb 28 '19 at 08:41

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 28 '19 at 08:37

3

What about

echo(
    $this->checkIfProductCategoriesContainsString($productId, $categoryNeedle) !== false
        ? "Category containing categoryNeedle exists"
        : "Category does not exist."
);

answered Feb 28 '19 at 08:37

NullDev

5,940
4
28
47

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 28 '19 at 09:03

You should read about the difference between print and echo in PHP in general. Tl;dr use print instead.

$this->checkIfProductCategoriesContainsString($productId, $categoryNeedle) ?
    print "Category containing category needle exists" : 
    print "Category does not exist.";

But it's better to just:

echo $this->checkIfProductCategoriesContainsString($productId, $categoryNeedle) ?
    'Category containing category needle exists' : 
    'Category does not exist.';

Ternary operator not working if I am using echo

2 Answers2