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Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2012 01:54:00 +0100
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Subject: [proposal+patch] Addition of ?() as shorthand for isset()
From: ajf@ajf.me (Andrew Faulds)

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Hi!

I've always thought isset() was quite ugly. For something I use quite 
frequently for checking the existence of array keys, I feel it is too 
many keystrokes, and is ugly.

So, I decided I would create a shorthand for isset().

One option suggested was a new operator, 'expr ??', which I don't like 
the idea of very much. I would also have liked 'expr ?', but that would 
conflict with the ternary operator, 'expr ? expr : expr'. Then, I had 
the idea of '? expr', but that also caused a conflict. So I settled on 
'? ( expr )', which is used like this:

   if (?($_POST['credit_card_no'])) {
       // ...
   } else if (!?($_POST['use_paypal']) && ?($_POST['bank_acc_no'])) {
       // ...
   }

And since it doesn't break the ternary operator, like this:

   $number = ?($x)? intval($x) : 0;

I quite like how it combines with !, so !?() tests for non-existence, 
and ?() tests for existence.

It's quite trivial, but it would save me (and probably many others) 
time, and I think it would add some extra character to PHP, with its 
quirky syntax. :)

Patch attached. Thoughts welcome.

-- 
Andrew Faulds
http://ajf.me/


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From 24107911374fd9e9dbc731b4564a440dd72f5568 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Andrew Faulds <ajf@ajf.me>
Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2012 01:37:23 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Added ?() op as shorthand for isset() - Added ?() - Added
 test

---
 Zend/zend_language_parser.y     |    1 +
 tests/lang/shorthand_isset.phpt |   21 +++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 22 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 tests/lang/shorthand_isset.phpt

diff --git a/Zend/zend_language_parser.y b/Zend/zend_language_parser.y
index c88e9a7..5781cd6 100644
--- a/Zend/zend_language_parser.y
+++ b/Zend/zend_language_parser.y
@@ -773,6 +773,7 @@ expr_without_variable:
 	|	'(' expr ')' 	{ $$ = $2; }
 	|	new_expr		{ $$ = $1; }
 	|	'(' new_expr ')' { $$ = $2; } instance_call { $$ = $5; }
+	|	'?' '(' isset_variables ')' { $$ = $3; }
 	|	expr '?' { zend_do_begin_qm_op(&$1, &$2 TSRMLS_CC); }
 		expr ':' { zend_do_qm_true(&$4, &$2, &$5 TSRMLS_CC); }
 		expr	 { zend_do_qm_false(&$$, &$7, &$2, &$5 TSRMLS_CC); }
diff --git a/tests/lang/shorthand_isset.phpt b/tests/lang/shorthand_isset.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9218f89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/lang/shorthand_isset.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+--TEST--
+?() (Shorthand isset()) operator test
+--FILE--
+<?php
+$arr = [];
+var_dump(?($arr['nonexistant']));
+var_dump(!?($arr['nonexistant']));
+
+$arr['hello'] = 7;
+var_dump(?($arr['hello']));
+var_dump(!?($arr['hello']));
+
+var_dump(?($arr['hello']) ? 'expected' : 'unexpected');
+var_dump(!?($arr['hello']) ? 'unexpected' : 'expected');
+--EXPECT--
+bool(false)
+bool(true)
+bool(true)
+bool(false)
+string(8) "expected"
+string(8) "expected"
-- 
1.7.9.5


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