doubledee Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 I am using a Definition List in my PHP, and I just realized that when users do NOT complete optional fields, my HTML Definition List <dl> is "collapsing" due to Nulls being returned. Here is a snippet... <dl> <dt>Joined:</dt> <dd>" . date('M Y' , strtotime($joinedOn)) . "</dd> <dt>Location:</dt> <dd>" . str2htmlentities($location) . "</dd> <dt>Posts:</dt> <dd>" . str2htmlentities($posts) . "</dd> </dl> The problem is that I do NOT want to store Empty Strings in my database and I'd hate to have to write some big IF-THEN-ELSE to handle when no value was entered. This must be a fairly common problem, and I bet there are easier solutions that are coming to me at the moment! Suggestions? Thanks, Debbie Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootstah Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Maybe use a minimum height for the dd's? Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354162 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummin Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 I know you don't want a bunch of php in your html, but this is an option to not show empty <dd>'s in the first place. echo "<dl>"; if (!empty($joinedOn)){ echo "<dt>Joined:</dt> <dd>" . date('M Y' , strtotime($joinedOn)) . "</dd>"; } if (!empty($location)){ echo "<dt>Location:</dt> <dd>" . str2htmlentities($location) . "</dd>"; } if (!empty($posts)){ echo "<dt>Posts:</dt> <dd>" . str2htmlentities($posts) . "</dd>"; } echo "</dl>"; Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354164 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummin Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 You could also build this content above <html> then echo where needed. $sidecontent = "<dl>"; if (!empty($joinedOn)){ $sidecontent .= "<dt>Joined:</dt> <dd>" . date('M Y' , strtotime($joinedOn)) . "</dd>"; } if (!empty($location)){ $sidecontent .= "<dt>Location:</dt> <dd>" . str2htmlentities($location) . "</dd>"; } if (!empty($posts)){ $sidecontent .= "<dt>Posts:</dt> <dd>" . str2htmlentities($posts) . "</dd>"; } $sidecontent .= "</dl>"; Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354168 Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubledee Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 I know you don't want a bunch of php in your html, but this is an option to not show empty <dd>'s in the first place. Thanks for the suggestion, but that is the whole point... I *always* want to show... Joined: Location: Posts: They are placeholders that always need to show. Whether people choose to answer them or not is up to them, but the layout needs to remain constant. Thanks, Debbie Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354169 Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubledee Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 Maybe use a minimum height for the dd's? I'm not sure that makes sense/applies... However I am starting to think this is more of am HTML/CSS issue than PHP, but I am still digging for a solution! Debbie Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354171 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummin Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Would adding fit the need? echo "<dl> <dt>Joined:</dt> <dd>" . (!empty($joinedOn) ? date('M Y' , strtotime($joinedOn)) : ' ') . "</dd> <dt>Location:</dt> <dd>" . (!empty($location) ? str2htmlentities($location) : ' ') . "</dd> <dt>Posts:</dt> <dd>" . (!empty($posts) ? str2htmlentities($posts) : ' ') . "</dd> </dl>"; Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354174 Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubledee Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 Would adding fit the need? echo "<dl> <dt>Joined:</dt> <dd>" . (!empty($joinedOn) ? date('M Y' , strtotime($joinedOn)) : ' ') . "</dd> <dt>Location:</dt> <dd>" . (!empty($location) ? str2htmlentities($location) : ' ') . "</dd> <dt>Posts:</dt> <dd>" . (!empty($posts) ? str2htmlentities($posts) : ' ') . "</dd> </dl>"; Let me try your way. I think we came to similar solutions. This is what I just wrote which *seems* to fix my problem... <dl> <dt>Joined:</dt> <dd>" . date('M Y' , strtotime($joinedOn)) . "</dd> <dt>Location:</dt> <dd>" . (!empty($location) ? str2htmlentities($location) : '<br />') . "</dd> <dt>Posts:</dt> <dd>" . str2htmlentities($posts) . "</dd> </dl> What do you think?? I tried isset() but that gets messed up if someone deletes out an answer and has a '' in a field. Also, Drummin is being more thorough, but I just put my code on Location, since "joined On" and "Posts" should never be Null or 0 if you are Posting a Comment... Feel free to scrutinize my code, though. Thanks, Debbie Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354177 Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootstah Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 This is how it looks with the min-height: And without it: Is that what you wanted? <style type="text/css">dd { min-height:20px; }</style> <dl> <dt>Joined:</dt> <dd></dd> <dt>Location:</dt> <dd></dd> <dt>Posts:</dt> <dd></dd> </dl> Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354178 Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubledee Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 This is how it looks with the min-height: And without it: Is that what you wanted? <style type="text/css">dd { min-height:20px; }</style> <dl> <dt>Joined:</dt> <dd></dd> <dt>Location:</dt> <dd></dd> <dt>Posts:</dt> <dd></dd> </dl> You images (??) have everything duplicated, so no! Debbie Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354180 Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubledee Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 Would adding fit the need? Drummin, I think your solution is a little better than mine semantically, but I'm checking on this. It seems like both of our solutions work. Thanks!!! Debbie Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354181 Share on other sites More sharing options...
floridaflatlander Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Just throwing this out there and it sounds like a jury rig but … assign your queried variables to a list and then use if statements or a loop inside the main loop if any to reassign the empty variable to if needed. Then you'll have a named variable with the value from the query or to use in your results or in your while() loop. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354192 Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootstah Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 This is how it looks with the min-height: And without it: Is that what you wanted? <style type="text/css">dd { min-height:20px; }</style> <dl> <dt>Joined:</dt> <dd></dd> <dt>Location:</dt> <dd></dd> <dt>Posts:</dt> <dd></dd> </dl> You images (??) have everything duplicated, so no! They are side-by-side representations of text vs no text.... Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354215 Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoseley Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Simple CSS bug... just make your css something like: dt { display: block; } dd { display: block; padding: 0; margin: 0 0 2px 20px; } And done... Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354265 Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubledee Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 This is how it looks with the min-height: And without it: Is that what you wanted? <style type="text/css">dd { min-height:20px; }</style> <dl> <dt>Joined:</dt> <dd></dd> <dt>Location:</dt> <dd></dd> <dt>Posts:</dt> <dd></dd> </dl> You images (??) have everything duplicated, so no! They are side-by-side representations of text vs no text.... HAH!!!!!!!!! Is that what that was?! *LOL* Thanks, but I like Drummin's way best. Debbie Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354317 Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubledee Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 Simple CSS bug... just make your css something like: dt { display: block; } dd { display: block; padding: 0; margin: 0 0 2px 20px; } And done... I tried that and it doesn't work, although I thought it might when I tried it on my own this morning. Drummin' still in the lead... Debbie Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354318 Share on other sites More sharing options...
xyph Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 This is some competition to help you or something? Jeez, have some respect for those who help you. All you needed to know was given to you in the first reply. It's not our job to dumb common mark-up issues down to specific examples. Perhaps you should focus on either design, or PHP, since you can't really master both. Your solution, spoon-fed as provided by scootstah <!DOCTYPE html> <style type="text/css"> dd { min-height: 20px; } </style> <dl> <dt>Joined:</dt> <dd>" . date('M Y' , strtotime($joinedOn)) . "</dd> <dt>Location:</dt> <dd></dd> <dt>Posts:</dt> <dd>" . str2htmlentities($posts) . "</dd> </dl> Works on FF/Chrome/IE9 Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354356 Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoseley Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I tried that and it doesn't work, although I thought it might when I tried it on my own this morning. Drummin' still in the lead... Debbie Ok, here's another shot at it: dt, dd { display: block; float: none; clear: both; min-height: 1em; margin: 0 0 2px; padding: 0; } dt { font-weight: bold; } dd { margin-left: 20px; } Of course, the isn't a bad idea. I'd probably go with that myself. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354405 Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubledee Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 This is some competition to help you or something? Jeez, have some respect for those who help you. I said Drummin had the best solution. Try reading. Debbie Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354441 Share on other sites More sharing options...
xyph Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 This is some competition to help you or something? Jeez, have some respect for those who help you. I said Drummin had the best solution. Try reading. Debbie I wasn't arguing that - it was how you said it. You should ask your CSS guru friends how they'd do it. You obviously aren't getting the help you need in our PHP forum. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/264244-how-to-handle-nulls-to-avoid-collapsing/#findComment-1354475 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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