Your logic is slightly off. The second ||
should be &&
:
if ((!isset($action)) || ($action != "add" && $action != "delete"))
You can see why your original line fails by trying out a sample value. Let’s say $action
is "delete"
. Here’s how the condition reduces down step by step:
// $action == "delete" if ((!isset($action)) || ($action != "add" || $action != "delete")) if ((!true) || ($action != "add" || $action != "delete")) if (false || ($action != "add" || $action != "delete")) if ($action != "add" || $action != "delete") if (true || $action != "delete") if (true || false) if (true)
Oops! The condition just succeeded and printed “error”, but it was supposed to fail. In fact, if you think about it, no matter what the value of $action
is, one of the two !=
tests will return true. Switch the ||
to &&
and then the second to last line becomes if (true && false)
, which properly reduces to if (false)
.
There is a way to use ||
and have the test work, by the way. You have to negate everything else using De Morgan’s law, i.e.:
if ((!isset($action)) || !($action == "add" || $action == "delete"))
You can read that in English as “if action is not (either add or remove), then”.