Check if variable is set and then echo it without repeating?

Question

Is there a concise way to check if a variable is set, and then echo it without repeating the same variable name? Instead of this: ``` variable)) { echo 'Link'; } ?> ``` I'm thinking about something in the lines of this C-style pseudocode: ``` variable, 'Link')); ?> ``` PHP has sprintf, but it doesn't quite do what I was hoping for. If course I could make a method/function out of it, but surely there must be a way to do it "natively"? Update: Ternary operations would also repeat the `$this->variable` part, if I understood it? ``` echo (!empty($this->variable) ? 'Link : "nothing"); ```

Accepted Answer

The closest you can get to what you are looking for is using short form of ternary operator (available since PHP5.3)

```
echo $a ?: "not set"; // will print $a if $a evaluates to `true` or "not set" if not
```

But this will trigger "Undefined variable" notice. Which you can obviously suppress with `@`

```
echo @$a ?: "not set";
```

Still, not the most elegant/clean solution.

So, the cleanest code you can hope for is

```
echo isset($a) ? $a: '';
```

Check if variable is set and then echo it without repeating?

Solution

Problem