Question

what is the shorted if else block for this. I seen it somewhere before but cant remember it.

if (isset($_POST['value')){
 $value = $_POST['value'];
} elseif (isset($_GET['value'])){
 $value = $_GET['value'];
} else {
 $value = '';
}

Answer 1

Are you referring to using the $_REQUEST global array instead of checking both $_POST and $_GET? If so, it should be:

if(isset($_REQUEST['value']))
{
    $value = $_REQUEST['value'];
}else
    $value = '';

Or the ternary form:

$value = isset($_REQUEST['value']) ? $_REQUEST['value'] : '';