Req #54106 [NEW]: Shortcut "ternary" companion operator

From: Operating system: Irrelevant PHP version: Irrelevant Package: Scripting Engine problem Bug Type: Feature/Change Request Bug description:Shortcut "ternary" companion operator Description: ------------ The expression $a ? $b : $c can be shortened to $a ?: $c if $b==$c. In this the "?:" operator behaves much like the "||" operator in, say, Perl or JavaScript, or the "or" operator of Python: "$a if it looks true, $c otherwise". But those three languages also have "&&" (or "and") operators which mean "$a if it looks false, $c otherwise". PHP currently lacks such an operator: where Python can have "a and c", PHP still needs "$a ? $c : $a", including the potential double evaluation or intermediate variable needed if "$a" is anything more complex. So the Feature Request is another operator, perhaps ":?", which behaves as described in the third paragraph above: "$a :? $c" would be an abbreviation for and equivalent to "$a ? $c : $a". It's possible to come up with a tortured bit of algebra to justify the ":?" symbol, but aesthetic symmetry ought to be enough of an excuse both for the symbol and more importantly the operator it identifies. -- Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=54106&edit=1 -- Try a snapshot (PHP 5.2): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=trysnapshot52 Try a snapshot (PHP 5.3): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=trysnapshot53 Try a snapshot (trunk): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=trysnapshottrunk Fixed in SVN: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=fixed Fixed in SVN and need be documented: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=needdocs Fixed in release: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=needscript Try newer version: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=oldversion Not developer issue: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=support Expected behavior: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=notwrong Not enough info: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=submittedtwice register_globals: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=globals PHP 4 support discontinued: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=php4 Daylight Savings: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=dst IIS Stability: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=gnused Floating point limitations: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=float No Zend Extensions: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=54106&r=mysqlcfg