Why is my IF statement not working?

[2Charlie]

Here's my current IF statement that is not working.

<cfif (not structKeyExists(cfData, 'data.remove_pdf')) OR (structKeyExists(cfData, 'data.remove_pdf') AND #cfData.data.remove_pdf# neq "true")>
<a href="https://mysite.com/help/pdfexport/id/#cfData.data.id#">
 <img src="/images/pdficon_small.png" alt="PDF of this article"/>
</a>
</cfif>

I want to say if remove_pdf field is undefined or if it’s defined but the value is not equal to true then show the pdf icon. When I dump the #cfData#, it shows remove_pdf value as undefined or true.

[WolfShade]

Remove the quotes and the hashtags.

<cfif (not structKeyExists(cfData, data.remove_pdf)) OR (structKeyExists(cfData, data.remove_pdf) AND cfData.data.remove_pdf neq "true")>  
<a href="https://mysite.com/help/pdfexport/id/#cfData.data.id#">  
 <img src="/images/pdficon_small.png" alt="PDF of this article"/>  
</a>  
</cfif> 

V/r,

^ _ ^

[2Charlie]

Are you referring to removing the quotes and hash tags on these lines?

1. <a href="https://mysite.com/help/pdfexport/id/#cfData.data.id#">   
2. <img src="/images/pdficon_small.png" alt="PDF of this article"/>   
3. </a>  

[WolfShade]

No.. the quotes and hashtags on line 1.

V/r,

^ _ ^

[2Charlie]

This is what I have and it still failed at this IF statement.

<cfif (not structKeyExists(cfData, data.remove_pdf)) OR (structKeyExists(cfData, data.remove_pdf) AND cfData.data.remove_pdf neq true)>

I don't think there is any hash tags or quote in this line anymore.

[WolfShade]

Hmm.. then you probably need to change it so that you are checking cfData.data as the struct and use remove_pdf as the key.  And I was wrong about the quotes. 

<cfif (not structKeyExists(cfData.data, 'remove_pdf')) OR 
     (structKeyExists(cfData.data, 'remove_pdf') AND cfData.data.remove_pdf neq true)>

HTH,

^ _ ^

[2Charlie]

Okay, this line has no error; however, it isn't working because because even when remove_pdf field has a "true" value, this IF statement still allows it to go through.

<cfif (not structKeyExists(cfData, 'data.remove_pdf')) OR (structKeyExists(cfData, 'data.remove_pdf') AND cfData.data.remove_pdf neq true)>
do something
</cfif>

[WolfShade]

Are you setting the value as a boolean, or a string?  If as a string, then change the first line to = "true" instead of = true.

^ _ ^

[2Charlie]

I used neq 'true' and neq "true" and both does not work. The value is string "true".

[nic_tunney]

This could be rewritten as:

<cfif (NOT structKeyExists(cfData.data, 'remove_pdf')) OR (structKeyExists(cfData.data, 'remove_pdf') AND NOT cfData.data.remove_pdf)>

     do something 

</cfif>

[2Charlie]

This:

<cfif (NOT structKeyExists(cfData.data, 'remove_pdf')) OR (structKeyExists(cfData.data, 'remove_pdf') AND NOT cfData.data.remove_pdf)>

     do something

</cfif>

Only works when remove_pdf is true but when it's null, it errors out.

[2Charlie]

I have tried:

<cfif (not structKeyExists(cfData, 'data.remove_pdf')) OR (structKeyExists(cfData, 'data.remove_pdf') AND cfData.data.remove_pdf neq 'true')>   
<h3>#cfData.data.remove_pdf#</h3>
</cfif>

And line 2 did show the value as "true", without the quotes. So, it proves that AND cfData.data.remove_pdf neq 'true' didn't work.

[nic_tunney]

You'll have to be more specific about "it errors out".  If the value does not exist, then it will error for sure if you are trying to display

<h3>#cfData.data.remove_pdf#</h3>

I'd imagine at this point your conditional logic is pretty set, and the problem now exists further into your code.  A suggestion for when you troubleshoot conditionals in the future would be to cfdump each individual conditional so that you can get a peek into what is evaluating as true/false/etc, as well as what the value is.

-Nic

[2Charlie]

nic_tunney  wrote

You'll have to be more specific about "it errors out".  If the value does not exist, then it will error for sure if you are trying to display

<h3>#cfData.data.remove_pdf#</h3>

I'd imagine at this point your conditional logic is pretty set, and the problem now exists further into your code.  A suggestion for when you troubleshoot conditionals in the future would be to cfdump each individual conditional so that you can get a peek into what is evaluating as true/false/etc, as well as what the value is.

-Nic

The error is: Exception: Element REMOVE_PDF is undefined in a CFML structure referenced as part of an expression.

Again, this when remove_pdf value is null or in ColdFusion when I dump, it shows undefined. When the value of remove_pdf is true, there is no issue.

[nic_tunney]

Sounds like it is doing exactly what you are telling it to.  Your condition passes if remove_pdf is not defined as a structure key.  If you try to reference that key once you enter the cfif block, you'll get an error if you try to access the key, since it doesn't exist.  Not quite sure what you are trying to do, but remove the not structKeyExists(cfData, 'data.remove_pdf') if you want to be sure it DOES exist inside your block.

-Nic

[2Charlie]

nic_tunney  wrote

Sounds like it is doing exactly what you are telling it to.  Your condition passes if remove_pdf is not defined as a structure key.  If you try to reference that key once you enter the cfif block, you'll get an error if you try to access the key, since it doesn't exist.  Not quite sure what you are trying to do, but remove the not structKeyExists(cfData, 'data.remove_pdf') if you want to be sure it DOES exist inside your block.

-Nic

I'm not referencing that key after it passes.

[2Charlie]

However, when I added this OR (structKeyExists(cfData.data, 'data.remove_pdf') AND NOT cfData.data.remove_pdf), it does not catch it when the value of remove_pdf is true.

[2Charlie]

Or this: OR (structKeyExists(cfData.data, 'data.remove_pdf') AND #cfData.data.remove_pdf# neq 'true')

[nic_tunney]

Sorry I didn't look at the new code.  You are still referencing it incorrectly.  The structure you are searching is cfData.data.  The key you are looking for is "removePDF".  You need to be consistent in your evaluation.  It should always look like this:

(structKeyExists(cfData.data, "remove_pdf")

[2Charlie]

nic_tunney  wrote

Sorry I didn't look at the new code.  You are still referencing it incorrectly.  The structure you are searching is cfData.data.  The key you are looking for is "removePDF".  You need to be consistent in your evaluation.  It should always look like this:

(structKeyExists(cfData.data, "remove_pdf")

Tried this and it's still pass through when the remove_pdf has a value of true.

<cfif (not structKeyExists(cfData, 'remove_pdf')) OR (structKeyExists(cfData.data, 'remove_pdf') AND #cfData.data.remove_pdf# neq 'true')>

[2Charlie]

Just for testing, I remove this (not structKeyExists(cfData, 'remove_pdf')) OR  from the line above and when the remove_pdf is true, it's now preventing it from entering into the IF statement like it should. So, the issue seems to be when I combine these two conditions together with an OR. Separately, they both work but when combined with OR the condition that checks for if when remove_pdf neq to true is no longer work.

[2Charlie]

Okay, I think I got it working now.

<cfif (not structKeyExists(cfData.data, 'remove_pdf')) OR (structKeyExists(cfData.data, 'remove_pdf') AND #cfData.data.remove_pdf# neq 'true')>

[2Charlie]

Okay, so this line works.

<cfif (not structKeyExists(cfData, 'data.remove_pdf'))>

This will catch when the value of remove_pdf is undefined.

[nic_tunney]

I doubt that you want to use data.remove_pdf as a string literal, but that is what is happening above.  What structKeyExists(cfData, 'data.remove_pdf') means is that the string data.remove_pdf is the literal name of the key it is looking for (cfData['data.remove_pdf']).  Not exactly sure what you are trying to do, but are you maybe looking to see if the remove_pdf key exists in data like structKeyExists(data, 'remove_pdf')?

-Nic

[2Charlie]

I want to test if the field remove_pdf is defined. If it is, is the value not equal true?