1.2.567. Inconsistent Elseif

Chaining if/elseif requires a consistent string of conditions. The conditions are executed one after the other, and the conditions shouldn’t overlap.

This analysis reports chains of elseif that don’t share a common variable (or array, or property, etc.. ). As such, testing different conditions are consistent.

<?php

// $a is always common, so situations are mutually exclusive
if ($a === 1) {
    doSomething();
} else if ($a > 1) {
    doSomethingElse();
} else {
    doSomethingDefault();
}

// $a is always common, so situations are mutually exclusive
// although, it may be worth checking the consistency here
if ($a->b === 1) {
    doSomething();
} else if ($a->c > 1) {
    doSomethingElse();
} else {
    doSomethingDefault();
}

// if $a === 1, then $c doesn't matter?
// This happens, but then logic doesn't appear in the code.
if ($a === 1) {
    doSomething();
} else if ($c > 1) {
    doSomethingElse();
} else {
    doSomethingDefault();
}

?>

1.2.567.1. Specs

Short name	Structures/InconsistentElseif
Rulesets	All
Exakat since	1.4.3
PHP Version	All
Severity	Major
Time To Fix	Slow (1 hour)
Precision	Very high
Features	if-then
Available in	Entreprise Edition, Exakat Cloud