php - syntax error, unexpected 'if' (T_IF)

Question

I think I've been staring at this for too long that now I'm failing to identify the problem.

Can someone kindly point out where this is going wrong?

Error:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected 'if' (T_IF) in /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/mipbi/includes/classes/html.php on line 11

Code:

public static function textbox($name, $maxlength=''){
    return "<input type='text' id='$name' name='$name'  maxlength='$maxlength' value='". if (isset($_POST[$name])) { echo $name; } ."' >";
}

The error is generated at the if statement line.

Answer 1

You cannot use if statements in such a way. Use the ternary operator for that purpose or have your variable pre-made before the concatenation.

public static function textbox($name, $maxlength=''){
    return "<input type='text' id='$name' name='$name'  
    maxlength='$maxlength' value='". (isset($_POST[$name]) ? $name : '')."' >";
}

Alternative:

public static function textbox($name, $maxlength='')
{
    if( !isset($_POST[$name] ) {
        $myname = $name;
    } else {
        $myname = '';
    }

return "<input type='text' id='$name' name='$name'  
maxlength='$maxlength' value='". $myname ."' >";

}