PHP optional function arguments with array. How to code / Better way to code?

Question

I'm sure there is a better to this. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I want to pass an array to a php function that contains the argument and all the arguments are optional. I'm using code ignitor and am by no means an expert. Below is what i have been using so far:

function addLinkPost($postDetailArray) {

    if (isset($postDetailArray['title'])) {
        $title = $postDetailArray['title']; }
    else {
        $title = "Error: No Title";
    }

    if (isset($postDetailArray['url'])) {
        $url        = $postDetailArray['url'];
    } else {
        $url        = "no url";
    }
    if (isset($postDetailArray['caption'])) {
        $caption    = $postDetailArray['caption'];
    } else {
        $caption    = "";
    }
    if (isset($postDetailArray['publish'])) {
        $publish    = $postDetailArray['publish'];
    } else {
        $publish    = TRUE;
    }
    if (isset($postDetailArray['postdate'])) {
        $postdate   = $postDetailArray['postdate'];
    } else {
        $postdate   = "NOW()";
    }
    if (isset($postDetailArray['tagString'])) {
        $tagString  = $postDetailArray['tagString'];
    } else {
        $tagString = "";
    }

Answer 1

You can use an array of defaults and then merge the argument array with the defaults. The defaults will be overridden if they appear in the argument array. A simple example:

$defaults = array(
    'foo' => 'aaa',
    'bar' => 'bbb',
    'baz' => 'ccc',
);

$options = array(
    'foo' => 'ddd',
);


$merged = array_merge($defaults, $options);

print_r($merged);

/*

Array
(
    [foo] => ddd
    [bar] => bbb
    [baz] => ccc
)

*/

In your case, that would be:

function addLinkPost($postDetailArray) {
    static $defaults = array(
        'title'     => 'Error: No Title',
        'url'       => 'no url',
        'caption'   => '',
        'publish'   => true,
        'postdate'  => 'NOW()',
        'tagString' => '',
    );

    $merged = array_merge($defaults, $postDetailArray);

    $title     = $merged['title'];
    $url       = $merged['url'];
    $caption   = $merged['caption'];
    $publish   = $merged['publish'];
    $postdate  = $merged['postdate'];
    $tagString = $merged['$tagString'];
}