如何抑制类函数操作的结果？

Question

In this example code, I am running wild card searches in all the functions. Chances are that function alkali() will give a right answer and the other function a wrong answer and vice versa.

How do I suppress the fail part on one function once I get a right / correct answer on another function? I.e, I want to not show "metal is unknown" if I already show "this is an alkali metal".

<?php
class metals
{

    function alkali()
    {
        if (($rowC['description'] == " Alkali Metal")) {
            echo '';
        } else {
            echo 'metal is unknown';
        }

    }

    function alkaline_earth()
    {
        if (($rowC['description'] == " Alkali earth Metal")) {
            echo ' this is an alkali earth metal';
        } else {
            echo 'metal is unknown';
        }
    }
    //end of class    
}

// create an object for class name
$abc  = new metals();
$abcd = new metals();

// call the functions in the class
$abc->alkali();
$abcd->alkaline_earth();

?>

Answer 1

A shorter and more elegant way to achieve the wanted result is:

<?php

class metals {
    // Consider defining this as a static function if $rowC is not
    // intended to be a member of the class `metals`.
    function isMatch($search) {
        return $rowC['description'] == $search;
    }
}

$abc = new metals();
$searches = array('Alkali Metal', 'Alkali Earth Metal', 'Some Other Metal');

foreach ($searches as $search) {
    if ($abc->isMatch($search)) {
        echo 'Match found: ' . $search;
        break;
    }
}

?>

The loop will output the first match and then exit.