[chaley]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Thanks Since both of them use in-progress I was able to reduce it a tiny bit more:

elif						
	(status == 'In-Progress' &&
	(!select(ids, 'ao3')  && $publisher == 'Archive of Our Own') 						
	||
	(!select(ids, 'ffnet') && $publisher == 'FanFiction.net')	
	)
then "metadata.png"

You should pay attention to operator precedence and the implied parentheses. The && operator has higher precedence than the || operator, so your statement will evaluate like this:

program:
if
		(	status == 'In-Progress' &&
			(!select(ids, 'ao3')  && $publisher == 'Archive of Our Own') 						
		) 
	||
		(
			(!select(ids, 'ffnet') && $publisher == 'FanFiction.net')	
		)
then "metadata.png"
fi

That isn't what you want because the status == isn't done for the 'ffnet' branch. Instead you want this:

program:
if	status == 'In-Progress' &&
	(
			(!select(ids, 'ao3')  && $publisher == 'Archive of Our Own')

		||
			(!select(ids, 'ffnet') && $publisher == 'FanFiction.net')	
	)
then "metadata.png"
fi

By putting the second two checks in parentheses you ensure that the status == check is done for both of them.

My advice: don't depend on operator precedence unless you really know what you are doing. Instead use parentheses to specify the order of evaluation.

EDIT: I forgot to mention: factoring conditions in ifs is a very good thing for performance and readability. It makes the flow clearer and takes maximum advantage of condition short circuiting. Good that you noticed it.