Use View Conditionals to set PHP Variables

I have a project where I needed to, via PHP, show a view containing a single entry followed by a form that only appears if the view actually contains something. Normally, one would simply put the form shortcode inside the view and call it a day, but that won't work in this case.

So, how to achieve the same effect without building a complicated set of PHP queries to duplicate the filters on the view?

1. Create a second view (a duplicate of the first). Delete its contents, and replace them with a value like "1" (or for more complicated applications, perhaps the [id] of the returned form entry.
2. Set the "Message if nothing to display" field to be empty.

Then, in PHP:


$gotcontract = FrmProDisplaysController::get_shortcode(array('id' => 520)); // Check to see if we have anything to display in our view.
if($gotcontract != ""){
echo FrmProDisplaysController::get_shortcode(array('id' => 507)); // Display the "real view"
echo FrmFormsController::show_form(30, $key = '', $title=false, $description=true); // Display the form
}
else {
echo "Sorry, there is nothing to display."; // Display "nothing found" message
}