Cartthrob - clear_cart tag is rendering/acting despite wrapping conditional returning false

Question

I am using clear_cart to clear the cart when a completed order returns to the site from Paypal Express. The Shop page has a link to /checkout to go make a purchase using the Paypal express gateway. The checkout_form returns from Paypal to "checkout/order_status" and is supposed to display one of the following messages.

I am getting a "too many redirects" error (error 310) anytime I try to go to /checkout because the clear_cart tag is rendering and redirecting whether a transaction has been authorized or not. I can't even get to the checkout page usually to check my cart and be sent to Paypal. I have cleared the EE cache as well as Chrome cache multiple times with no success. Why is this tag acting when there is no order_status in segment_2 and also causing an infinite redirect?

Here is the full code I am using on the checkout page:

{!-- VIEW CART CONTENTS --}
                {exp:cartthrob:cart_items_info limit="1"}
                    {if no_results}
                        <p>There is nothing in your cart yet</p>
                    {/if}
                    <ul class="cart-table">
                        {exp:cartthrob:cart_info}
                        <li>Total Items: <span>{total_items}</span></li>
                        <li>Subtotal: <span>{cart_subtotal}</span></li>
                        <li>Shipping: <span>{exp:cartthrob:cart_shipping}</span></li>
                        <li>Tax Rate: <span>{cart_tax_rate}</span></li>
                        <li>Tax: <span>{cart_tax}</span></li>
                        <li><p class="lead"><strong>Total: <span>{cart_total}</span></strong></p></li>
                        {/exp:cartthrob:cart_info}
                    </ul>
                {/exp:cartthrob:cart_items_info}
{!-- Current items --}
                {exp:cartthrob:cart_items_info}
                    {if no_results}
                        <p>You have nothing in your cart. <a class="blue" href="/shop">GO SHOP &raquo;</a></p>
                    {/if}
                    {if total_items > 0}
                        {if first_row}
                        {exp:cartthrob:update_cart_form  return="checkout" class="cart_form" show_errors="yes" error_handling="inline"}
                        {/if}
                        <ul class="cart-table">
                            {errors}
                            <p class="error">{error}</p>
                            {/errors}
                            {if product_detail_image}
                                <img src="{product_detail_image:feed}"/>
                            {if:else}
                            <img src="{site_url}content/img/ride.png"/>
                            {/if}
                            <li><p class="lead"><strong>{title}</strong> <span>Qty: <input type="text" name="quantity[{row_id}]" size="1" maxlength="2" value="{quantity}" /></span></p>
                                <p>{exp:cartthrob:item_options entry_id="{entry_id}" row_id="{row_id}"}
                                    {if dynamic}
                                                <label>{option_label}</label>
                                                {input}
                                            {if:else}
                                                {if options_exist}
                                            {select} 
                                                            {if "{inventory}" > "0"}<option {selected} value="{option_value}">{option_name} {option_price}</option>{/if}
                                                        {/select}
                                                {/if}
                                            {/if}
                                        {/exp:cartthrob:item_options}
                                <span><input type="checkbox" name="delete[{row_id}]"> Delete this item</span></p>
                            </li>
                        </ul>
                        {if last_row}
                            <select name="shipping_option">
                            {exp:cartthrob:get_shipping_options}
                                    <option value="{rate_short_name}" {if selected}selected{/if}>{rate_title} - {rate_price}</option>
                                {/exp:cartthrob:get_shipping_options}
                            </select>
                                <input type="submit" value="Update Cart" />
                        {/exp:cartthrob:update_cart_form}
                        {/if}
                    {/if}
                {/exp:cartthrob:cart_items_info}

{!-- CHECKOUT --}
                {exp:cartthrob:checkout_form return="checkout/order_status" gateway="paypal_express"
                    required="first_name|last_name|address|city|zip|country_code|shipping_address|shipping_city|shipping_zip|shipping_country_code|email_address"
                }
                    {if total_items > 0}
                        <h3>Payment:</h3>
                        {gateway_fields}
                        <input type="submit" value="Checkout with Paypal" />
                    {/if}
                {/exp:cartthrob:checkout_form}

Quick note: I also tried

{if segment_2 == "order_status"}

but this is probably irrelevant

Answer 1

This is because EE will execute tags before parsing certain conditionals. You should stick your clear_cart tag into it's own template and embed that template within your conditional. Embeds get executed at the very end, after conditionals are evaluated, so it will only execute if the condition is true.