PHP Casting
Variables can store data of one type, even if they are declared
to store values of
different types.
PHP supports the following variable casting
Casting in PHP is done with these statements:
(string) - Converts to data type String(int) - Converts to data type Integer(float) - Converts to data type Float (bool) - Converts to data type Boolean(array) - Converts to data type Array(object) - Converts to data type Object(unset) - Converts to data type NULLTo cast to string, use the (string) statement:
$a = 5; // Integer
$b = 5.34; // Float
$c = "hello"; // String
$d = true; // Boolean
$e = NULL; // NULL
$a = (string) $a;
$b = (string) $b;
$c = (string) $c;
$d = (string) $d;
$e = (string) $e;
//To verify the type of any object in PHP, use the var_dump() function:
var_dump($a);
var_dump($b);
var_dump($c);
var_dump($d);
var_dump($e);To cast to integer, use the (int) statement:
$a = 5; // Integer
$b = 5.34; // Float
$c = "25 kilometers"; // String
$d = "kilometers 25"; // String
$e = "hello"; // String
$f = true; // Boolean
$g = NULL; // NULL
$a = (int) $a;
$b = (int) $b;
$c = (int) $c;
$d = (int) $d;
$e = (int) $e;
$f = (int) $f;
$g = (int) $g;To cast to float, use the (float) statement:
$a = 5; // Integer
$b = 5.34; // Float
$c = 0; // Integer
$d = -1; // Integer
$e = 0.1; // Float
$f = "hello"; // String
$g = ""; // String
$h = true; // Boolean
$i = NULL; // NULL
$a = (bool) $a;
$b = (bool) $b;
$c = (bool) $c;
$d = (bool) $d;
$e = (bool) $e;
$f = (bool) $f;
$g = (bool) $g;
$h = (bool) $h;
$i = (bool) $i;If a value is 0, NULL, false, or empty, the (bool) converts it into false, otherwise true.
Even -1 converts to true.
To cast to array, use the (array) statement:
$a = 5; // Integer
$b = 5.34; // Float
$c = "hello"; // String
$d = true; // Boolean
$e = NULL; // NULL
$a = (array) $a;
$b = (array) $b;
$c = (array) $c;
$d = (array) $d;
$e = (array) $e;
When converting into arrays, most data types converts into an indexed array with one element.
NULL values converts to an empty array object.
Objects converts into associative arrays where the property names becomes the keys and the property values becomes the values:
Converting Objects into Arrays:
class Car {
public $color;
public $model;
public function __construct($color, $model) {
$this->color = $color;
$this->model = $model;
}
public function message() {
return "My car is a " . $this->color . " " . $this->model . "!";
}
}
$myCar = new Car("red", "Volvo");
$myCar = (array) $myCar;
var_dump($myCar);
To cast to object, use the (object) statement:
$a = 5; // Integer
$b = 5.34; // Float
$c = "hello"; // String
$d = true; // Boolean
$e = NULL; // NULL
$a = (object) $a;
$b = (object) $b;
$c = (object) $c;
$d = (object) $d;
$e = (object) $e;
When converting into objects, most data types converts into a object with one property, named "scalar", with the corresponding value.
NULL values converts to an empty object.
Indexed arrays converts into objects with the index number as property name and the value as property value.
Associative arrays converts into objects with the keys as property names and values as property values.
Converting Arrays into Objects:
$a = array("Volvo", "BMW", "Toyota"); // indexed array
$b = array("Peter"=>"35", "Ben"=>"37", "Joe"=>"43"); // associative array
$a = (object) $a;
$b = (object) $b;To cast to NULL, use the (unset) statement:
$a = 5; // Integer
$b = 5.34; // Float
$c = "hello"; // String
$d = true; // Boolean
$e = NULL; // NULL
$a = (unset) $a;
$b = (unset) $b;
$c = (unset) $c;
$d = (unset) $d;
$e = (unset) $e;