Length function in PHP?

Nibinaear

I can't find a length function in PHP, they seem to have gone out of their way not to put one in!

I've tried length(parameters), but that doesn't work. I've searched the php.net function list, but there's only a mysql_fetch_lengths, which isn't what I'm looking for.

Nibinaear.

AstroTeg

[man]strlen[/man] or [man]count[/man]. Use strlen for strings and count for everything else.

Nibinaear

Thanks AstroTeg.

Nibinaear

Is there a function to test which data type a piece of code is?

rehfeld

Originally posted by Nibinaear
Is there a function to test which data type a piece of code is?

gettype()

its faster to just test for the type your expecting though, for example

if (is_string($foo)) {

}

theres a specific is_****() function for every data type

_Demonoid_

By the way, I use count() for strings, too. It's just a matter of which one you prefer.

Installer

I use count() for strings

Do you mean instead of strlen()? How do you do that?

Lars

I got curious of the post where somebody said that he uses count() for strings as well. So I've done a little test.

Using count()

<?php
$string = "Cool";
$length = count($string);
echo "$length";
?>

This returns 1

Using strlen()

<?php
$string = "Cool";
$length = strlen($string);
echo "$length";
?>

This returns 4

Therefore it is obvious that even if you DO use count() you get incorrect results. So, as somebody said, use strlen() for strings.

laserlight

You could have just read the PHP manual, Lars, that would have told you that if the argument to count() is a scalar that is not empty, it would return 1.

Nibinaear

Originally posted by rehfeld
gettype()

its faster to just test for the type your expecting though, for example

if (is_string($foo)) {

}

theres a specific is_****() function for every data type

Yea, I can see why that might be, if you type:

$type = gettype($number);

if($type == "string")
{
  echo $number;
}

You're just doing the same thing, it sort of limits the use of that function.

Roger_Ramjet

Yep. gettype() is most usefull when used in conjunction with a switch construct on the type returned. I use it for client data because they mostly send it in spreadsheet and it end up being columns in any order and after Excel has bashed it about a bit.

_Demonoid_

Originally posted by Installer
Do you mean instead of strlen()? How do you do that?

You're right, I've got no idea what I was on about. Must've been too late at night. 😕

[Edit: I was thinking of JavaScript. In JavaScript, Array.length and String.length both work. Anyway, sorry for the confusion...]

Weedpacket

Originally posted by Roger Ramjet
Yep. gettype() is most usefull when used in conjunction with a switch construct on the type returned. I use it for client data because they mostly send it in spreadsheet and it end up being columns in any order and after Excel has bashed it about a bit.

Although it's best to note the warning given on the gettype() manual page.