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gettype

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

gettype — Get the type of a variable

Description

gettype(mixed $value): string

Returns the type of the PHP variable value. For type checking, use is_* functions.

Parameters

value: The variable being type checked.

Return Values

Possible values for the returned string are:

"boolean"
"integer"
"double" (for historical reasons "double" is returned in case of a float, and not simply "float")
"string"
"array"
"object"
"resource"
"resource (closed)" as of PHP 7.2.0
"NULL"
"unknown type"

Changelog

Version	Description
7.2.0	Closed resources are now reported as `'resource (closed)'`. Previously the returned value for closed resources were `'unknown type'`.

Examples

Example #1 gettype() example


<?php

$data = array(1, 1., NULL, new stdClass, 'foo');

foreach ($data as $value) {
    echo gettype($value), "\n";
}

?>

The above example will output something similar to:

integer
double
NULL
object
string

User Contributed Notes 11 notes

down

PPKu-N0-SPAM-schy at mediasoft-berlin dot de ¶

13 years ago


After some testing I found a bug in my function "myGetType":
The check for "is_callable" was done before "is_string", so that something like <?php echo myGetType("max"); ?> would output: "function reference" instead of "string"

"is_callable" and "is_string" can't be checked together in this method, so I've removed the check for is_callable because it's a very rare usage case and if it's a valid string the check for is_callable never executes because is_string would be reached first (or vice-versa).

So here is the new function without "is_callable"-Check:
<?php
    /**
     * Returns the type of the var passed.
     *
     * @param mixed $var Variable
     * @return string Type of variable
     */
    function myGetType($var)
    {
        if (is_array($var)) return "array";
        if (is_bool($var)) return "boolean";
        if (is_float($var)) return "float";
        if (is_int($var)) return "integer";
        if (is_null($var)) return "NULL";
        if (is_numeric($var)) return "numeric";
        if (is_object($var)) return "object";
        if (is_resource($var)) return "resource";
        if (is_string($var)) return "string";
        return "unknown type";
    }
?>

down

-2

gilthansNOSPAM at gmail dot com ¶

18 years ago


NaN and #IND will return double or float on gettype, while some inexistent values, like division by zero, will return as a boolean FALSE. 0 by the 0th potency returns 1, even though it is mathematically indetermined.

<?php
$number = 5/0;
$number2 = sqrt(-3);
$number3 = pow(0, 0);
$number4 = 0/0;

echo $number."<br />";
echo $number2."<br />";
echo $number3."<br />";
echo $number4."<br />";
echo "<br />";
echo gettype($number)."<br />";
echo gettype($number2)."<br />";
echo gettype($number3)."<br />";
echo gettype($number4);
?>

This will return:

-1.#IND
1

boolean
double
integer
boolean

0
1
1
0
PHP Warning: Division by zero in C\test.php on line 2 PHP Warning: Division by zero in C:\test.php on line 5

down

-4

langpavel at phpskelet dot org ¶

12 years ago


This function returns string representation of type. This is generalization of get_class(). I try to order is_* tests by density of occurence, but is bad idea to use result of this call in conditions for performance reasons, usefull and better than gettype for debugging messages.

Note, that last line should not be never executed.

Also has no sense to make input parameter optional.



<?php

function get_type($var)

{

    if(is_object($var))

        return get_class($var);

    if(is_null($var))

        return 'null';

    if(is_string($var))

        return 'string';

    if(is_array($var))

        return 'array';

    if(is_int($var))

        return 'integer';

    if(is_bool($var))

        return 'boolean';

    if(is_float($var))

        return 'float';

    if(is_resource($var))

        return 'resource';

    //throw new NotImplementedException();

    return 'unknown';

}

?>

down

-6

SoN9ne at gmail dot com ¶

13 years ago


This is my work around for the gettype warning. Hope some find it useful.



<?php

    /**

     * Returns the type of the passed var

     * - PHP warns against using gettype(), this is my workaround

     *

     * @param mixed $var

     * @return string

     */

    function myGetType($var)

    {

        if (is_array($var)) return "array";

        if (is_bool($var)) return "boolean";

        if (is_callable($var)) return "function reference";

        if (is_float($var)) return "float";

        if (is_int($var)) return "integer";

        if (is_null($var)) return "NULL";

        if (is_numeric($var)) return "numeric";

        if (is_object($var)) return "object";

        if (is_resource($var)) return "resource";

        if (is_string($var)) return "string";

        return "unknown type";

    }

?>



[EDITOR thiago NOTE: Code has been updated by PPKu-N0-SPAM-schy at mediasoft-berlin dot de]

down

-6

Wilson212 ¶

12 years ago


I did some benchmarking and your method here is alot slower then using the actual gettype(); (Using php 5.3.4)

down

-6

matt at appstate ¶

19 years ago


Here is something that had me stumped with regards to gettype and is_object.

Gettype will report an incomplete object as such, whereas is_object will return FALSE.



<?php

if (!is_object($incomplete_obj)) {

   echo 'This variable is not an object, it is a/an ' . gettype($incomplete_obj);

}

?>



Will print:

This variable is not an object, it is a/an object

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-4

wojciech dot fornal at gmail dot com ¶

9 years ago


@langpavel at phpskelet dot org

Doesn't the gettype return the string already? Using get_class seems to be the only "useful" part of that solution. All that can be reduced to somewhere half in terms of the amount of code.

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-5

samokspv1 at gmail dot com ¶

5 years ago


Result from this post http://php.net/manual/en/function.gettype.php#56662 for new PHP 7.2.10:

<?php
$number = 5/0;
$number2 = sqrt(-3);
$number3 = pow(0, 0);
$number4 = 0/0;

echo $number."<br />";
echo $number2."<br />";
echo $number3."<br />";
echo $number4."<br />";
echo "<br />";
echo gettype($number)."<br />";
echo gettype($number2)."<br />";
echo gettype($number3)."<br />";
echo gettype($number4);
?>

This will return:
INF
NAN
1
NAN

double
double
integer
double

down

-7

skatebiker at hotmail dot com ¶

16 years ago


In some rare cases a class instance object returns false when an object but gettype() returns "object".



<?php

$x = new classvar();



$save = serialize($x);



// ......



$obj = unserialize($save);

// here sometimes is_object() returns FALSE

if (is_object($x) || gettype($x) === "object")

{

   // ... do something

}

?>

down

-8

sneskid at hotmail dot com ¶

17 years ago


I wrote my own gettype function by just using the default is_? functions, but it took twice as long as gettype... So I decided to use gettype with a twist.

Taking the warnings about gettype to heart, and depending on your custom needs, it's worthwhile to dynamically test the gettype result with a known variable, and link the result to a predefined result. Like so:

<?php
/*
 dynamically create an array by using known variable types
 link with a predefined value
*/
$R=array();
$R[gettype(.0)]='number';
$R[gettype(0)]='number';
$R[gettype(true)]='boolean';
$R[gettype('')]='string';
$R[gettype(null)]='null';
$R[gettype(array())]='array';
$R[gettype(new stdClass())]='object';

// what is
function wis_($v){
    global $R;
    return $R[gettype($v)];
}

echo wis_('hello') . '<br/>'; // "string"
echo wis_(24) . '<br/>'; // "number"
echo wis_(0.24) . '<br/>'; // "number"
echo wis_(null) . '<br/>'; // "null"
echo wis_($R) . '<br/>'; // "array"
?>
You won't need to worry about changes in gettype's return strings in future versions.
If the result evaluates to false then you know the variable tested is some "other" type.

I also find these useful
<?php
function is_num($v){return (is_int($v) || is_double($v));}
function is_box($v){return (is_array($v)||is_object($v));}

echo is_num(null) . '<br/>'; // false
echo is_num(false) . '<br/>'; // false
echo is_num('123') . '<br/>'; // false
echo is_num(123) . '<br/>'; // true
echo is_num(123.0) . '<br/>'; // true
?>

down

-13

ddr-2kpp (at) web dot de ¶

9 years ago


Hi there,

this fastest solution I found to identify a variable type without using gettype function:
<?PHP
function typeof($var) {
  if (is_object($var))
    return "object";

  if (is_resource($var))
    return "resource";

  return (($var === null) ? "null" :
      (((bool)$var === $var) ? "bool" :
       (((float)$var === $var) ? "float" :
        (((int)$var === $var) ? "int" : 
         (((string)$var === $var) ? "string" :
              "unknown"
          )
         )
        )
       )
      );
}
?>
Maybe someone has a more elegant solution to check for object and resource types...

The complete script - including several identify- and timing functions follow:
#!/usr/bin/php
<?PHP
function typeof_trinary($var) {
  if (is_object($var))
    return "object";

  if (is_resource($var))
    return "resource";

  return (($var === null) ? "null" :
      (((bool)$var === $var) ? "bool" :
       (((float)$var === $var) ? "float" :
        (((int)$var === $var) ? "int" : 
         (((string)$var === $var) ? "string" :
              "unknown"
          )
         )
        )
       )
      );
   }

function typeof_if_query($var) {
   
  if (is_object($var))
    return "object";

  if (is_resource($var))
    return "resource";
  
  if ((bool)$var === $var)
      return "bool";

  if ((float)$var === $var)
    return "float";

  if ((int)$var === $var)
    return "int";

  if ((string)$var === $var)
    return "string";

  if (null === $var)
    return "null";

  return "unknown";
}

function typeof_gettype($var) {
    return \gettype($var);
}

$var = 100;

echo "start@ " . \date("Y-m-d H:i:s") . "\n";
echo "\$var = $var - gettype(\$var) = " . gettype($var) . "\n\n";
$time = -\microtime(true);

echo "typeof_if_query(\$var) = " . typeof_if_query($var) . "\n";
$time += \microtime(true);
echo "duration: " . \sprintf("%0.10f",$time) . "\n\n";

$time = -\microtime(true);

echo "typeof_gettype(\$var) = " . typeof_gettype($var) . "\n";
$time += \microtime(true);
echo "duration: " . \sprintf("%0.10f",$time) . "\n\n";

$time = -\microtime(true);

echo "typeof_trinary(\$var) = " . typeof_trinary($var) . "\n";
$time += \microtime(true);
echo "duration: " . \sprintf("%0.10f",$time) . "\n\n";
?>

My console output - try the script several times!:
$ ./gettype.php
start@ 2015-01-10 01:10:37
$var = 100 - gettype($var) = integer

typeof_if_query($var) = int
duration: 0.0000500679

typeof_gettype($var) = integer
duration: 0.0000309944

typeof_trinary($var) = int
duration: 0.0000240803

add a note

gettype

Description

Parameters

Return Values

Changelog

Examples

See Also

User Contributed Notes 11 notes