PHP 7.0.6 Released

boolval

(PHP 5 >= 5.5.0, PHP 7)

boolvalGet the boolean value of a variable

Description

boolean boolval ( mixed $var )

Returns the boolean value of var.

Parameters

var

The scalar value being converted to a boolean.

Return Values

The boolean value of var.

Examples

Example #1 boolval() examples

<?php
echo '0:        '.(boolval(0) ? 'true' 'false')."\n";
echo 
'42:       '.(boolval(42) ? 'true' 'false')."\n";
echo 
'0.0:      '.(boolval(0.0) ? 'true' 'false')."\n";
echo 
'4.2:      '.(boolval(4.2) ? 'true' 'false')."\n";
echo 
'"":       '.(boolval("") ? 'true' 'false')."\n";
echo 
'"string": '.(boolval("string") ? 'true' 'false')."\n";
echo 
'"0":      '.(boolval("0") ? 'true' 'false')."\n";
echo 
'"1":      '.(boolval("1") ? 'true' 'false')."\n";
echo 
'[1, 2]:   '.(boolval([12]) ? 'true' 'false')."\n";
echo 
'[]:       '.(boolval([]) ? 'true' 'false')."\n";
echo 
'stdClass: '.(boolval(new stdClass) ? 'true' 'false')."\n";
?>

The above example will output:

0:        false
42:       true
0.0:      false
4.2:      true
"":       false
"string": true
"0":      false
"1":      true
[1, 2]:   true
[]:       false
stdClass: true

See Also

User Contributed Notes

info at lomalkin dot ru
3 years ago
<?

// Hack for old php versions to use boolval()

if (!function_exists('boolval')) {
        function boolval($val) {
                return (bool) $val;
        }
}
?>
Babak Bandpey
1 year ago
I believe that the double negation !! can perform the same task with the same result if your PHP is not up2date

var_dump(!!1, !!0, !!"test", !!"");

outputs:
boolean true

boolean false

boolean true

boolean false

May the life be good to you.
raphael.satyago
1 year ago
function is_true($val, $return_null=false){
    $boolval = ( is_string($val) ? filter_var($val, FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN, FILTER_NULL_ON_FAILURE) : (bool) $val );
    return ( $boolval===null && !$return_null ? false : $boolval );
}

// Return Values:

is_true(new stdClass);      // true
is_true([1,2]);             // true
is_true([1]);               // true
is_true([0]);               // true
is_true(42);                // true
is_true(-42);               // true
is_true('true');            // true
is_true('on')               // true
is_true('off')              // false
is_true('yes')              // true
is_true('no')               // false
is_true('ja')               // false
is_true('nein')             // false
is_true('1');               // true
is_true(NULL);              // false
is_true(0);                 // false
is_true('false');           // false
is_true('string');          // false
is_true('0.0');             // false
is_true('4.2');             // false
is_true('0');               // false
is_true('');                // false
is_true([]);                // false
Matt M
1 year ago
To anyone like me who came here looking for a way to turn any value into a 0/1 that will fit into a MySQL boolean (tinyint) field:

<?php
$tinyint
= (int) filter_var($valToCheck, FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN);
?>

tinyint will be 0 (zero) for values like string "false", boolean false, int 0

tinyint will be 1 for values like string "true", boolean true, int 1

Useful if you are accepting data that might be from a language like Javascript that sends string "false" for a boolean false.
Anonymous
2 years ago
A misspell in v2.0.
:-)

Hack v2.1

<?php

if( ! function_exists('boolval'))
{
   
/**
     * Get the boolean value of a variable
     *
     * @param mixed The scalar value being converted to a boolean.
     * @return boolean The boolean value of var.
     */
   
function boolval($var)
    {
        return !!
$var;
    }
}

?>
IkkiPhenix
3 months ago
(sorry for my english)
This function is not necessary.

if ($variable)

       as the same effect than

if (boolval($variable))

at least for integer, float, string, boolean, array types.
To Top