PHP 7.0.6 Released

    strval

    (PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)

    strval — Get string value of a variable

    Description

    string strval ( mixed $var )

    Get the string value of a variable. See the documentation on string for more information on converting to string.

    This function performs no formatting on the returned value. If you are looking for a way to format a numeric value as a string, please see sprintf() or number_format().

    Parameters

    var

    The variable that is being converted to a string.

    var may be any scalar type or an object that implements the __toString() method. You cannot use strval() on arrays or on objects that do not implement the __toString() method.

    Return Values

    The string value of var.

    Examples

    Example #1 strval() example using PHP 5's magic __toString() method.

    <?php
    class StrValTest
    {
        public function     __toString()
        {
            return     __CLASS__;
        }
    }

    // Prints 'StrValTest'
    echo strval(new StrValTest);
    ?>

    See Also

    User Contributed Notes

    Tom Nicholson
    12 years ago
    If you want to convert an integer into an English word string, eg. 29 -> twenty-nine, then here's a function to do it.

    Note on use of fmod()
      I used the floating point fmod() in preference to the % operator, because % converts the operands to int, corrupting values outside of the range [-2147483648, 2147483647]

    I haven't bothered with "billion" because the word means 10e9 or 10e12 depending who you ask.

    The function returns '#' if the argument does not represent a whole number.

    <?php
    $nwords     = array( "zero", "one", "two", "three", "four", "five", "six", "seven",
                           "eight", "nine", "ten", "eleven", "twelve", "thirteen",
                           "fourteen", "fifteen", "sixteen", "seventeen", "eighteen",
                           "nineteen", "twenty", 30 => "thirty", 40 => "forty",
                           50 => "fifty", 60 => "sixty", 70 => "seventy", 80 => "eighty",
                           90 => "ninety" );

    function     int_to_words($x) {
       global     $nwords;

       if(!    is_numeric($x))
              $w = '#';
       else if(    fmod($x, 1) != 0)
              $w = '#';
       else {
          if(    $x < 0) {
                 $w = 'minus ';
                 $x = -$x;
          } else
                 $w = '';
              // ... now $x is a non-negative integer.

              if($x < 21)   // 0 to 20
                 $w .= $nwords[$x];
          else if(    $x < 100) {   // 21 to 99
                 $w .= $nwords[10 * floor($x/10)];
                 $r = fmod($x, 10);
             if(    $r > 0)
                    $w .= '-'. $nwords[$r];
          } else if(    $x < 1000) {   // 100 to 999
                 $w .= $nwords[floor($x/100)] .' hundred';
                 $r = fmod($x, 100);
             if(    $r > 0)
                    $w .= ' and '. int_to_words($r);
          } else if(    $x < 1000000) {   // 1000 to 999999
                 $w .= int_to_words(floor($x/1000)) .' thousand';
                 $r = fmod($x, 1000);
             if(    $r > 0) {
                    $w .= ' ';
                if(    $r < 100)
                       $w .= 'and ';
                    $w .= int_to_words($r);
             }
          } else {        //  millions
                 $w .= int_to_words(floor($x/1000000)) .' million';
                 $r = fmod($x, 1000000);
             if(    $r > 0) {
                    $w .= ' ';
                if(    $r < 100)
                       $word .= 'and ';
                    $w .= int_to_words($r);
             }
          }
       }
       return     $w;
    }

    ?>

    Usage:
    <?php
    echo 'There are currently '. int_to_words($count) . ' members logged on.';
    ?>
    Hayley Watson
    8 years ago
    As of PHP 5.2, strval() will return the string value of an object, calling its __toString() method to determine what that value is.
    kendsnyder+phpnet at gmail dot com
    8 years ago
    The only way to convert a large float to a string is to use printf('%0.0f',$float); instead of strval($float); (php 5.1.4).

    // strval() will lose digits around pow(2,45);
    echo pow(2,50); // 1.1258999068426E+015
    echo (string)pow(2,50); // 1.1258999068426E+015
    echo strval(pow(2,50)); // 1.1258999068426E+015

    // full conversion
    printf('%0.0f',pow(2,50)); // 112589906846624
    echo sprintf('%0.0f',pow(2,50)); // 112589906846624
    Steve Ball
    10 years ago
    It seems that one is being treated as an unsigned large int (32 bit), and the other as a signed large int (which has rolled over/under).

    2326201276 - (-1968766020) =  4294967296.
    php at ianco dot co dot uk
    10 years ago
    I can't help being surprised that

    (string)"0" == (string)"0.00"

    evaluates to true. It's the same with strval and single quotes.
    === avoids it.

    Why does it matter? One of my suppliers, unbelievably, uses 0 to mean standard discount and 0.00 to mean no discount in their stock files.
    NyctoFixer at gmail dot com
    8 years ago
    As of PHP 5.1.4 (I have not tested it in later versions), the strval function does not attempt to invoke the __toString method when it encounters an object. This simple wrapper function will handle this circumstance for you:

    <?

    /**
    * Returns the string value of a variable
    *
    * This differs from strval in that it invokes __toString if an object is given
    * and the object has that method
    */
    function stringVal ($value)
    {
        // We use get_class_methods instead of method_exists to ensure that __toString is a public method
        if (is_object($value) && in_array("__toString", get_class_methods($value)))
            return strval($value->__toString());
        else
            return strval($value);
    }

    ?>
    portos_ze_retour at hotmail dot fr
    10 years ago
    In complement to Tom Nicholson's contribution, here is the french version (actually it's possible to change the language, but you should check the syntax ;) )

    function int_to_words($x) {
       global $nwords;

       if(!is_numeric($x))
         $w = '#';
       else if(fmod($x, 1) != 0)
         $w = '#';
       else {
         if($x < 0) {
             $w = $nwords['minus'].' ';
             $x = -$x;
         } else
             $w = '';
         // ... now $x is a non-negative integer.

         if($x < 21)  // 0 to 20
             $w .= $nwords[$x];
         else if($x < 100) {  // 21 to 99
             $w .= $nwords[10 * floor($x/10)];
             $r = fmod($x, 10);
             if($r > 0)
               $w .= '-'. $nwords[$r];
         } else if($x < 1000) {  // 100 to 999
             $w .= $nwords[floor($x/100)] .' '.$nwords['hundred'];
             $r = fmod($x, 100);
             if($r > 0)
               $w .= ' '.$nwords['separator'].' '. int_to_words($r);
         } else if($x < 1000000) {  // 1000 to 999999
             $w .= int_to_words(floor($x/1000)) .' '.$nwords['thousand'];
             $r = fmod($x, 1000);
             if($r > 0) {
               $w .= ' ';
               if($r < 100)
                   $w .= $nwords['separator'].' ';
               $w .= int_to_words($r);

             }
         } else {    //  millions
             $w .= int_to_words(floor($x/1000000)) .' '.$nwords['million'];
             $r = fmod($x, 1000000);
             if($r > 0) {
               $w .= ' ';
               if($r < 100)
                   $word .= $nwords['separator'].' ';
               $w .= int_to_words($r);
             }
         }
       }
       return $w;
    }

    // Usage in English
    $nwords = array( "zero", "one", "two", "three", "four", "five", "six", "seven",
                       "eight", "nine", "ten", "eleven", "twelve", "thirteen",
                       "fourteen", "fifteen", "sixteen", "seventeen", "eighteen",
                       "nineteen", "twenty", 30 => "thirty", 40 => "forty",
                       50 => "fifty", 60 => "sixty", 70 => "seventy", 80 => "eighty",
                       90 => "ninety" , "hundred" => "hundred", "thousand"=> "thousand", "million"=>"million",
                       "separator"=>"and", "minus"=>"minus");

    echo 'There are currently '. int_to_words(-120223456) . ' members logged on.<br>';

    //Utilisation en Francais
    $nwords = array( "zéro", "un", "deux", "trois", "quatre", "cinq", "six", "sept",
                       "huit", "neuf", "dix", "onze", "douze", "treize",
                       "quatorze", "quinze", "seize", "dix-sept", "dix-huit",
                       "dix-neuf", "vingt", 30 => "trente", 40 => "quarante",
                       50 => "cinquante", 60 => "soixante", 70 => "soixante-dix", 80 => "quatre-vingt",
                       90 => "quatre-vingt-dix" , "hundred" => "cent", "thousand"=> "mille", "million"=>"million",
                       "separator"=>"", "minus"=>"moins");

    echo 'Il y a actuellement '. int_to_words(-120223456) . ' membres connectés.<br>';
    anthony dot parsons at manx dot net
    10 years ago
    If you have to compare object variables like this be careful not to make a typo, or you could end up calling __set() -
    <?php
    /* Does what you'd expect it to */
    if ( $user->password == $user2->password )

    /* Doesn't */
    if ( $user->password = $user2->password )
    ?>

    To avoid that ever happening, do it like this:
    <?php
    if ( strval($user->password) == $user2->password )
    ?>
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