var_dump

(PHP 3 >= 3.0.5, PHP 4, PHP 5)

var_dump -- Dumps information about a variable

Description

void var_dump ( mixed expression [, mixed expression [, ...]] )

This function displays structured information about one or more expressions that includes its type and value. Arrays and objects are explored recursively with values indented to show structure.

In PHP 5 only public, private and protected properties of objects will be returned in the output.

Tip: As with anything that outputs its result directly to the browser, you can use the output-control functions to capture the output of this function, and save it in a string (for example).

Parameters

expression

The variable you want to export.

Return Values

No value is returned.

Examples

Example 1. var_dump() example

<?php
$a = array(1, 2, array("a", "b", "c"));
var_dump($a);
?>

The above example will output:

			array(3) {
			  [0]=>
			  int(1)
			  [1]=>
			  int(2)
			  [2]=>
			  array(3) {
				[0]=>
				string(1) "a"
				[1]=>
				string(1) "b"
				[2]=>
				string(1) "c"
			  }
			}
<?php

$b = 3.1;
$c = true;
var_dump($b, $c);

?>

The above example will output:

			float(3.1)
			bool(true)

See Also

var_export()
print_r()