var_representation

    (PECL var_representation >= 0.1.0)

    var_representation — Returns a short, readable, parsable string representation of a variable

    Description

    var_representation(mixed$value, int$flags = 0): string

    var_representation() (from the var_representation PECL) returns a string with structured information about the given variable. It is similar to var_export() with differences in indentation, string escaping, and array representations.

    Parameters

    value

    The variable to generate a representation of.

    flags

    Bitmask consisting of VAR_REPRESENTATION_SINGLE_LINE, VAR_REPRESENTATION_UNESCAPED. The behaviour of these constants is described on the var_representation constants page.

    Return Values

    Returns the variable representation.

    Examples

    Example #1 var_representation() Examples

    <?php
    $a     = [1, 2, ['key' => 'value']];
    echo     var_representation($a), "\n";
    echo     var_representation($a, VAR_REPRESENTATION_SINGLE_LINE), "\n";
    ?>

    The above example will output:

    [ 1, 2, [ 'key' => 'value', ], ] [1, 2, ['key' => 'value']]

    Example #2 Escaping control characters

    <?php
    echo var_representation("Content-Length: 123\r\n");

    The above example will output:

    "Content-Length: 123\r\n"

    Example #3 Exporting stdClass

    <?php
    $person     = new stdClass;
    $person->name = 'ElePHPant ElePHPantsdotter';
    $person->website = 'https://php.net/elephpant.php';

    echo     var_representation($person);

    The above example will output:

    (object) [ 'name' => 'ElePHPant ElePHPantsdotter', 'website' => 'https://php.net/elephpant.php', ]

    Example #4 Exporting classes

    <?php
    class A { public $var; }
    $a = new A;
    $a->var = 5;
    echo     var_representation($a);
    ?>

    The above example will output:

    \A::__set_state([ 'var' => 5, ])

    Example #5 Using __set_state()

    <?php
    class A
    {
    public     $var1;
    public     $var2;

    public static function     __set_state($an_array)
    {
    $obj = new A;
    $obj->var1 = $an_array['var1'];
    $obj->var2 = $an_array['var2'];
    return     $obj;
    }
    }

    $a = new A;
    $a->var1 = 5;
    $a->var2 = 'foo';

    eval(    '$b = ' . var_representation($a) . ';'); // $b = \A::__set_state([

    The above example will output:

    object(A)#2 (2) { ["var1"]=> int(5) ["var2"]=> string(3) "foo" }

    See Also

    • var_export() - Outputs or returns a parsable string representation of a variable
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