- PHP – How to convert string to float?
- PHP – Convert string to float
- Convert String to Float using Type Casting
- Example
- Convert String to Float using floatval()
- Example
- Conclusion
- Php cast to float
- Convert String to Float in PHP
- Use the Type Casting to Convert a String to Float in PHP
- Use the floatval() Function to Convert a String to Float in PHP
- Use the number_format() Function to Convert a String to Float in PHP
- Related Article — PHP String
PHP – How to convert string to float?
In this PHP tutorial, you shall learn how to convert a given string to a float value using typecasting or floatval() function, with example programs.
PHP – Convert string to float
To convert string to float in PHP, you can use Type Casting technique or PHP built-in function floatval().
In this tutorial, we will go through each of these methods and learn how to convert contents of a string to a float value.
Convert String to Float using Type Casting
To convert string to floating point number using Type Casting, provide the literal (float) along with parenthesis before the string literal. The expression returns float value of the string.
The syntax to type cast string to float number is
$float_value = (float) $string;
Example
In the following example, we will take a string with floating point number content, and convert the string into float using type casting.
PHP Program
Convert String to Float using floatval()
To convert string to float using PHP built-in function, floatval(), provide the string as argument to the function. The function will return the float value corresponding to the string content.
The syntax to use floatval() to convert string to float is
$float_value = floatval( $string );
Example
In the following example, we will take a string with float content, and convert the string into float value using floatval() function.
PHP Program
Conclusion
In this PHP Tutorial, we learned how to convert a string to float using typecasting and floatval() function.
Php cast to float
Cast a string to binary using PHP < 5.2.1
I found it tricky to check if a posted value was an integer.
is_int ( $_POST [ ‘a’ ] ); //false
is_int ( intval ( «anything» ) ); //always true
?>
A method I use for checking if a string represents an integer value.
$foo [ ‘ten’ ] = 10 ; // $foo[‘ten’] is an array holding an integer at key «ten»
$str = » $foo [ ‘ten’]» ; // throws T_ENCAPSED_AND_WHITESPACE error
$str = » $foo [ ten ] » ; // works because constants are skipped in quotes
$fst = (string) $foo [ ‘ten’ ]; // works with clear intention
?>?php
It seems (unset) is pretty useless. But for people who like to make their code really compact (and probably unreadable). You can use it to use an variable and unset it on the same line:
$hello = ‘Hello world’ ;
print $hello ;
unset( $hello );
$hello = ‘Hello world’ ;
$hello = (unset) print $hello ;
?>
Hoorah, we lost another line!
It would be useful to know the precedence (for lack of a better word) for type juggling. This entry currently explains that «if either operand is a float, then both operands are evaluated as floats, and the result will be a float» but could (and I think should) provide a hierarchy that indicates, for instance, «between an int and a boolean, int wins; between a float and an int, float wins; between a string and a float, string wins» and so on (and don’t count on my example accurately capturing the true hierarchy, as I haven’t actually done the tests to figure it out). Thanks!
May be expected, but not stated ..
Casting to the existing (same) type has no effect.
$t = ‘abc’; // string ‘abc’
$u=(array) $t; // array 0 => string ‘abc’ $v=(array) $u; // array 0 => string ‘abc’
Correct me if I’m wrong, but that is not a cast, it might be useful sometimes, but the IDE will not reflect what’s really happening:
class MyObject /**
* @param MyObject $object
* @return MyObject
*/
static public function cast ( MyObject $object ) return $object ;
>
/** Does nothing */
function f () <>
>
class X extends MyObject /** Throws exception */
function f () < throw new exception (); >
>
$x = MyObject :: cast (new X );
$x -> f (); // Your IDE tells ‘f() Does nothing’
?>
However, when you run the script, you will get an exception.
In my much of my coding I have found it necessary to type-cast between objects of different class types.
More specifically, I often want to take information from a database, convert it into the class it was before it was inserted, then have the ability to call its class functions as well.
The following code is much shorter than some of the previous examples and seems to suit my purposes. It also makes use of some regular expression matching rather than string position, replacing, etc. It takes an object ($obj) of any type and casts it to an new type ($class_type). Note that the new class type must exist:
Looks like type-casting user-defined objects is a real pain, and ya gotta be nuttin’ less than a brain jus ta cypher-it. But since PHP supports OOP, you can add the capabilities right now. Start with any simple class.
class Point protected $x , $y ;
public function __construct ( $xVal = 0 , $yVal = 0 ) $this -> x = $xVal ;
$this -> y = $yVal ;
>
public function getX () < return $this ->x ; >
public function getY () < return $this ->y ; >
>
$p = new Point ( 25 , 35 );
echo $p -> getX (); // 25
echo $p -> getY (); // 35
?>
Ok, now we need extra powers. PHP gives us several options:
A. We can tag on extra properties on-the-fly using everyday PHP syntax.
$p->z = 45; // here, $p is still an object of type [Point] but gains no capability, and it’s on a per-instance basis, blah.
B. We can try type-casting it to a different type to access more functions.
$p = (SuperDuperPoint) $p; // if this is even allowed, I doubt it. But even if PHP lets this slide, the small amount of data Point holds would probably not be enough for the extra functions to work anyway. And we still need the class def + all extra data. We should have just instantiated a [SuperDuperPoint] object to begin with. and just like above, this only works on a per-instance basis.
C. Do it the right way using OOP — and just extend the Point class already.
class Point3D extends Point protected $z ; // add extra properties.
public function __construct ( $xVal = 0 , $yVal = 0 , $zVal = 0 ) parent :: __construct ( $xVal , $yVal );
$this -> z = $zVal ;
>
public function getZ () < return $this ->z ; > // add extra functions.
>
$p3d = new Point3D ( 25 , 35 , 45 ); // more data, more functions, more everything.
echo $p3d -> getX (); // 25
echo $p3d -> getY (); // 35
echo $p3d -> getZ (); // 45
?>
Once the new class definition is written, you can make as many Point3D objects as you want. Each of them will have more data and functions already built-in. This is much better than trying to beef-up any «single lesser object» on-the-fly, and it’s way easier to do.
Re: the typecasting between classes post below. fantastic, but slightly flawed. Any class name longer than 9 characters becomes a problem. SO here’s a simple fix:
function typecast($old_object, $new_classname) if(class_exists($new_classname)) // Example serialized object segment
// O:5:»field»:9: $old_serialized_prefix = «O:».strlen(get_class($old_object));
$old_serialized_prefix .= «:\»».get_class($old_object).»\»:»;
$old_serialized_object = serialize($old_object);
$new_serialized_object = ‘O:’.strlen($new_classname).’:»‘.$new_classname . ‘»:’;
$new_serialized_object .= substr($old_serialized_object,strlen($old_serialized_prefix));
return unserialize($new_serialized_object);
>
else
return false;
>
Thanks for the previous code. Set me in the right direction to solving my typecasting problem. 😉
If you have a boolean, performing increments on it won’t do anything despite it being 1. This is a case where you have to use a cast.
I have 1 bar.
I now have 1 bar.
I finally have 2 bar.
Checking for strings to be integers?
How about if a string is a float?
/* checks if a string is an integer with possible whitespace before and/or after, and also isolates the integer */
$isInt = preg_match ( ‘/^\s*(9+)\s*$/’ , $myString , $myInt );
echo ‘Is Integer? ‘ , ( $isInt ) ? ‘Yes: ‘ . $myInt [ 1 ] : ‘No’ , «\n» ;
/* checks if a string is an integer with no whitespace before or after */
$isInt = preg_match ( ‘/^8+$/’ , $myString );
echo ‘Is Integer? ‘ , ( $isInt ) ? ‘Yes’ : ‘No’ , «\n» ;
/* When checking for floats, we assume the possibility of no decimals needed. If you MUST require decimals (forcing the user to type 7.0 for example) replace the sequence:
8+(\.3+)?
with
6+\.7+
*/
/* checks if a string is a float with possible whitespace before and/or after, and also isolates the number */
$isFloat = preg_match ( ‘/^\s*(6+(\.5+)?)\s*$/’ , $myString , $myNum );
echo ‘Is Number? ‘ , ( $isFloat ) ? ‘Yes: ‘ . $myNum [ 1 ] : ‘No’ , «\n» ;
/* checks if a string is a float with no whitespace before or after */
$isInt = preg_match ( ‘/^2+(\.5+)?$/’ , $myString );
echo ‘Is Number? ‘ , ( $isFloat ) ? ‘Yes’ : ‘No’ , «\n» ;
Convert String to Float in PHP
- Use the Type Casting to Convert a String to Float in PHP
- Use the floatval() Function to Convert a String to Float in PHP
- Use the number_format() Function to Convert a String to Float in PHP
This article will introduce different methods to convert a string to float in PHP.
Use the Type Casting to Convert a String to Float in PHP
We can use type casting to convert one data type to the variable of another data type. Using typecasting, we can convert a string to float in PHP. The correct syntax to use type casting for the conversion of a string to float is as follows.
$floatVar = (float) $stringVar;
This is one of the simplest methods to convert PHP string to float. The program below shows how we can use the type casting to convert a string to float in PHP.
php $mystring = "0.5674"; echo("This float number is of string data type "); echo($mystring); echo("\n"); $myfloat = (float) $mystring; echo("Now, this float number is of float data type "); echo($myfloat); ?>
This float number is of string data type 0.5674 Now, this float number is of float data type 0.5674
Use the floatval() Function to Convert a String to Float in PHP
Another method is to use PHP’s floatval() function to convert a string to float. This function extracts the float value from the passed variable. For example, if the given variable is a string that contains a float value, then this function will extract that value. The correct syntax to use this function is as follows.
This function returns the extracted float value. The program below shows how we can use the floatval() function to convert a string to float in PHP.
php $mystring = "0.5674"; echo("This float number is of string data type "); echo($mystring); echo("\n"); $myfloat = floatval($mystring); echo("Now, this float number is of float data type "); echo($myfloat); ?>
This float number is of string data type 0.5674 Now, this float number is of float data type 0.5674
The function has returned the extracted float value. We have stored this value in $myfloat variable.
Use the number_format() Function to Convert a String to Float in PHP
We can also use the number_format() function to convert a string to float. The number_format() function is used for the formatting of the numbers is a number is passed as a parameter. If we pass a string containing the number as a parameter, it extracts the number from the string first. The correct syntax to use this function is as follows.
number_format($number, $decimals, $decimalpoint, $thousandseperator);
This function returns the formatted float value. The program below shows the ways by which we can use the number_format() function to convert a string to float in PHP.
php $mystring = "0.5674"; echo("This float number is of string data type "); echo($mystring); echo("\n"); $myfloat = number_format($mystring, 4); echo("Now, this float number is of float data type "); echo($myfloat); ?>
This float number is of string data type 0.5674 Now, this float number is of float data type 0.5674
The function has returned the extracted float value. We have stored this value in the $myfloat variable.
Related Article — PHP String
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