PHP var_export() Function

Example

Output structured information about variables:

<?php
$a = 32;
echo var_export($a) . " ";

$b = "Hello world!";
echo var_export($b) . " ";

$c = 32.5;
echo var_export($c) . " ";

$d = array("red", "green", "blue");
echo var_export($d) . " ";

$e = array(32, "Hello world!", 32.5, array("red", "green", "blue"));
echo var_export($e) . " ";
?>

Try it Yourself »

Definition and Usage

The var_export() function outputs or returns structured information about a variable.

This function works similar to var_dump(), except that the returned value for this function is valid PHP code.

Syntax

var_export(variable, return);

Parameter Values

Parameter	Description
variable	Required. Specifies the variable to check
return	Optional. If set to true, it returns the variable representation instead of outputting it

Technical Details

Return Value:	If return is set to TRUE, it returns the variable representation. Otherwise, it returns NULL
Return Type:	Mixed
PHP Version:	4.2+

❮ PHP Variable Handling Reference