Checking if a variable is an integer in PHP
All $_GET
parameters have a string datatype, therefore, is_int
will always return false.
You can see this by calling var_dump
:
var_dump($_GET['p']); // string(2) "54"
Using is_numeric
will provide the desired result (mind you, that allows values such as: 0x24
).
Using is_numeric()
for checking if a variable is an integer is a bad idea. This function will return TRUE
for 3.14
for example. It's not the expected behavior.
To do this correctly, you can use one of these options:
Considering this variables array :
$variables = [
"TEST 0" => 0,
"TEST 1" => 42,
"TEST 2" => 4.2,
"TEST 3" => .42,
"TEST 4" => 42.,
"TEST 5" => "42",
"TEST 6" => "a42",
"TEST 7" => "42a",
"TEST 8" => 0x24,
"TEST 9" => 1337e0
];
The first option (FILTER_VALIDATE_INT way) :
# Check if your variable is an integer
if ( filter_var($variable, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT) === false ) {
echo "Your variable is not an integer";
}
Output :
TEST 0 : 0 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 1 : 42 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 2 : 4.2 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 3 : 0.42 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 4 : 42 (type:double) is an integer ✔
TEST 5 : 42 (type:string) is an integer ✔
TEST 6 : a42 (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 7 : 42a (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 8 : 36 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 9 : 1337 (type:double) is an integer ✔
The second option (CASTING COMPARISON way) :
# Check if your variable is an integer
if ( strval($variable) !== strval(intval($variable)) ) {
echo "Your variable is not an integer";
}
Output :
TEST 0 : 0 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 1 : 42 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 2 : 4.2 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 3 : 0.42 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 4 : 42 (type:double) is an integer ✔
TEST 5 : 42 (type:string) is an integer ✔
TEST 6 : a42 (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 7 : 42a (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 8 : 36 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 9 : 1337 (type:double) is an integer ✔
The third option (CTYPE_DIGIT way) :
# Check if your variable is an integer
if ( ! ctype_digit(strval($variable)) ) {
echo "Your variable is not an integer";
}
Output :
TEST 0 : 0 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 1 : 42 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 2 : 4.2 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 3 : 0.42 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 4 : 42 (type:double) is an integer ✔
TEST 5 : 42 (type:string) is an integer ✔
TEST 6 : a42 (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 7 : 42a (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 8 : 36 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 9 : 1337 (type:double) is an integer ✔
The fourth option (REGEX way) :
# Check if your variable is an integer
if ( ! preg_match('/^\d+$/', $variable) ) {
echo "Your variable is not an integer";
}
Output :
TEST 0 : 0 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 1 : 42 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 2 : 4.2 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 3 : 0.42 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 4 : 42 (type:double) is an integer ✔
TEST 5 : 42 (type:string) is an integer ✔
TEST 6 : a42 (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 7 : 42a (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 8 : 36 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 9 : 1337 (type:double) is an integer ✔