Array Functions
PHP Manual

range

Create an array containing a range of elements

Description

array range(stringintfloat $start, stringintfloat $end, intfloat $step = 1)

Create an array containing a range of elements.

If both start and end are strings, and step is int the produced array will be a sequence of bytes. Otherwise, the produced array will be a sequence of numbers.

The sequence is increasing if start is less than equal to end. Otherwise, the sequence is decreasing.

Parameters

start

First value of the sequence.

end

Last possible value of the sequence.

step

step indicates by how much is the produced sequence progressed between values of the sequence.

step may be negative for decreasing sequences.

If step is a float without a fractional part, it is interpreted as int.

Return Values

Returns a sequence of elements as an array with the first element being start going up to end, with each value of the sequence being step values apart.

The last element of the returned array is either end or the previous element of the sequence, depending on the value of step.

If both start and end are strings, and step is int the produced array will be a sequence of bytes, generally latin ASCII characters.

If at least one of start, end, or step is float the produced array will be a sequence of float.

Otherwise, the produced array will be a sequence of int.

Errors/Exceptions

  • If step is 0, a ValueError is thrown.
  • If start, end, or step is not is_finite, a ValueError is thrown.
  • If step is negative, but the produced range is increasing (i.e. $start <= $end), a ValueError is thrown.
  • If start or end is the empty string '', an E_WARNING is emitted and the empty string will be interpreted as 0.
  • If start or end is a non-numeric string with more than one byte, an E_WARNING is emitted.
  • If start or end is a string that is implicitly cast to an int because the other boundary value is a number, an E_WARNING is emitted.
  • If step is a float, and start and end are non-numeric string, an E_WARNING is emitted.

Changelog

Version Description
8.3.0 If both start and end are strings then range will now always produce an array of bytes. Previously if one of the boundary values was a numeric string, then the other boundary value was implicitly cast to int.
8.3.0 An E_WARNING is now emitted if start or end is a string that is implicitly cast to int because the other boundary value is a number.
8.3.0 An E_WARNING is now emitted if start or end is a non-numeric string with more than one byte.
8.3.0 An E_WARNING is now emitted if start or end is the empty string.
8.3.0 If step is a float with no fractional part, it will be interpreted as an int.
8.3.0 A ValueError is now thrown if step is negative when producing an increasing range.
8.3.0 A ValueError is now thrown if step is not finite.
8.3.0 A TypeError is now thrown if start or end is an array, object, or resource. Previously they were implicitly cast to int.

Examples

Example #1 range examples

<?php
echo implode(', ', range(0, 12)), PHP_EOL;

echo implode(', ', range(0, 100, 10)), PHP_EOL;

echo implode(', ', range('a', 'i')), PHP_EOL;

echo implode(', ', range('c', 'a')), PHP_EOL;

echo implode(', ', range('A', 'z')), PHP_EOL;
?>

The above example will output:

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i
c, b, a
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, [, \, ], ^, _, `, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z

See Also