PHP Manual: Set the type of a variable

Description

bool settype(mixed &$var, string $type)

Set the type of variable var to type.

Parameters

var

The variable being converted.

type

Possibles values of type are:

"boolean" or "bool"
"integer" or "int"
"float" or "double"
"string"
"array"
"object"
"null"

Return Values

Returns true on success or false on failure.

Errors/Exceptions

Throws a ValueError if the value of type is not a valid type, as of PHP 8.0.0. Prior to PHP 8.0.0, a E_WARNING was emitted and false was returned.

Changelog

Version	Description
8.0.0	Now throws a ValueError when an invalid type is passed to `type`. Previously, a `E_WARNING` was emitted and the function returned `false`.

Examples

Example #1 settype example

<?php
$foo = "5bar"; // string
$bar = true;   // boolean

settype($foo, "integer"); // $foo is now 5   (integer)
settype($bar, "string");  // $bar is now "1" (string)

var_dump($foo, $bar);
?>

Notes

Note:
Maximum value for "int" is PHP_INT_MAX.

settype