check for integer or float values

Question

I have this

$number = 0.5

if (is_float($number))
{
  echo 'float';
}
else
{
  echo 'not float';
}

and it echos not float. what could be the reason thanks

Answer 1

Probably $number is actually a string: "0.5".

See is_numeric instead. The is_* family checks against the actual type of the variable. If you only what to know if the variable is a number, regardless of whether it's actually an int, a float or a string, use is_numeric.

If you need it to have a non-zero decimal part, you can do:

//if we already know $number is numeric...
if ((int) $number == $number) {
    //is an integer
}

Answer 2

The is_numeric() function checks whether a variable is a number or a numeric string. This function returns true if the variable is a number or a numeric string, otherwise it returns false/nothing.

$number = 0.5;
echo is_numeric($number);   //true

OR

$number = "0.5";
echo is_numeric($number);   //true

Read more in:

How to check if a variable is a float in PHP?

How to check if a variable is an Integer in PHP?

Answer 3

If you are checking just for the .(dot) then you do not need to typecast but manipulate it as a string with [strpos][1]().

if (strpos($number,'.') !== false) {

    echo 'true';
}else {
    echo 'false';
}

Answer 4

If I understand correctly, using the typecast will allow you to check int and float properly regardless of the machine's locale. However, I could be very wrong...I am not sure if PHP supports decimal locales, such as the comma (,) for certain countries.

Answer 5

Artefacto's answer will also convert a 5.0 float number into a 5 integer. If that is bugging you like it was bugging me, I offer the answer of automatic type conversion via the multiplication operator:

If either operand is a float, then both operands are evaluated as floats, and the result will be a float. Otherwise, the operands will be interpreted as ints, and the result will also be an int.

$demo = array(
    1, 2, 3, '1', '2', '3', 
    1.0, 2.1, 3.2, '1.0', '2.1', '3.2', 
    -17, '-17', 
    -1.0, -2.2, '-1.0', '-2.2',
    0, '0', -0, '-0',
    0.0, '0.0', -0.0, '-0.0',
);

foreach ($demo as $k => $v) {
    if (is_numeric($v) && is_string($v)) {
        $demo[$k] = 1 * $v;
    }
}

echo "<pre>"; var_dump($demo); echo "</pre>";

array(26) {
  [0]=>
  int(1)
  [1]=>
  int(2)
  [2]=>
  int(3)
  [3]=>
  int(1)
  [4]=>
  int(2)
  [5]=>
  int(3)
  [6]=>
  float(1)
  [7]=>
  float(2.1)
  [8]=>
  float(3.2)
  [9]=>
  float(1)
  [10]=>
  float(2.1)
  [11]=>
  float(3.2)
  [12]=>
  int(-17)
  [13]=>
  int(-17)
  [14]=>
  float(-1)
  [15]=>
  float(-2.2)
  [16]=>
  float(-1)
  [17]=>
  float(-2.2)
  [18]=>
  int(0)
  [19]=>
  int(0)
  [20]=>
  int(0)
  [21]=>
  int(0)
  [22]=>
  float(0)
  [23]=>
  float(0)
  [24]=>
  float(-0)
  [25]=>
  float(-0)
}