php-doc-en/reference/math/functions/min.xml

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<refentry xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xml:id="function.min">
 <refnamediv>
  <refname>min</refname>
  <refpurpose>Find lowest value</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>
 <refsect1 role="description">
  &reftitle.description;
   <methodsynopsis>
    <type>mixed</type><methodname>min</methodname>
    <methodparam><type>array</type><parameter>values</parameter></methodparam>
   </methodsynopsis>
   <methodsynopsis>
    <type>mixed</type><methodname>min</methodname>
    <methodparam><type>mixed</type><parameter>value1</parameter></methodparam>
    <methodparam><type>mixed</type><parameter>value2</parameter></methodparam>
    <methodparam choice="opt"><type>mixed</type><parameter>...</parameter></methodparam>
   </methodsynopsis>
  <para>
   If the first and only parameter is an array, <function>min</function>
   returns the lowest value in that array. If at least two parameters are 
   provided, <function>min</function> returns the smallest of these values.
  </para>
  <note>
   <para>
    PHP will evaluate a non-numeric <type>string</type> as 
    <literal>0</literal> if compared to <type>integer</type>, but still return the string if it's seen as the
    numerically lowest value.  If multiple arguments evaluate to
    <literal>0</literal>, <function>min</function> will return the lowest
    alphanumerical string value if any strings are given, else a numeric
    <literal>0</literal> is returned.
   </para>
  </note>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="parameters">
  &reftitle.parameters;
  <para>
   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>values</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       An array containing the values.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>value1</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Any <link linkend="language.operators.comparison">comparable</link>
       value.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>value2</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Any <link linkend="language.operators.comparison">comparable</link>
       value.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>...</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Any <link linkend="language.operators.comparison">comparable</link>
       value.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="returnvalues">
  &reftitle.returnvalues;
  <para>
   <function>min</function> returns the numerically lowest of the
   parameter values.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="examples">
  &reftitle.examples;
  <para>
   <example>
    <title>Example uses of <function>min</function></title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php
echo min(2, 3, 1, 6, 7);  // 1
echo min(array(2, 4, 5)); // 2

echo min(0, 'hello');     // 0
echo min('hello', 0);     // hello
echo min('hello', -1);    // -1

// With multiple arrays, min compares from left to right
// so in our example: 2 == 2, but 4 < 5
$val = min(array(2, 4, 8), array(2, 5, 1)); // array(2, 4, 8)

// If both an array and non-array are given, the array
// is never returned as it's considered the largest
$val = min('string', array(2, 5, 7), 42);   // string
?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
   </example>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="seealso">
  &reftitle.seealso;
  <para>
   <simplelist>
    <member><function>max</function></member>
    <member><function>count</function></member>
   </simplelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

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