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

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<!-- $Revision$ -->
<refentry xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xml:id="function.max">
 <refnamediv>
  <refname>max</refname>
  <refpurpose>Find highest value</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>
 <refsect1 role="description">
  &reftitle.description;
  <methodsynopsis>
   <type>mixed</type><methodname>max</methodname>
   <methodparam><type>array</type><parameter>values</parameter></methodparam>
  </methodsynopsis>
  <methodsynopsis>
   <type>mixed</type><methodname>max</methodname>
   <methodparam><type>mixed</type><parameter>value1</parameter></methodparam>
   <methodparam><type>mixed</type><parameter>value2</parameter></methodparam>
   <methodparam choice="opt"><type>mixed</type><parameter>value3...</parameter></methodparam>
  </methodsynopsis>
  <para>
   If the first and only parameter is an array, <function>max</function>
   returns the highest value in that array. If at least two parameters are 
   provided, <function>max</function> returns the biggest 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 highest value.  If multiple arguments evaluate to
    <literal>0</literal>, <function>max</function> will return a numeric
    <literal>0</literal> if given, else the alphabetical highest string
    value will be 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>
   </variablelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="returnvalues">
  &reftitle.returnvalues;
  <para>
   <function>max</function> returns the numerically highest of the
   parameter values.
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="examples">
  &reftitle.examples;
  <para>
   <example>
    <title>Example uses of <function>max</function></title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php
echo max(1, 3, 5, 6, 7);  // 7
echo max(array(2, 4, 5)); // 5

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

// With multiple arrays, max compares from left to right
// so in our example: 2 == 2, but 4 < 5
$val = max(array(2, 4, 8), array(2, 5, 7)); // array(2, 5, 7)

// If both an array and non-array are given, the array
// is always returned as it's seen as the largest
$val = max('string', array(2, 5, 7), 42);   // array(2, 5, 7)
?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
    </example> 
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 <refsect1 role="seealso">
  &reftitle.seealso;
  <para>
   <simplelist>
    <member><function>min</function></member>
    <member><function>count</function></member>
   </simplelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

<!-- Keep this comment at the end of the file
Local variables:
mode: sgml
sgml-omittag:t
sgml-shorttag:t
sgml-minimize-attributes:nil
sgml-always-quote-attributes:t
sgml-indent-step:1
sgml-indent-data:t
indent-tabs-mode:nil
sgml-parent-document:nil
sgml-default-dtd-file:"../../../../manual.ced"
sgml-exposed-tags:nil
sgml-local-catalogs:nil
sgml-local-ecat-files:nil
End:
vim600: syn=xml fen fdm=syntax fdl=2 si
vim: et tw=78 syn=sgml
vi: ts=1 sw=1
-->