print_r
Prints human-readable information about a variable
Descriptionboolprint_rmixedexpressionboolreturn
The return parameter was added in PHP 4.3.0
print_r displays information about a variable
in a way that's readable by humans. If given a string,
integer or float, the value itself will be
printed. If given an array,
values will be presented in a format that shows keys and
elements. Similar notation is used for objects.
Remember that print_r will move the array
pointer to the end. Use reset to bring
it back to beginning.
'apple', 'b' => 'banana', 'c' => array ('x','y','z'));
print_r ($a);
?>
]]>
Which will output:
Array
(
[a] => apple
[b] => banana
[c] => Array
(
[0] => x
[1] => y
[2] => z
)
)
]]>
If you would like to capture the output of print_r,
use the return parameter. If this parameter is set
to &true;, print_r will return its output, instead of
printing it (which it does by default).
<parameter>return</parameter> parameter example
'monkey', 'foo' => 'bar', 'x' => array ('x', 'y', 'z'));
$results = print_r ($b, true); //$results now contains output from print_r
?>
]]>
If you need to capture the output of print_r with a
version of PHP prior to 4.3.0, use the
output-control functions.
Prior to PHP 4.0.4, print_r will continue forever
if given an array or object that
contains a direct or indirect reference to itself. An example
is print_r($GLOBALS) because
$GLOBALS is itself a global variable that
contains a reference to itself.
See also ob_start, var_dump,
and var_export.