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<h1 class="refname">var_export</h1>
<p class="verinfo">(PHP 4 >= 4.2.0, PHP 5)</p><p class="refpurpose"><span class="refname">var_export</span> — <span class="dc-title">Outputs or returns a parsable string representation of a variable</span></p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 description" id="refsect1-function.var-export-description">
<h3 class="title">Description</h3>
<div class="methodsynopsis dc-description">
<span class="type"><a href="language.pseudo-types.html#language.types.mixed" class="type mixed">mixed</a></span> <span class="methodname"><strong>var_export</strong></span>
( <span class="methodparam"><span class="type"><a href="language.pseudo-types.html#language.types.mixed" class="type mixed">mixed</a></span> <code class="parameter">$expression</code></span>
[, <span class="methodparam"><span class="type">bool</span> <code class="parameter">$return</code><span class="initializer"> = false</span></span>
] )</div>
<p class="simpara">
<span class="function"><strong>var_export()</strong></span> gets structured information about the
given variable. It is similar to <span class="function"><a href="function.var-dump.html" class="function">var_dump()</a></span>
with one exception: the returned representation is valid PHP code.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 parameters" id="refsect1-function.var-export-parameters">
<h3 class="title">Parameters</h3>
<p class="para">
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="term"><em><code class="parameter">expression</code></em></span>
<dd>
<p class="para">
The variable you want to export.
</p>
</dd>
</dt>
<dt>
<span class="term"><em><code class="parameter">return</code></em></span>
<dd>
<p class="para">
If used and set to <strong><code>TRUE</code></strong>, <span class="function"><strong>var_export()</strong></span> will return
the variable representation instead of outputting it.
</p>
</dd>
</dt>
</dl>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 returnvalues" id="refsect1-function.var-export-returnvalues">
<h3 class="title">Return Values</h3>
<p class="para">
Returns the variable representation when the <em><code class="parameter">return</code></em>
parameter is used and evaluates to <strong><code>TRUE</code></strong>. Otherwise, this function will
return <strong><code>NULL</code></strong>.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 notes" id="refsect1-function.var-export-notes">
<h3 class="title">Notes</h3>
<blockquote class="note"><p><strong class="note">Note</strong>: <p class="para">When the <em><code class="parameter">return</code></em> parameter
is used, this function uses internal output buffering so it cannot be used inside an
<span class="function"><a href="function.ob-start.html" class="function">ob_start()</a></span> callback function.</p></p></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 changelog" id="refsect1-function.var-export-changelog">
<h3 class="title">Changelog</h3>
<p class="para">
<table class="doctable informaltable">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Version</th>
<th>Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr>
<td>5.1.0</td>
<td>
Possibility to export classes and arrays containing classes using the
<a href="language.oop5.magic.html#object.set-state" class="link">__set_state()</a> magic
method.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 examples" id="refsect1-function.var-export-examples">
<h3 class="title">Examples</h3>
<p class="para">
<div class="example" id="example-5279">
<p><strong>Example #1 <span class="function"><strong>var_export()</strong></span> Examples</strong></p>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br />$a </span><span style="color: #007700">= array (</span><span style="color: #0000BB">1</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">2</span><span style="color: #007700">, array (</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"a"</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"b"</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"c"</span><span style="color: #007700">));<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">var_export</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$a</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents"><p>The above example will output:</p></div>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
array (
0 => 1,
1 => 2,
2 =>
array (
0 => 'a',
1 => 'b',
2 => 'c',
),
)
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /><br />$b </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">3.1</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$v </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">var_export</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$b</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">true</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br />echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$v</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents"><p>The above example will output:</p></div>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
3.1
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</p>
<p class="para">
<div class="example" id="example-5280">
<p><strong>Example #2 Exporting classes since PHP 5.1.0</strong></p>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">class </span><span style="color: #0000BB">A </span><span style="color: #007700">{ public </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$var</span><span style="color: #007700">; }<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$a </span><span style="color: #007700">= new </span><span style="color: #0000BB">A</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$a</span><span style="color: #007700">-></span><span style="color: #0000BB">var </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">5</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">var_export</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$a</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents"><p>The above example will output:</p></div>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
A::__set_state(array(
'var' => 5,
))
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</p>
<p class="para">
<div class="example" id="example-5281">
<p><strong>Example #3 Using <a href="language.oop5.magic.html#object.set-state" class="link">__set_state()</a> (since PHP 5.1.0)</strong></p>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">class </span><span style="color: #0000BB">A<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">{<br /> public </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$var1</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /> public </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$var2</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /><br /> public static function </span><span style="color: #0000BB">__set_state</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$an_array</span><span style="color: #007700">)<br /> {<br /> </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$obj </span><span style="color: #007700">= new </span><span style="color: #0000BB">A</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /> </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$obj</span><span style="color: #007700">-></span><span style="color: #0000BB">var1 </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$an_array</span><span style="color: #007700">[</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'var1'</span><span style="color: #007700">];<br /> </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$obj</span><span style="color: #007700">-></span><span style="color: #0000BB">var2 </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$an_array</span><span style="color: #007700">[</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'var2'</span><span style="color: #007700">];<br /> return </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$obj</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /> }<br />}<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$a </span><span style="color: #007700">= new </span><span style="color: #0000BB">A</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$a</span><span style="color: #007700">-></span><span style="color: #0000BB">var1 </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">5</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$a</span><span style="color: #007700">-></span><span style="color: #0000BB">var2 </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #DD0000">'foo'</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /><br />eval(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'$b = ' </span><span style="color: #007700">. </span><span style="color: #0000BB">var_export</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$a</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">true</span><span style="color: #007700">) . </span><span style="color: #DD0000">';'</span><span style="color: #007700">); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// $b = A::__set_state(array(<br /> // 'var1' => 5,<br /> // 'var2' => 'foo',<br /> // ));<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">var_dump</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$b</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents"><p>The above example will output:</p></div>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
object(A)#2 (2) {
["var1"]=>
int(5)
["var2"]=>
string(3) "foo"
}
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 notes" id="refsect1-function.var-export-notes">
<h3 class="title">Notes</h3>
<blockquote class="note"><p><strong class="note">Note</strong>:
<p class="para">
Variables of type <span class="type"><a href="language.types.resource.html" class="type resource">resource</a></span> couldn't be exported by this
function.
</p>
</p></blockquote>
<blockquote class="note"><p><strong class="note">Note</strong>:
<p class="para">
<span class="function"><strong>var_export()</strong></span> does not handle circular references as
it would be close to impossible to generate parsable PHP code for that.
If you want to do something with the full representation of an array
or object, use <span class="function"><a href="function.serialize.html" class="function">serialize()</a></span>.
</p>
</p></blockquote>
<div class="warning"><strong class="warning">Warning</strong>
<p class="para">
When <span class="function"><strong>var_export()</strong></span> exports objects, the leading slash is not included in the class name of namespaced classes for maximum compatibility.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 seealso" id="refsect1-function.var-export-seealso">
<h3 class="title">See Also</h3>
<p class="para">
<ul class="simplelist">
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.print-r.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">print_r()</a> - Prints human-readable information about a variable</span></li>
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.serialize.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">serialize()</a> - Generates a storable representation of a value</span></li>
<li class="member"> <span class="function"><a href="function.var-dump.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">var_dump()</a> - Dumps information about a variable</span></li>
</ul>
</p>
</div>
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