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<h1 class="refname">min</h1>
<p class="verinfo">(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)</p><p class="refpurpose"><span class="refname">min</span> — <span class="dc-title">Find lowest value</span></p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 description" id="refsect1-function.min-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>min</strong></span>
( <span class="methodparam"><span class="type">array</span> <code class="parameter">$values</code></span>
)</div>
<div class="methodsynopsis dc-description">
<span class="type"><a href="language.pseudo-types.html#language.types.mixed" class="type mixed">mixed</a></span> <span class="methodname"><strong>min</strong></span>
( <span class="methodparam"><span class="type"><a href="language.pseudo-types.html#language.types.mixed" class="type mixed">mixed</a></span> <code class="parameter">$value1</code></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">$value2</code></span>
[, <span class="methodparam"><span class="type"><a href="language.pseudo-types.html#language.types.mixed" class="type mixed">mixed</a></span> <code class="parameter">$...</code></span>
] )</div>
<p class="para rdfs-comment">
If the first and only parameter is an array, <span class="function"><strong>min()</strong></span>
returns the lowest value in that array. If at least two parameters are
provided, <span class="function"><strong>min()</strong></span> returns the smallest of these values.
</p>
<blockquote class="note"><p><strong class="note">Note</strong>:
<p class="para">
Values of different types will be compared using the <a href="language.operators.comparison.html" class="link">
standard comparison rules</a>. For instance, a non-numeric <span class="type"><a href="language.types.string.html" class="type string">string</a></span> will be
compared to an <span class="type"><a href="language.types.integer.html" class="type integer">integer</a></span> as though it were <em>0</em>, but multiple non-numeric
<span class="type"><a href="language.types.string.html" class="type string">string</a></span> values will be compared alphanumerically. The actual value returned will be of the
original type with no conversion applied.
</p>
</p></blockquote>
<div class="caution"><strong class="caution">Caution</strong>
<p class="simpara">
Be careful when passing arguments with mixed types values because
<span class="function"><strong>min()</strong></span> can produce unpredictable results.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 parameters" id="refsect1-function.min-parameters">
<h3 class="title">Parameters</h3>
<p class="para">
<dl>
<dt>
<code class="parameter">values</code></dt>
<dd>
<p class="para">
An array containing the values.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<code class="parameter">value1</code></dt>
<dd>
<p class="para">
Any <a href="language.operators.comparison.html" class="link">comparable</a>
value.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<code class="parameter">value2</code></dt>
<dd>
<p class="para">
Any <a href="language.operators.comparison.html" class="link">comparable</a>
value.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<code class="parameter">...</code></dt>
<dd>
<p class="para">
Any <a href="language.operators.comparison.html" class="link">comparable</a>
value.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 returnvalues" id="refsect1-function.min-returnvalues">
<h3 class="title">Return Values</h3>
<p class="para">
<span class="function"><strong>min()</strong></span> returns the parameter value considered "lowest" according to standard
comparisons. If multiple values of different types evaluate as equal (e.g. <em>0</em>
and <em>'abc'</em>) the first provided to the function will be returned.
</p>
<p class="para">
If an empty array is passed, then <strong><code>FALSE</code></strong> will be returned and an
<strong><code>E_WARNING</code></strong> error will be emitted.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 examples" id="refsect1-function.min-examples">
<h3 class="title">Examples</h3>
<p class="para">
<div class="example" id="example-4261">
<p><strong>Example #1 Example uses of <span class="function"><strong>min()</strong></span></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">echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">min</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">2</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">3</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">1</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">6</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">7</span><span style="color: #007700">); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// 1<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">min</span><span style="color: #007700">(array(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">2</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">4</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">5</span><span style="color: #007700">)); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// 2<br /><br />// The string 'hello' when compared to an int is treated as 0<br />// Since the two values are equal, the order they are provided determines the result<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">min</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">0</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #DD0000">'hello'</span><span style="color: #007700">); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// 0<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">min</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'hello'</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">0</span><span style="color: #007700">); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// hello<br /><br />// Here we are comparing -1 < 0, so -1 is the lowest value<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">min</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'hello'</span><span style="color: #007700">, -</span><span style="color: #0000BB">1</span><span style="color: #007700">); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// -1<br /><br />// With multiple arrays of different lengths, min returns the shortest<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$val </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">min</span><span style="color: #007700">(array(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">2</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">2</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">2</span><span style="color: #007700">), array(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">1</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">1</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">1</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">1</span><span style="color: #007700">)); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// array(2, 2, 2)<br /><br />// Multiple arrays of the same length are compared from left to right<br />// so in our example: 2 == 2, but 4 < 5<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$val </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">min</span><span style="color: #007700">(array(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">2</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">4</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">8</span><span style="color: #007700">), array(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">2</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">5</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">1</span><span style="color: #007700">)); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// array(2, 4, 8)<br /><br />// If both an array and non-array are given, the array is never returned<br />// as comparisons treat arrays as greater than any other value<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$val </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">min</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'string'</span><span style="color: #007700">, array(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">2</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">5</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">7</span><span style="color: #007700">), </span><span style="color: #0000BB">42</span><span style="color: #007700">); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// string<br /><br />// If one argument is NULL or a boolean, it will be compared against<br />// other values using the rules FALSE < TRUE and NULL == FALSE regardless of the <br />// other types involved<br />// In the below examples, both -10 and 10 are treated as TRUE in the comparison<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$val </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">min</span><span style="color: #007700">(-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">10</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">FALSE</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">10</span><span style="color: #007700">); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// FALSE<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$val </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">min</span><span style="color: #007700">(-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">10</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">NULL</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">10</span><span style="color: #007700">); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// NULL<br /><br />// 0, on the other hand, is treated as FALSE, so is "lower than" TRUE<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$val </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">min</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">0</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #0000BB">TRUE</span><span style="color: #007700">); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// 0<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
</div>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 seealso" id="refsect1-function.min-seealso">
<h3 class="title">See Also</h3>
<p class="para">
<ul class="simplelist">
<li class="member"><span class="function"><a href="function.max.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">max()</a> - Find highest value</span></li>
<li class="member"><span class="function"><a href="function.count.html" class="function" rel="rdfs-seeAlso">count()</a> - Count all elements in an array, or something in an object</span></li>
</ul>
</p>
</div>
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