get_printable_type()

Since version 1.1.0

Description

get_printable_type() returns the PHP type of the data that you pass to it.

It is designed for use in error logging and exception messages. It is a replacement for PHP's built-in gettype() function.

use GanbaroDigital\MissingBits\TypeInspectors\GetPrintableType;
public string get_printable_type(mixed $item, int $flags = GetPrintableType::FLAGS_DEFAULT);

Parameters

get_printable_type() takes the following parameters:

$item - the PHP variable to examine
$flags - bit-mask of options to add extra information to the return value

The following flags are supported:

Flag	Behaviour
`GetPrintableType::FLAG_NONE`	no extra information required (default behaviour)
`GetPrintableType::FLAG_CLASSNAME`	add the `class` or `interface` name if `$item` is a PHP object
`GetPrintableType::FLAG_CALLABLE_DETAILS`	add the `class` (if present) and function or method name of the callable
`GetPrintableType::FLAG_SCALAR_VALUE`	adds the value of `$item` if `$item` is a boolean, double, integer or string

If $flags is not provided, it defaults to GetPrintableType::FLAG_DEFAULTS. This contains the following flag(s):

GetPrintableType::FLAG_CLASSNAME
GetPrintableType::FLAG_CALLABLE_DETAILS
GetPrintableType::FLAG_SCALAR_VALUE

Return Value

get_printable_type() returns a string, which contains the PHP type of $item:

No Flags	If Flag	Then
`NULL`	n/a	n/a
`array`	n/a	n/a
`boolean`	`GetPrintableType::FLAG_SCALAR_VALUE`	`boolean<true>` or `boolean<false>`
`callable`	`GetPrintableType::FLAG_CALLABLE_DETAILS`	`callable<function>` or `callable<classname::method>`
`double`	`GetPrintableType::FLAG_SCALAR_VALUE`	`double<value>`
`integer`	`GetPrintableType::FLAG_SCALAR_VALUE`	`integer<value>`
`object`	`GetPrintableType::FLAG_CLASSNAME`	`object<classname>`
`resource`	n/a	n/a
`string`	`GetPrintableType::FLAG_SCALAR_VALUE`	`string<value>`

Callables over Arrays and Strings

If you pass in an array that is also a valid callable, get_printable_type() will return callable.

The same goes for strings. If you pass in a string that is also a valid callable, get_printable_type() will return callable.

Callables over Closure

PHP turns anonymous functions into objects of type Closure. get_printable_type() will return callable instead of object<closure>.

PHP 7.0, gettype() and Strict Types

get_printable_type() is built on top of PHP's built-in gettype() function.

PHP 7.0 introduced strict type checking for functions. Unfortunately, gettype() in PHP 7.0 doesn't return these new strict types. (We assume this is to preserve backwards-compatibility).

At some point in the future, we'll introduce our own get_strict_type() function, and add a GetPrintableType::FLAG_STRICT_TYPES to make use of it.

Throws

get_printable_type() does not throw any exceptions.

Notes

None at this time.

Changelog

v1.6.1

Improved robustness of $flags

If $flags isn't an integer, we now use the default flags. Same goes if $flags is an integer, but contains a value that's outside the range of valid bitmask flags.