The arrayval Function
The standard PHP library does not have an arrayval function, but you can implement similar functionality yourself. Below is an example implementation that converts any value to an array: if the value is already an array, it is returned unchanged; for other types, an array with one element is created.
Function Implementation
<?php
function arrayval($value): array {
return is_array($value) ? $value : [$value];
}
?>
Usage Example
Let's convert a string to an array using our function:
<?php
function arrayval($value): array {
return is_array($value) ? $value : [$value];
}
$res = arrayval('abcde');
print_r($res);
?>
Code execution result:
['abcde']
Usage Example
Let's try to convert a number:
<?php
function arrayval($value): array {
return is_array($value) ? $value : [$value];
}
$res = arrayval(123);
print_r($res);
?>
Code execution result:
[123]
Usage Example
Let's check the work with an array:
<?php
function arrayval($value): array {
return is_array($value) ? $value : [$value];
}
$res = arrayval([1, 2, 3]);
print_r($res);
?>
Code execution result:
[1, 2, 3]
Alternative Solutions
PHP has other ways to convert to an array:
<?php
// Using (array) type casting
$array = (array)'string';
print_r($array); // ['string']
// For objects, type casting works differently
$obj = new stdClass();
$obj->prop = 'value';
$array = (array)$obj;
print_r($array); // ['prop' => 'value']
?>
