var_dump outputting string('**') "array"

Question

I am using a foreach loop and a var_dump but the var_dump from the following code outputs something strange. How do I get rid of the pre-prended sring() and quotation marks?

$dir = 'url/dir/dir/';    
$images_array = glob($dir.'*.jpg'); 

$images = array();

foreach ($images_array as $image) {
    $images[] = str_replace($dir, '', $image);   
}


var_dump(implode(',', $images));

Output:

string(51) "image1.jpg,image2.jpg,image3.jpg,image4.jpg"

If in doubt, consult php.net on what you're using. It's very easy to search, just go "php.net/var_dump" and it takes you to the page. For printing you should use echo or print. If you're new, check over the manual section on the basics -- it's all on the site. — Incognito, Mar 04 '11 at 14:31

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 04 '11 at 14:28

3

That's what var_dump does - it prints the datatype and the length. If you want to output just the string use

echo implode(',', $images);

answered Mar 04 '11 at 14:28

Stefan Gehrig

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Never trust what you see in the browser's rendered output when debugging PHP scripts. Always look at the page source, which shows the raw un-interpreted output. – Marc B Mar 04 '11 at 14:39

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 04 '11 at 14:30

3

var_dump isn't outputting anything 'strange'. That is what it's supposed to do. It's for debugging, not for echoing.

Just echo the string you want:

echo implode(',', $images);

answered Mar 04 '11 at 14:30

gen_Eric

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score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 04 '11 at 14:30

var_dump returns you type of variable and all information about it. If you use it with HTML <pre>

echo '<pre>';
var_dump($images);

it will print for you an array with all elements in new lines.

If:

echo '<pre>';
var_dump(implode(',', $images));

it returns string. And also shows you that it is a string.

If you just want to print value, use echo:

echo implode(',', $images);

var_dump outputting string('**') "array"

3 Answers3

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