PHP reference

settype

Changes the type of a variable in place.

Syntax

settype(mixed &$var, string $type): bool

Parameter	Type	Description
$var	mixed	The variable.
$type	string	The new type: `int`, `float`, `string`, `bool`, `array`, `null`.

bool`true` on success.

A string becomes a number:

<?php
 
$value = '42 items';
settype($value, 'int');
 
var_dump($value);

Output:

int(42)

A (int) $value cast is usually handier: it returns a new value and leaves the variable alone.

Data types — The main PHP data types — strings, numbers, booleans, arrays and null.