Check if PHP array contains a non-specfic string

Question

This question is not me trying to find a specific string of characters inside an array. I'd like to know the simplest way to check if a string exists in an array. Example:

[1,2,3] // this does NOT contain a string
[1,'two',3] // this DOES contain a string

The best way I can think of is looping through all the array items and running is_string() on each of them like this.

$array = [1,'two',3];
$hasString = false;

foreach($array as $item){
    if (is_string($item)){
        $hasString = true;
    }
}

This works but feels clunky. Is there a better way to do it that doesn't require looping through the array like this or is this as good as it gets?

Well you have to check element by element until you find a string, or not, to tell if there is a string in the array. So the only thing you could change is that you break; your loop in your code if you find a string so you can stop as soon as possible. — Rizier123
– Rizier123, Commented May 12, 2016 at 10:46
"or is this as good as it gets" - good enough if break is used and the array has large amount of values — RomanPerekhrest
– RomanPerekhrest, Commented May 12, 2016 at 10:56

Thamilhan · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-12 10:51:04Z

2

You can use array_filter to check too:

<?php
function checkString($arr) {
    if (count(array_filter($arr, 'is_string'))) {
        return "Array has string";
    } else {
        return "Array hasn't any strings";
    }
}

echo checkString([1,'two',3]);
echo "<br/>";
echo checkString([1,2,3]);

Result:

Array has string
Array hasn't any strings

Your Eval

answered May 12, 2016 at 10:51

Thamilhan

13.3k5 gold badges40 silver badges60 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

5 Comments

Daniel Tonon Over a year ago

Thanks, that's more like what I was after. A 1 line check to see if a string exists or not. I saved it to a variable in my code to make it easier to understand and re-use: $arrayHasString = count(array_filter($array, 'is_string'));

Daniel Tonon Over a year ago

I might turn it into a function actually for even better re-use. :)

Daniel Tonon Over a year ago

function array_has_string($array){ return count(array_filter($array, 'is_string')); }

Thamilhan Over a year ago

then it will return the number if there are more than one string in the array not true or false. Just handle that before returning

Daniel Tonon Over a year ago

This returns booleen now function array_has_string($array){ return count(array_filter($array, 'is_string')) ? true : false; }

Daniel Tonon · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-12 12:06:33Z

0

Since it is kind of a different answer to Thamilan's answer now, I'm posting the comment as an answer.

function array_has_string($array){
    return count(array_filter($array, 'is_string')) ? true : false;
}

$test_1 = array_has_string([1,'two',3]);

//$test_1 = true

$test_2 = array_has_string([1,2,3]);

//$test_2 = false

edited May 12, 2016 at 12:06

answered May 12, 2016 at 11:30

Daniel Tonon

10.8k5 gold badges67 silver badges71 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Check if PHP array contains a non-specfic string

2 Answers 2

5 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

5 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related