PHP output wrong way around

Question

Hopefully a simple one to replicate (assuming it's not my setup...)

I have the following in a PHP script:

echo('$userID:&emsp;' . var_dump($userID) . '<br>');
echo('$hashValidate:&emsp;' . var_dump($hashValidate) . '<br>');

The output is showing as:

bool(false) $userID:
bool(false) $hashValidate:

Shouldn't it be this way around though?

$userID: bool(false)
$hashValidate: bool(false)

Marc B · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-13 16:13:53Z

9

No. var_dump() performs IMMEDIATE output, and has no return value. That means your code is running the same as if you had

var_dump($var)
echo('$userID:&emsp;<br>');

You'd need this instead:

echo '$userID:'
var_dump(...);
echo '<br>';

answered Jul 13, 2016 at 16:13

Marc B

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1 Comment

I see, thanks for clarifying - and providing an alternative! I'll accept once the time limit has passed....

Lakremon · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-13 16:19:38Z

3

This code:

echo('$userID:&emsp;' . var_export($userID, true) . '<br>');
echo('$hashValidate:&emsp;' . var_export($hashValidate, true) . '<br>');

answered Jul 13, 2016 at 16:19

Lakremon

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Lacks the information of MarcB's answer, but this method is arguably cleaner and at least matches more closely OP's expectations.