php man page for var_export

VAR_EXPORT(3)								 1							     VAR_EXPORT(3)

var_export - Outputs or returns a parsable string representation of a variable

SYNOPSIS
       mixed var_export (mixed	$expression, [bool  $return = false])

DESCRIPTION
       var_export(3) gets structured information about the given variable. It is similar to var_dump(3) with one exception: the returned represen-
       tation is valid PHP code.

PARAMETERS
	      o $expression
		- The variable you want to export.

	      o $return
		- If used and set to TRUE, var_export(3) will return the variable representation instead of outputting it.

RETURN VALUES
	Returns the variable representation when the $return parameter is used and evaluates to TRUE. Otherwise, this function will return NULL.

NOTES
       Note

	      When the $return parameter is used, this function uses internal output buffering so it cannot be used inside an ob_start(3) callback
	      function.

CHANGELOG
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
       |Version |						    |
       |	|						    |
       |	|		     Description		    |
       |	|						    |
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
       | 5.1.0	|						    |
       |	|						    |
       |	|  Possibility	to  export  classes and arrays con- |
       |	| taining classes  using  the  __set_state()  magic |
       |	| method.					    |
       |	|						    |
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
EXAMPLES
       Example #1

	      var_export(3) Examples

	      <?php
	      $a = array (1, 2, array ("a", "b", "c"));
	      var_export($a);
	      ?>

	      The above example will output:

	      array (
		0 => 1,
		1 => 2,
		2 =>
		array (
		  0 => 'a',
		  1 => 'b',
		  2 => 'c',
		),
	      )

	      <?php

	      $b = 3.1;
	      $v = var_export($b, true);
	      echo $v;

	      ?>

	      The above example will output:

	      3.1

       Example #2

	      Exporting classes since PHP 5.1.0

	      <?php
	      class A { public $var; }
	      $a = new A;
	      $a->var = 5;
	      var_export($a);
	      ?>

	      The above example will output:

	      A::__set_state(array(
		 'var' => 5,
	      ))

       Example #3

	      Using __set_state() (since PHP 5.1.0)

	      <?php
	      class A
	      {
		  public $var1;
		  public $var2;

		  public static function __set_state($an_array)
		  {
		      $obj = new A;
		      $obj->var1 = $an_array['var1'];
		      $obj->var2 = $an_array['var2'];
		      return $obj;
		  }
	      }

	      $a = new A;
	      $a->var1 = 5;
	      $a->var2 = 'foo';

	      eval('$b = ' . var_export($a, true) . ';'); // $b = A::__set_state(array(
							  //	'var1' => 5,
							  //	'var2' => 'foo',
							  // ));
	      var_dump($b);
	      ?>

	      The above example will output:

	      object(A)#2 (2) {
		["var1"]=>
		int(5)
		["var2"]=>
		string(3) "foo"
	      }

NOTES
       Note

	       Variables of type resource couldn't be exported by this function.

       Note

	      var_export(3)  does not handle circular references as it would be close to impossible to generate parsable PHP code for that. If you
	      want to do something with the full representation of an array or object, use serialize(3).

       Warning

	       When var_export(3) exports objects, the leading backslash is not included in the class name of namespaced classes for maximum  com-
	      patibility.

SEE ALSO
       print_r(3), serialize(3), var_dump(3).

PHP Documentation Group 													     VAR_EXPORT(3)