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# var_export

(PHP 4 >= 4.2.0, PHP 5)

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

## Description

mixed var_export ( mixed expression [, bool return] )

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

## Parameters

expression

  The variable you want to export.

return

  If used and set to `TRUE`, var_export() will return the variable representation instead of outputing it.

## Return Values

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

## ChangeLog

Version | Description
--- | ---
5.1.0 | Possibility to export classes and arrays containing classes using the __set_state magic method.

## Examples

Example 1. var_export() 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,
    ))

## Notes

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

## See Also

var_dump()
print_r()

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