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PHP Manual

# filter_var_array

(PHP 5 >= 5.2.0)

filter_var_array — Gets multiple variables and optionally filters them

### Description

mixed filter_var_array ( array `$data` [, mixed `$definition` [, bool `$add_empty` = true ]] )

This function is useful for retrieving many values without repetitively calling filter_var().

### Parameters

`data`

  An array with string keys containing the data to filter.

`definition`

  An array defining the arguments. A valid key is a string containing a variable name and a valid value is either a filter type, or an array optionally specifying the filter, flags and options. If the value is an array, valid keys are filter which specifies the filter type, flags which specifies any flags that apply to the filter, and options which specifies any options that apply to the filter. See the example below for a better understanding.

  This parameter can be also an integer holding a filter constant. Then all values in the input array are filtered by this filter.

`add_empty`

  Add missing keys as `NULL` to the return value.

### Return Values

An array containing the values of the requested variables on success, or `FALSE` on failure. An array value will be `FALSE` if the filter fails, or `NULL` if the variable is not set.

### Examples

Example #1 A filter_var_array() example

`<?php
error_reporting(E_ALL | E_STRICT);
$data = array(
'product_id' => 'libgd<script>',
'component' => '10',
'versions' => '2.0.33',
'testscalar' => array('2', '23', '10', '12'),
'testarray' => '2',
);
$args = array(
'product_id' => FILTER_SANITIZE_ENCODED,
'component' => array('filter' => FILTER_VALIDATE_INT,
'flags' => FILTER_FORCE_ARRAY,
'options' => array('min_range' => 1, 'max_range' => 10)
),
'versions' => FILTER_SANITIZE_ENCODED,
'doesnotexist' => FILTER_VALIDATE_INT,
'testscalar' => array(
'filter' => FILTER_VALIDATE_INT,
'flags' => FILTER_REQUIRE_SCALAR,
),
'testarray' => array(
'filter' => FILTER_VALIDATE_INT,
'flags' => FILTER_FORCE_ARRAY,
)
);
$myinputs = filter_var_array($data, $args);
var_dump($myinputs);
echo "\n";
?>`

The above example will output:

    array(6) {
      ["product_id"]=>
      array(1) {
        [0]=>
        string(17) "libgd%3Cscript%3E"
      }
      ["component"]=>
      array(1) {
        [0]=>
        int(10)
      }
      ["versions"]=>
      array(1) {
        [0]=>
        string(6) "2.0.33"
      }
      ["doesnotexist"]=>
      NULL
      ["testscalar"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["testarray"]=>
      array(1) {
        [0]=>
        int(2)
      }
    }

### Changelog

Version | Description
--- | ---
5.4.0 | Added `add_empty` parameter.

### See Also

- filter_input_array() - Gets external variables and optionally filters them
- filter_var() - Filters a variable with a specified filter
- filter_input() - Gets a specific external variable by name and optionally filters it
- Types of filters

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Filter Functions
PHP Manual