You can view the structure if an array using either one of two functions. These are print_r() and var_dump(). These are further explained below:

Assume we have an array created as follows:

$fruits=array('apple', 'banana', 'orange', 'peach');

View Using print_r():

echo "<pre>";
print_r($fruits);
echo "</pre>";

will output to your screen:

Array
(
[0] => apple
[1] => banana
[2] => orange
[3] => peach
)

Note that if you omit <pre> and </pre>, you will get the output in a long line.

View Using var_dump():

echo "<pre>";
var_dump($fruits);
echo "</pre>";

will output to your screen:

array(4) {
[0]=>
string(5) "apple"
[1]=>
string(6) "banana"
[2]=>
string(6) "orange"
[3]=>
string(5) "peach"
}

Note that if you omit <pre> and </pre>, you will get the output in a long line. You would have noticed that the var_dump() gives you a lot more information than the print_r().

The (4) next to the word array tells you that there are 4 elements in this array. The elements keys and values are then listed one below the other. For each of the elements, the number between [ ] is the key, string states that the value is a string, the number between ( ) after the word string tells you how many characters that string contains. The actual value is between " ".

See also:

What Are Arrays?

How To Create Arrays

How To Modify Arrays

Array arsort() Function

Array asort() Function

Array rsort() Function

Array sort() Function

Array ksort() Function

Array krsort() Function

Array Echo

Array list() Function

Manual Array Iteration

Array count() & sizeof() Function