How to format array out with printf in php

Question

I know the printf statement in PHP can format strings as follows:

//my variable 
$car = "BMW X6";

printf("I drive a %s",$car); // prints I drive a BMW X6, 

However, when I try to print an array using printf, there does not seem to be a way to format it. Can anyone help?

Solution 1

Here's an extract from one of the comments on http://php.net/manual/en/function.printf.php:

[Editor's Note: Or just use vprintf...]

If you want to do something like:

// this doesn't work
printf('There is a difference between %s and %s', array('good', 'evil'));   

Instead of

printf('There is a difference between %s and %s', 'good', 'evil'); 

You can use this function:

function printf_array($format, $arr) 
{ 
    return call_user_func_array('printf', array_merge((array)$format, $arr)); 
}  

Use it the following way:

$goodevil = array('good', 'evil'); 
printf_array('There is a difference between %s and %s', $goodevil); 

And it will print:

There is a difference between good and evil

Solution 2

Are you looking for something like this using print_r with true parameter:

printf("My array is:***\n%s***\n", print_r($arr, true));

Solution 3

You can't "print" an array just like that, you'll have to iterate through it by using foreach, then you can printf all you want with the values. For example:

$cars = array('BMW X6', 'Audi A4', 'Dodge Ram Van');
foreach($cars as $car) {
    printf("I drive a %s", $car);
}

This would output:

I drive a BMW X6

I drive a Audi A4

I drive a Dodge Ram Van