PHP func_get_args() Function

The PHP func_get_args() function returns an array comprising a function's argument list.

This function may be used in conjunction with func_get_arg() and func_num_args() to allow user-defined functions to accept variable-length argument lists.

Syntax

func_get_args()

Parameters

No parameter is required.

Return Value

Returns an array in which each element is a copy of the corresponding member of the current user-defined function's argument list.

Exceptions

Generates a warning if called from outside of a user-defined function.

Example: func_get_args() example

The example below shows the usage of func_get_args() function.

<?php
function myFunction() {
  //getting the number of arguments passed
  $numargs = func_num_args();
  echo "Number of arguments: $numargs\n";

  //displaying the second argument
  if ($numargs >= 2) {
    echo "Second argument is: ".func_get_arg(1)."\n";
  }

  //displaying the array containing 
  //function's argument list
  print_r(func_get_args());
}

myFunction(10, 20, 30);
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Number of arguments: 3
Second argument is: 20
Array
(
    [0] => 10
    [1] => 20
    [2] => 30
)

Example: func_get_args() example of byref and byval arguments

Consider the example below which demonstrates the effect of passing arguments by value and by reference while using this function.

<?php
function byVal($arg) {
  echo 'As passed      : ', var_export(func_get_args()), PHP_EOL;
  $arg = 'World';
  echo 'After change   : ', var_export(func_get_args()), PHP_EOL;
}

function byRef(&$arg) {
  echo 'As passed      : ', var_export(func_get_args()), PHP_EOL;
  $arg = 'World';
  echo 'After change   : ', var_export(func_get_args()), PHP_EOL;
}

$x = 'Hello';
byVal($x);
byRef($x);
?>

The output of the above code will be:

As passed      : array (
  0 => 'Hello',
)
After change   : array (
  0 => 'World',
)
As passed      : array (
  0 => 'Hello',
)
After change   : array (
  0 => 'World',
)