PHP money_format() Function

The PHP money_format() function formats a number as a currency string. This function wraps the C library function strfmon(), with the difference that this implementation converts only one number at a time.

The money_format() function does not work on Windows platforms.

Note: The LC_MONETARY category of the locale settings, affects the behavior of this function. Use setlocale() to set to the appropriate default locale before using this function.

Note: This function has been DEPRECATED as of PHP 7.4.0, and REMOVED as of PHP 8.0.0.

Syntax

money_format(format, number)

Parameters

format

Required. Specify the format specification consists of the following sequence:

a % character
optional flags
optional field width
optional left precision
optional right precision
a required conversion character

Flags

One or more of the optional flags below can be used:

=f - Numeric fill character. The default fill character is space.
^ - Disable the use of grouping characters.
+ or ( - Specify the formatting style for positive and negative numbers. If + is used, the locale's equivalent for + and - will be used. If ( is used, negative amounts are enclosed in parenthesis. If no specification is given, the default is +.
! - Suppress the currency symbol from the output string.
- If "-" is present, it will make all fields left-justified (padded to the right). Default is right-justified.

Field width

w - A decimal digit string specifying a minimum field width. Field will be right-justified unless the flag - is used. Default is 0.

Left precision

#n - The maximum number of digits (n) expected to the left of the decimal character. It is used usually to keep formatted output aligned in the same columns, using the fill character if the number of digits is less than n. If the number of actual digits is bigger than n, then this specification is ignored.

If grouping has not been suppressed using the ^ flag, grouping separators will be inserted before the fill characters (if any) are added. Grouping separators will not be applied to fill characters, even if the fill character is a digit.

To ensure alignment, any characters appearing before or after the number in the formatted output such as currency or sign symbols are padded as necessary with space characters to make their positive and negative formats an equal length.

Right precision

.p - A period followed by the number of digits (p) after the decimal character. If the value of p is 0 (zero), the decimal character and the digits to its right will be omitted. If no right precision is included, the default will dictated by the current locale in use. The amount being formatted is rounded to the specified number of digits prior to formatting.

Conversion characters

i - The number is formatted according to the locale's international currency format.
n - The number is formatted according to the locale's national currency format.
% - Returns the % character.

number Required. Specify the number to be formatted.

Return Value

Returns the formatted string. Characters before and after the formatting string will be returned unchanged. Returns null for Non-numeric number and emits E_WARNING.

Example: money_format() Example

In the example below different locales and format specifications are used to illustrate the usage of money_format() function.

<?php
$num1 = 1234.56;
$num2 = -1234.5672;

//using international format for the en_US locale
setlocale(LC_MONETARY, 'en_US');
echo "1. ".money_format('%i', $num1)."\n";

//using Italian national format with 2 decimals
setlocale(LC_MONETARY, 'it_IT');
echo "2. ".money_format('%.2n', $num1)."\n";

//using US national format and () for negative 
//numbers and 10 digits for left precision
setlocale(LC_MONETARY, 'en_US');
echo "3. ".money_format('%(#10n', $num2)."\n";

//similar format as above, adding the use of 2 digits 
//of right precision and '*' as a fill character
echo "4. ".money_format('%=*(#10.2n', $num2)."\n";

//left-justified, with 14 positions of width, 8 digits 
//of left precision, 2 of right precision, without the 
//grouping character and using the international format 
//for the de_DE locale.
setlocale(LC_MONETARY, 'de_DE');
echo "5. ".money_format('%=*^-14#8.2i', $num1)."\n";

//adding some text before and after the 
//conversion specification
setlocale(LC_MONETARY, 'en_GB');
$fmt = 'The final value is %i (after a 25%% discount)';
echo "6. ".money_format($fmt, $num1) . "\n";
?>

The output of the above code will be:

1. USD 1,234.56
2. $1,234.56
3. ($        1,234.57)
4. ($********1,234.57)
5.  USD ****1234.56
6. The final value is GBP1,234.56 (after a 25% discount)

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