# Character type checking

&reftitle.intro;

The functions provided by this extension check whether a character or string falls into a certain character class according to the current locale (see also `setlocale`).

When called with an integer argument these functions behave exactly like their C counterparts from `ctype.h`. It means that if an integer smaller than 256 is passed, it will use the ASCII value of it to see if it fits in the specified range (digits are in 0x30-0x39). If the number is between -128 and -1 inclusive then 256 will be added and the check will be done on that.

¬e.ctype.parameter.non-string;

When called with a string argument they will check every character in the string and will only return &true; if every character in the string matches the requested criteria. &ctype.result.empty-string;

Passing anything else but a string or integer will return &false; immediately.

It should be noted that ctype functions are always preferred over regular expressions, and even to some equivalent `"str_*"` and `"is_*"` functions. This is because of the fact that ctype uses a native C library and thus processes significantly faster.

These functions are not related to the Python "ctypes" library at all. The extension name stems from the `ctype.h` C header file that their C equivalents are defined in.

This extension also predates Python "ctypes" so any confusion caused by this naming is hardly PHP's fault.

&reference.ctype.setup; &reference.ctype.reference;