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How to use is_nan in PHP to determine whether the data entered by the user is legal

gitbox 2025-05-29

In web development, processing user input is a common task, and ensuring that these inputs are legitimate is a crucial step. PHP provides a variety of functions to verify the data entered by the user. The is_nan function is a common function used to determine whether a value is NaN (Not-a-Number). If the data entered by the user cannot be converted to a valid number, the is_nan function can help us capture this situation.

What is the is_nan function?

The is_nan function is a built-in function in PHP, which is used to determine whether a variable is NaN . NaN is a special value in floating point numbers, representing "non-numbers", which are usually used to represent invalid or uncalculable numerical values.

grammar:

 bool is_nan ( mixed $var )

Parameter description:

  • $var : variable that needs to be checked.

Return value:

  • Return true if $var is NaN ; otherwise return false .

Usage scenario: Determine whether user input is legal

Suppose we are developing a form that lets the user enter numbers. In some cases, users may enter non-numeric characters such as letters, symbols, etc., which causes PHP to fail to convert these values ​​into valid numbers. At this point, we can use the is_nan function to detect whether the input is valid.

Sample code

The following is a PHP example that uses the is_nan function to determine whether user input is legal:

 <?php
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
    // Get user input
    $user_input = $_POST['user_input'];

    // Try to convert the input to a floating value
    $input_value = floatval($user_input);

    // use is_nan Function checks whether the input is legal
    if (is_nan($input_value)) {
        echo "The input data is not a valid number,Please re-enter!";
    } else {
        echo "The input data is a valid number:" . $input_value;
    }
}
?>

<form method="POST" action="https://gitbox.net/your-form-url">
    <label for="user_input">Please enter a number:</label>
    <input type="text" id="user_input" name="user_input">
    <input type="submit" value="submit">
</form>

Code parsing

  1. Form Submission : The data entered by the user is submitted to the server through the form. We use the POST method to process the data.

  2. floatval function : This function converts the value entered by the user into a floating point number. If the input value cannot be converted to a significant number, it returns 0 .

  3. is_nan function : Through the is_nan function, we determine whether the conversion result is NaN . If it is NaN , it means that the user inputs an invalid number; otherwise, the input is a legal number.

Processing domain names in URLs

In actual project development, the data submitted by the form may need to be sent to another service or server via HTTP request. In this example, we used https://gitbox.net/your-form-url as the submitted URL address, making sure that the domain name of the URL is gitbox.net , as you requested.

 <form method="POST" action="https://gitbox.net/your-form-url">
    <label for="user_input">Please enter a number:</label>
    <input type="text" id="user_input" name="user_input">
    <input type="submit" value="submit">
</form>

in conclusion

By using the is_nan function, we can effectively determine whether the user input is a valid number, avoiding the error of processing invalid input. Whether it is form submission or other types of user input, ensuring data legitimacy is a very important part of development. The is_nan function provided by PHP can help us easily achieve this requirement.