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    version_compare

    (PHP 4 >= 4.1.0, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

    version_compare — Compares two "PHP-standardized" version number strings

    Description

    version_compare(string $version1, string $version2, ?string $operator = null): int|bool

    version_compare() compares two "PHP-standardized" version number strings.

    The function first replaces _, - and + with a dot . in the version strings and also inserts dots . before and after any non number so that for example '4.3.2RC1' becomes '4.3.2.RC.1'. Then it compares the parts starting from left to right. If a part contains special version strings these are handled in the following order: any string not found in this list < dev < alpha = a < beta = b < RC = rc < # < pl = p. This way not only versions with different levels like '4.1' and '4.1.2' can be compared but also any PHP specific version containing development state.

    Parameters

    version1

    First version number.

    version2

    Second version number.

    operator

    An optional operator. The possible operators are: <, lt, <=, le, >, gt, >=, ge, ==, =, eq, !=, <>, ne respectively.

    This parameter is case-sensitive, values should be lowercase.

    Return Values

    By default, version_compare() returns -1 if the first version is lower than the second, 0 if they are equal, and 1 if the second is lower.

    When using the optional operator argument, the function will return true if the relationship is the one specified by the operator, false otherwise.

    Examples

    The examples below use the PHP_VERSION constant, because it contains the value of the PHP version that is executing the code.

    Example #1 version_compare() examples

    <?php
    if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '7.0.0') >= 0) {
    echo     'I am at least PHP version 7.0.0, my version: ' . PHP_VERSION . "\n";
    }

    if (    version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3.0') >= 0) {
    echo     'I am at least PHP version 5.3.0, my version: ' . PHP_VERSION . "\n";
    }

    if (    version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.0.0', '>=')) {
    echo     'I am at least PHP version 5.0.0, my version: ' . PHP_VERSION . "\n";
    }

    if (    version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.0.0', '<')) {
    echo     'I am still PHP 4, my version: ' . PHP_VERSION . "\n";
    }
    ?>

    Notes

    Note:

    The PHP_VERSION constant holds current PHP version.

    Note:

    Note that pre-release versions, such as 5.3.0-dev, are considered lower than their final release counterparts (like 5.3.0).

    Note:

    Special version strings such as alpha and beta are case sensitive. Version strings from arbitrary sources that do not adhere to the PHP standard may need to be lowercased via strtolower() before calling version_compare().

    See Also

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    User Contributed Notes 9 notes

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    20
    eric at themepark dot com
    20 years ago
    [editors note]
    snipbit fixed after comment from Matt Mullenweg

    --jm
    [/editors note]

    so in a nutshell... I believe it works best like this:

    <?php
    if (version_compare(phpversion(), "4.3.0", ">=")) {
          // you're on 4.3.0 or later
    } else {
          // you're not
    }
    ?>
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    10
    mindplay.dk
    12 years ago
    This little script can perhaps help you understand version comparison a little better - the output is displayed in the comment at the top. Tweak the list of versions if you need more examples...

    <?php

    #      1 lt 1.0
    #    1.0 lt 1.01
    #   1.01 eq 1.1
    #    1.1 lt 1.10
    #   1.10 gt 1.10b
    #  1.10b lt 1.10.0

    header('Content-type: text/plain');

    $versions = array(
          '1',
          '1.0',
          '1.01',
          '1.1',
          '1.10',
          '1.10b',
          '1.10.0',
    );

    $comps = array(
    -    1 => 'lt',
          0 => 'eq',
          1 => 'gt'
    );

    foreach (    $versions as $version) {
      if (isset(    $last)) {
            $comp = version_compare($last, $version);
        echo     str_pad($last,8,' ',STR_PAD_LEFT) . " {$comps[$comp]} {$version}\n";
      }
          $last = $version;
    }

    ?>
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    9
    insid0r at yahoo dot com
    15 years ago
    Since this function considers 1 < 1.0 < 1.0.0, others might find this function useful (which considers 1 == 1.0):

    <?php
    //Compare two sets of versions, where major/minor/etc. releases are separated by dots.
    //Returns 0 if both are equal, 1 if A > B, and -1 if B < A.
    function version_compare2($a, $b)
    {
            $a = explode(".", rtrim($a, ".0")); //Split version into pieces and remove trailing .0
            $b = explode(".", rtrim($b, ".0")); //Split version into pieces and remove trailing .0
            foreach ($a as $depth => $aVal)
        {     //Iterate over each piece of A
                if (isset($b[$depth]))
            {     //If B matches A to this depth, compare the values
                    if ($aVal > $b[$depth]) return 1; //Return A > B
                    else if ($aVal < $b[$depth]) return -1; //Return B > A
                //An equal result is inconclusive at this point
                }
            else
            {     //If B does not match A to this depth, then A comes after B in sort order
                    return 1; //so return A > B
                }
        }
            //At this point, we know that to the depth that A and B extend to, they are equivalent.
        //Either the loop ended because A is shorter than B, or both are equal.
            return (count($a) < count($b)) ? -1 : 0;
    }
    ?>
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    3
    opendb at iamvegan dot net
    17 years ago
    Something that may trip some folks up, but is useful to mention is that the following version comparison does not work quite as I expected:
        version_compare('1.0.1', '1.0pl1', '>')

    However, its quite easy to get working:
        version_compare('1.0.1', '1.0.0pl1', '>')
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    2
    rogier
    12 years ago
    Please note that supplying an operator that is not listed (e.g. ===), this function returns NULL instead of false.

    Tested on PHP5.3.0, Win32
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    1
    Bob Ray
    9 years ago
    Note that both leading and trailing spaces on your version numbers can break version_compare().

    Tested on PHP 5.6.8:
    <?php
    echo  "\nShould be 0";
    echo     "\n '1.0.0-pl' vs. '1.0.0-pl'  ---> " . version_compare('1.0.0-pl', '1.0.0-pl');
    echo     "\n '1.0.0-pl' vs. ' 1.0.0-pl' ---> " . version_compare('1.0.0-pl', ' 1.0.0-pl');
    echo     "\n ' 1.0.0-pl' vs. '1.0.0-pl' ---> " . version_compare(' 1.0.0-pl', '1.0.0-pl');
    echo     "\n '1.0.0-pl' vs. '1.0.0-pl ' ---> " . version_compare('1.0.0-pl', '1.0.0-pl ');
    echo     "\n '1.0.0-pl ' vs. '1.0.0-pl' ---> " . version_compare('1.0.0-pl ', '1.0.0-pl');

    echo     "\n\nShould be 1";
    echo     "\n '1.1.1-pl' vs. '1.0.0-pl'  ---> " . version_compare('1.1.1-pl', '1.0.0-pl');
    echo     "\n ' 1.1.1-pl' vs. '1.0.0-pl' ---> " . version_compare(' 1.1.1-pl', '1.0.0-pl');

    echo     "\n\nShould be -1";
    echo     "\n '1.0.0-pl' vs. '1.1.1-pl'  ---> " . version_compare('1.0.0-pl', '1.1.1-pl');
    echo     "\n '1.0.0-pl' vs. ' 1.1.1-pl' ---> " . version_compare('1.0.0-pl', ' 1.1.1-pl');

            /* Output
    Should be 0
    '1.0.0-pl' vs. '1.0.0-pl'  ---> 0
    '1.0.0-pl' vs. ' 1.0.0-pl' ---> 1
    ' 1.0.0-pl' vs. '1.0.0-pl' ---> -1
    '1.0.0-pl' vs. '1.0.0-pl ' ---> 1
    '1.0.0-pl ' vs. '1.0.0-pl' ---> -1

    Should be 1
    '1.1.1-pl' vs. '1.0.0-pl'  ---> 1
    ' 1.1.1-pl' vs. '1.0.0-pl' ---> -1

    Should be -1
    '1.0.0-pl' vs. '1.1.1-pl'  ---> -1
    '1.0.0-pl' vs. ' 1.1.1-pl' ---> 1
        */
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    0
    arnoud at procurios dot nl
    20 years ago
    If you're careful, this function actualy works quite nicely for comparing version numbers from programs other than PHP itself. I've used it to compare MySQL version numbers. The only issue is that version_compare doesn't recognize the 'gamma' addition that mysql uses as being later than 'alpha' or 'beta', because the latter two are treated specially. If you keep this in mind though, you should have no problems.
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    0
    sam at wyvern dot non-spammers-remove dot com dot au
    20 years ago
    Actually, it works to any degree:

    <?php
    version_compare    ('1.2.3.4RC7.7', '1.2.3.4RC7.8')
    version_compare('8.2.50.4', '8.2.52.6')
    ?>

    will both give -1 (ie the left is lower than the right).
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    -1
    Lcuis
    2 years ago
    In case you need to handle more complex version numbers like alpha, beta,..., here is a little something that can help:

    function multiExplode($delimiters,$string){
        $pattern = '/['.preg_quote($delimiters).']/';
        return(preg_split( $pattern, $string ));
    }

    function isInteger($input){
        return(ctype_digit(strval($input)));
    }

    function keepIntsStartArray($arr){
        $nonIntMappings=[
            "alpha"=>1,
            "beta"=>2,
            "gamma"=>3,
            "delta"=>4,
            "epsilon"=>5,
            "zeta"=>6,
            "eta"=>7,
            "theta"=>8,
            "iota"=>9,
            "kappa"=>10,
            "lambda"=>11,
            "mu"=>12,
            "nu"=>13,
            "xi"=>14,
            "omicron"=>15,
            "pi"=>16,
            "rho"=>17,
            "sigma"=>18,
            "tau"=>19,
            "upsilon"=>20,
            "phi"=>21,
            "chi"=>22,
            "psi"=>23,
            "omega"=>24,
        ];
        $ret=[];
        foreach($arr as $i){
            if(!isInteger($i)){
                if(!array_key_exists($i,$nonIntMappings)){
                    break;
                }
                $ret[]=$nonIntMappings[$i];
            }
            $ret[]=$i;
        }
        return($ret);
    }

    function appVersionBigger($v1,$v2,$orEqual=false){
        $delimiters=".-+";
        $a1=keepIntsStartArray(multiExplode($delimiters,$v1));
        $a2=keepIntsStartArray(multiExplode($delimiters,$v2));
        $len=count($a1);
        if($len>count($a2)){
            $len=count($a2);
        }
        for($i=0;$i<$len;$i++){
            $n1=$a1[$i];
            $n2=$a2[$i];
            if($n1>$n2){
                return(true);
            }
            if($n1<$n2){
                return(false);
            }
        }
        if(count($a1)>count($a2)){
            return(true);
        }
        if(count($a1)<count($a2)){
            return(false);
        }
        return($orEqual);
    }

    // usage examples:

    $versions=[
        "1.2.3-45"=>"1.2.3-45",
        "1.2.3-44"=>"1.2.3-45",
        "1.2.3-46"=>"1.2.3-45",
        "1.2.3"=>"1.2.3-45",
        "1.2.4"=>"1.2.3-45",
        "1.2.2"=>"1.2.3-45",
        "1.2"=>"1.2.3-45",
        "1.3"=>"1.2.3-45",
        "1.2.3-ios"=>"1.2.3-and",
        "1.2-ios"=>"1.2.3-and",
        "2-ios"=>"1.2.3-and",
        "1.2.3-alpha"=>"1.2.3-beta",
        "1.2.3-beta"=>"1.2.3-alpha",
        "1-gamma"=>"1.2.3-beta",
        "1-alpha"=>"1.2.3-beta",
    ];

    foreach($versions as $v1=>$v2){
        echo("v1: ".$v1."\tv2: ".$v2."\tgt: ".(appVersionBigger($v1,$v2,false)?"true":"false")."\tge: ".(appVersionBigger($v1,$v2,true)?"true":"false")."\n");
    }

    // output with php version 8.1.8:
    /*
    v1: 1.2.3-45    v2: 1.2.3-45    gt: false    ge: true
    v1: 1.2.3-44    v2: 1.2.3-45    gt: false    ge: false
    v1: 1.2.3-46    v2: 1.2.3-45    gt: true    ge: true
    v1: 1.2.3    v2: 1.2.3-45    gt: false    ge: false
    v1: 1.2.4    v2: 1.2.3-45    gt: true    ge: true
    v1: 1.2.2    v2: 1.2.3-45    gt: false    ge: false
    v1: 1.2    v2: 1.2.3-45    gt: false    ge: false
    v1: 1.3    v2: 1.2.3-45    gt: true    ge: true
    v1: 1.2.3-ios    v2: 1.2.3-and    gt: false    ge: true
    v1: 1.2-ios    v2: 1.2.3-and    gt: false    ge: false
    v1: 2-ios    v2: 1.2.3-and    gt: true    ge: true
    v1: 1.2.3-alpha    v2: 1.2.3-beta    gt: false    ge: false
    v1: 1.2.3-beta    v2: 1.2.3-alpha    gt: true    ge: true
    v1: 1-gamma    v2: 1.2.3-beta    gt: true    ge: true
    v1: 1-alpha    v2: 1.2.3-beta    gt: false    ge: false
    */
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