PHP Manual
Array Functions
Pad array to the specified length with a value

array_pad

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

array_pad — Pad array to the specified length with a value

Description

array_pad(array $array, int $length, mixed $value): array

array_pad() returns a copy of the array padded to size specified by length with value value. If length is positive then the array is padded on the right, if it's negative then on the left. If the absolute value of length is less than or equal to the length of the array then no padding takes place.

Parameters

array: Initial array of values to pad.
length: New size of the array.
value: Value to pad if array is less than length.

Return Values

Returns a copy of the array padded to size specified by length with value value. If length is positive then the array is padded on the right, if it's negative then on the left. If the absolute value of length is less than or equal to the length of the array then no padding takes place.

Changelog

Version	Description
8.3.0	Prior to 8.3, only 1048576 elements could be added at once. Now it is limited only by the maximum size of an array instead.

Examples

Example #1 array_pad() example

<?php
$input = array(12, 10, 9);

$result = array_pad($input, 5, 0);
// result is array(12, 10, 9, 0, 0)
echo join(', ', $result), PHP_EOL;

$result = array_pad($input, -7, -1);
// result is array(-1, -1, -1, -1, 12, 10, 9)
echo join(', ', $result), PHP_EOL;

$result = array_pad($input, 2, "noop");
// not padded
echo join(', ', $result), PHP_EOL;
?>