check for empty value in php

Question

I am checking a value to see if it is empty using the empty() function in PHP. This validates the following as empty:

"" (an empty string)
0 (0 as an integer)
0.0 (0 as a float)
"0" (0 as a string)
NULL
FALSE
array() (an empty array)
$var; (a variable declared, but without a value)

The value I am passing can be a string, array or number. However if a string has a space (" ") it is not considered empty. What is the easiest way to check this condition as well without creating my own function? I cannot just do an empty(trim($value)) since $value can be an array.

EDIT: I am not trying to ask how to check if a string is empty. I already know that. I am asking if there is a way that I can pass an array, number or string to empty() and it will return the correct validation even if the string passed has empty spaces in them.

Answer 1

The best way is to create your own function, but if you really have a reason not to do it you can use something like this:

$original_string_or_array = array(); // The variable that you want to check
$trimed_string_or_array = is_array($original_string_or_array) ? $original_string_or_array : trim($original_string_or_array);
if(empty($trimed_string_or_array)) {
    echo 'The variable is empty';
} else {
    echo 'The variable is NOT empty';
}