PHP | IntlChar::iscntrl() Function
Last Updated :
11 Jul, 2025
The IntlChar::iscntrl() function is an inbuilt function in PHP which is used to check the given input is a control character or not. Control characters are line feed, tab, escape, etc.
A control character is one of the following types:
- ISO 8-bit control character (U+0000..U+001f and U+007f..U+009f)
- IntlChar::CHAR_CATEGORY_CONTROL_CHAR (Cc)
- IntlChar::CHAR_CATEGORY_FORMAT_CHAR (Cf)
- IntlChar::CHAR_CATEGORY_LINE_SEPARATOR (Zl)
- IntlChar::CHAR_CATEGORY_PARAGRAPH_SEPARATOR (Zp)
Syntax:
bool IntlChar::iscntrl( $codepoint )
Parameters: This function accepts single parameter $codepoint which is mandatory. The codepoint value is an integer values or character, which is encoded as a UTF-8 string.
Return Value: If $codepoint is a control character then it returns True, otherwise return False.
Below programs illustrate the IntlChar::iscntrl() function in PHP:
Program 1:
PHP
<?php
// PHP code to illustrate IntlChar::iscntrl()
// function
// Input data is character type
var_dump(IntlChar::iscntrl("G"));
// Input data is control character
var_dump(IntlChar::iscntrl("\n"));
// Input data is string type with control character
var_dump(IntlChar::iscntrl("G\n"));
// Input data is string type with no control character
var_dump(IntlChar::iscntrl("Geeksforgeeks"));
// Input data is number
var_dump(IntlChar::iscntrl("2018"));
// Input data is single digit
var_dump(IntlChar::iscntrl("5"));
?>
Output:
bool(false)
bool(true)
NULL
NULL
NULL
bool(false)
Note: If String and Numbers are used as a parameter then it returns NULL.
Program 2:
PHP
<?php
// PHP code to illustrate IntlChar::iscntrl()
// Declare an array $arr
$arr = array("G", "GeeksforGeeks", "^", "1001", "6", "\n",
"\n\n", "\t");
// Loop run for every array element
foreach ($arr as $val){
// Check each element as code point data
var_dump(IntlChar::iscntrl($val));
}
?>
Output:
bool(false)
NULL
bool(false)
NULL
bool(false)
bool(true)
NULL
bool(true)
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Reference: https://www.php.net/manual/en/intlchar.iscntrl.php