PHP - Using Is_int

Hi,

I did a search for this function and found a similar post but wasn't able to understand it.

Presently I am just trying to do a simple test with the is_int function. I have it set up as follows:

Code: [Select]
if (is_int ($variable)) {
          echo 'Integer';
          } else {
          echo 'Not integer';
$variable is converted to a variable from some text on a web form.

I can see the problem here is that no matter what is entered on the web form, $variable is always a string. The code I referenced above works fine if I instead use the is_string function. I guess I'm just trying to figure out the following:

1. Why is it always a string, even when entering a number such as 7?
2. How can I overcome this so that I can check to make sure the input is of the correct type (integer)?

I know I'm probably not doing a good job of explaining what I mean but I think what I'm aiming to do should be clear; let me know if it isn't.


NOTE--I think I get this to a degree--anything passed in a form will be a string, is that correct? So I should be able to use is_numeric instead. However, the problem with that is that it would also return True for non-integers such as floats. I only want the user to be able to enter integers, 8.5 should return False in this case.

Thanks!