is_array function executes strings as well - php

Question

I'm trying to write a function for arrays that strips the backslashes.
My problem is that I'm using the "is_array" function to verify if the input actually is an array but it seems that it executes numbers and strings as well.
The stripping part seems to work though, so it's the is_array part I can't figure out
I'm using the "array_map" function because the input array could consists of several arrays
What am I missing?
Thanks.
function strip_backslashes_array( $arr )
{
$result = is_array($arr) === true ?
array_map('strip_backslashes_array', $arr) :
implode( "",explode("\\",$arr ));
return $result;
}
$number = 5;
$text = 'Hey th\\\ere!';
$array = array("\\1","2\\",3,4);
$value1 = strip_backslashes_array($number);
echo $value1;
//returns 5. I would expect it to be Null as it is NOT an array.
$value2 = strip_backslashes_array($text);
echo $value2;
//returns "Hey there!" so it has stripped the string but I would expect Null as it is NOT an array.
echo '</br>';
$value3 = sanitize_strip_backslashes_array($array);
print_r($value3);
//returns "Array ( [0] => 1 [1] => 2 [2] => 3 [3] => 4 )" so it has stripped slashes as expected because it is an array.

Answer 1

This function will strip backslashes from array and it will return null in case of other types if you give to the parameter strict true.
<?php
function strip_backslashes_array($arr, $strict = false){
$isarray = is_array($arr);
if ($strict && !$isarray) {
return null;
}
return $isarray? array_map('strip_backslashes_array', $arr) :
implode( "", explode("\\", $arr));
}
$number = 5;
$text = 'Hey th\\\ere!';
$array = array("\\1","2\\",3,4);
echo '</br>';
$value1 = strip_backslashes_array($number, true);
var_dump($value1);
echo '</br>';
$value2 = strip_backslashes_array($text, true);
var_dump($value2);
echo '</br>';
$value3 = strip_backslashes_array($array, true);
var_dump($value3);

Answer 2

Your recursion logic will not work if you want to return null when is_array($arr) == false. You wil need to use a different function to perform the string manipulation.
function strip_backslashes_array( $arr )
{
$result = is_array($arr) ?
array_map('strip_backslashes_str', $arr) :
null;
return $result;
}
function strip_backslashes_str($str){
if (is_array($str))
return strip_backslashes_array($str);
return implode( "", explode("\\", $str));
}