How to cast variable to array

Question

I have a variable $v that can be either single string or array of strings
and I have a code:

$a = array(); if (is_array($v)) {     $a = $v; } else {     $a[] = $v; } 

How it can be done in more elegant way? (in other words, how to cast a variable to array)

Answer 1

You can cast a variable to an array by using:

    $var = (array)$arr; 

Answer 2

$a = (array) $v; 

is the answer.