PHP calculation

Question

I'm trying to output a value from xml this is what I do -

<?php
    echo $responseTemp->Items->Item->CustomerReviews->AverageRating;
?>

This outputs 4.5, but when I change it to the code below it displays as 8. Why isn't it displaying as 9? Thanks.

<?php
echo $responseTemp->Items->Item->CustomerReviews->AverageRating*2;
?>

Answer 1

Try casting the value to a numerical value first.

$num = (double) $responseTemp->Items->Item->CustomerReviews->AverageRating;

echo $num * 2;

See Type Juggling and String Conversion to Numbers on the PHP website for more information.