db->escape() double quotes a numeric value

[eluser]a&w[/eluser]
I had / have problems with CI double quoting a numeric value when running through db->escape().

From system/database/DB_driver.php:

Code:

function escape($str)
   {    
      switch (gettype($str))
      {
         case 'string' : $str = "'".$this->escape_str($str)."'";
            break;
         case 'boolean': $str = ($str === FALSE) ? 0 : 1;
            break;
         default:        $str = ($str === NULL) ? 'NULL' : $str;
            break;
      }
   return $str;
}

When I do something like escape("40"), the $str is recognized as a string so I end up with '"40"'.

Looking into the php manual I found:

Note: To test if a variable is a number or a numeric string (such as form input, which is always a string), you must use is_numeric().

and also:

Warning
Never use gettype() to test for a certain type, since the returned string may be subject to change in a future version. In addition, it is slow too, as it involves string comparison.

Instead, use the is_* functions.

To wit:

Code:

$type1 = gettype("40");//string
$type2 = is_numeric("40") ? 'numeric' : $type1;//numeric

$escapeVal1 = mysqli_real_escape_string($this->db->conn_id, $val);//"40"
$escapeVal2 = "'".$escapeVal1."'";//"'40'"  .... over escaped

//my workaround:
$val = is_numeric("40") ? floatval($val) : $val;//40 .... so far so good
$val = $this->db->escape($val);//40 .... numeric value retained!

As a result, would something like this be better:

Code:

function escape($str)
   {    
      if (is_numeric($str))
      {
         $str = $str;
      }
      elseif (is_null($str)
      {
         $str = 'NULL';
      }
      elseif (is_bool($str)
      {
         $str = ($str === FALSE) ? 0 : 1;
      } else {
         $str = "'".$this->escape_str($str)."'";
      }

      return $str;
   }