Changing the sign of a number in PHP?

A trivial

$num = $num <= 0 ? $num : -$num ;

or, the better solution, IMHO:

$num = -1 * abs($num)

As @VegardLarsen has posted,

the explicit multiplication can be avoided for shortness but I prefer readability over shortness

I suggest to avoid if/else (or equivalent ternary operator) especially if you have to manipulate a number of items (in a loop or using a lambda function), as it will affect performance.

"If the float is a negative, make it a positive."

In order to change the sign of a number you can simply do:

$num = 0 - $num;

or, multiply it by -1, of course :)

$float = -abs($float);

How about something trivial like:

• inverting:

  $num = -$num;
  

• converting only positive into negative:

  if ($num > 0) $num = -$num;
  

• converting only negative into positive:

  if ($num < 0) $num = -$num;
  

re the edit: "Also i need a way to do the reverse If the float is a negative, make it a positive"

$number = -$number;

changes the number to its opposite.

I think Gumbo's answer is just fine. Some people prefer this fancy expression that does the same thing:

$int = (($int > 0) ? -$int : $int);

EDIT: Apparently you are looking for a function that will make negatives positive as well. I think these answers are the simplest:

/* I am not proposing you actually use functions called
   "makeNegative" and "makePositive"; I am just presenting
   the most direct solution in the form of two clearly named
   functions. */
function makeNegative($num) { return -abs($num); }
function makePositive($num) { return abs($num); }