wp_dropdown_cats( int $current_cat = 0, int $current_parent = 0, int $category_parent = 0, int $level = 0, array $categories = 0 ): void|false

Compatibility

Deprecated in WordPress 3.0.0. Use wp_dropdown_categories()

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$current_catintoptional

ID of the current category. Default 0.Default: 0

$current_parentintoptional

Current parent category ID. Default 0.Default: 0

$category_parentintoptional

Parent ID to retrieve categories for. Default 0.Default: 0

$levelintoptional

Number of levels deep to display. Default 0.Default: 0

$categoriesarrayoptional

Categories to include in the control. Default 0.Default: 0

Return value

void|false

Void on success, false if no categories were found.

Performance profile

How much work a call to wp_dropdown_cats() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class

Heavy

Reaches the database via get_terms().

Scaling

Scales with input

The body loops, so the work grows with what you pass in.

Instructions

14–20

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 65.

Plugin surface

None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by

1

1 place in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What it touches

• hookthird-party callbacksdo_action()one call below wp_dropdown_cats()
• querycontent queryget_terms()one call below wp_dropdown_cats()

Further down the call graph this can also reach option, cache, serialize and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 2 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost wp_dropdown_cats() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

Uses · 4

• _deprecated_function()Marks a function as deprecated and inform when it has been used.
• get_categories()Retrieves a list of category objects.
• esc_html()Escaping for HTML blocks.
• wp_dropdown_cats()Legacy function used for generating a categories drop-down control.

Used by · 1

• wp_dropdown_cats()Legacy function used for generating a categories drop-down control.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

137function wp_dropdown_cats( $current_cat = 0, $current_parent = 0, $category_parent = 0, $level = 0, $categories = 0 ) {138	_deprecated_function( __FUNCTION__, '3.0.0', 'wp_dropdown_categories()' );139	if (!$categories )140		$categories = get_categories( array('hide_empty' => 0) );141 142	if ( $categories ) {143		foreach ( $categories as $category ) {144			if ( $current_cat != $category->term_id && $category_parent == $category->parent) {145				$pad = str_repeat( '&#8211; ', $level );146				$category->name = esc_html( $category->name );147				echo "\n\t<option value='$category->term_id'";148				if ( $current_parent == $category->term_id )149					echo " selected='selected'";150				echo ">$pad$category->name</option>";151				wp_dropdown_cats( $current_cat, $current_parent, $category->term_id, $level +1, $categories );152			}153		}154	} else {155		return false;156	}157}

Changelog

Introduced in 1.2.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

1. 6.7.7
2. 6.8.8
3. 6.9.7
4. 7.0.4
5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data

Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.9.7 tag, from src/wp-admin/includes/deprecated.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

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