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PHP Syntax
PHP code is executed on the server, and the plain HTML result is sent to the browser.
Basic PHP Syntax

A PHP scripting block always starts with <?php and ends with ?>. A PHP scripting block can be placed anywhere in the document. On servers with shorthand support enabled you can start a scripting block with <? and end with ?>. For maximum compatibility, we recommend that you use the standard form (<?php) rather than the shorthand form. <?php ?>
A PHP file normally contains HTML tags, just like an HTML file, and some PHP scripting code. Below, we have an example of a simple PHP script which sends the text "Hello World" to the browser: <html> <body> <?php echo "Hello World"; ?> </body> </html> Each code line in PHP must end with a semicolon. The semicolon is a separator and is used to distinguish one set of instructions from another. There are two basic statements to output text with PHP: echo and print. In the example above we have used the echo statement to output the text "Hello World". Note: The file must have a .php extension. If the file has a .html extension, the PHP code will not be executed.
Comments in PHP
In PHP, we use // to make a single-line comment or /* and */ to make a large comment block. <html> <body> <?php //This is a comment /* This is a comment block */ ?> </body> </html>
PHP Variables
A variable is used to store information.
Variables in PHP
Variables are used for storing values, like text strings, numbers or arrays. When a variable is declared, it can be used over and over again in your script. All variables in PHP start with a $ sign symbol. The correct way of declaring a variable in PHP: $var_name = value; New PHP programmers often forget the $ sign at the beginning of the variable. In that case it will not work. Let's try creating a variable containing a string, and a variable containing a number: <?php $txt="Hello World!"; $x=16; ?>
PHP is a Loosely Typed Language

In PHP, a variable does not need to be declared before adding a value to it. In the example above, you see that you do not have to tell PHP which data type the variable is. PHP automatically converts the variable to the correct data type, depending on its value. In a strongly typed programming language, you have to declare (define) the type and name of the variable before using it. In PHP, the variable is declared automatically when you use it.
Naming Rules for Variables

A variable name must start with a letter or an underscore "_" A variable name can only contain alpha-numeric characters and underscores (a-z, A-Z, 0-9, and _ ) A variable name should not contain spaces. If a variable name is more than one word, it should be separated with an underscore ($my_string), or with capitalization ($myString)
PHP String Variables

A string variable is used to store and manipulate text.
String Variables in PHP

String variables are used for values that contain characters. In this chapter we are going to look at the most common functions and operators used to manipulate strings in PHP. After we create a string we can manipulate it. A string can be used directly in a function or it can be stored in a variable. Below, the PHP script assigns the text "Hello World" to a string variable called $txt: <?php $txt="Hello World"; echo $txt; ?> The output of the code above will be: Hello World Now, lets try to use some different functions and operators to manipulate the string.
The Concatenation Operator

There is only one string operator in PHP.
The concatenation operator (.) is used to put two string values together. To concatenate two string variables together, use the concatenation operator: <?php $txt1="Hello World!"; $txt2="What a nice day!"; echo $txt1 . " " . $txt2; ?> The output of the code above will be: Hello World! What a nice day! If we look at the code above you see that we used the concatenation operator two times. This is because we had to insert a third string (a space character), to separate the two strings.
The strlen() function

The strlen() function is used to return the length of a string. Let's find the length of a string: <?php echo strlen("Hello world!"); ?> The output of the code above will be: 12 The length of a string is often used in loops or other functions, when it is important to know when the string ends. (i.e. in a loop, we would want to stop the loop after the last character in the string).
The strpos() function

The strpos() function is used to search for a character/text within a string. If a match is found, this function will return the character position of the first match. If no match is found, it will return FALSE.
Let's see if we can find the string "world" in our string: <?php echo strpos("Hello world!","world"); ?> The output of the code above will be: 6 The position of the string "world" in the example above is 6. The reason that it is 6 (and not 7), is that the first character position in the string is 0, and not 1.
Complete PHP String Reference

For a complete reference of all string functions, go to our complete PHP String Reference. The reference contains a brief description, and examples of use, for each function!
PHP Operators
Operators are used to operate on values.
PHP Operators
This section lists the different operators used in PHP. Arithmetic Operators Operator + * / Description Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division Example x=2 x+2 x=2 5-x x=4 x*5 15/5 5/2 Result 4 3 20 3 2.5
Modulus (division remainder)
++ --
Increment Decrement
5%2 10%8 10%2 x=5 x++ x=5 x--
1 2 0 x=6 x=4
Assignment Operators Operator = += -= *= /= .= %= Example x=y x+=y x-=y x*=y x/=y x.=y x%=y Is The Same As x=y x=x+y x=x-y x=x*y x=x/y x=x.y x=x%y
Comparison Operators Operator == != <> > < >= <= Description is equal to is not equal is not equal is greater than is less than is greater than or equal to is less than or equal to Example 5==8 returns false 5!=8 returns true 5<>8 returns true 5>8 returns false 5<8 returns true 5>=8 returns false 5<=8 returns true
Logical Operators Operator && Description and Example x=6 y=3 (x < 10 && y > 1) returns true x=6 y=3
||
or
not
(x==5 || y==5) returns false x=6 y=3 !(x==y) returns true
PHP If...Else Statements

Conditional statements are used to perform different actions based on different conditions.
Conditional Statements
Very often when you write code, you want to perform different actions for different decisions. You can use conditional statements in your code to do this. In PHP we have the following conditional statements:

if statement - use this statement to execute some code only if a specified condition is true if...else statement - use this statement to execute some code if a condition is true and another code if the condition is false if...elseif....else statement - use this statement to select one of several blocks of code to be executed switch statement - use this statement to select one of many blocks of code to be executed
The if Statement
Use the if statement to execute some code only if a specified condition is true.
Syntax
if (condition) code to be executed if condition is true; The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday:
<html> <body> <?php $d=date("D"); if ($d=="Fri") echo "Have a nice weekend!"; ?> </body> </html> Notice that there is no ..else.. in this syntax. The code is executed only if the specified condition is true.
The if...else Statement

Use the if....else statement to execute some code if a condition is true and another code if a condition is false.
Syntax
if (condition) code to be executed if condition is true; else code to be executed if condition is false;
Example
The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday, otherwise it will output "Have a nice day!": <html> <body> <?php $d=date("D"); if ($d=="Fri") echo "Have a nice weekend!"; else echo "Have a nice day!"; ?> </body> </html>
If more than one line should be executed if a condition is true/false, the lines should be enclosed within curly braces: <html> <body> <?php $d=date("D"); if ($d=="Fri") { echo "Hello!<br />"; echo "Have a nice weekend!"; echo "See you on Monday!"; } ?> </body> </html>
The if...elseif....else Statement

Use the if....elseif...else statement to select one of several blocks of code to be executed.
Syntax
if (condition) code to be executed if condition is true; elseif (condition) code to be executed if condition is true; else code to be executed if condition is false;
Example
The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday, and "Have a nice Sunday!" if the current day is Sunday. Otherwise it will output "Have a nice day!": <html> <body> <?php $d=date("D"); if ($d=="Fri") echo "Have a nice weekend!";
elseif ($d=="Sun") echo "Have a nice Sunday!"; else echo "Have a nice day!"; ?> </body> </html>
Conditional statements are used to perform different actions based on different conditions.
The PHP Switch Statement

Use the switch statement to select one of many blocks of code to be executed.
Syntax
switch (n) { case label1: code to be executed if n=label1; break; case label2: code to be executed if n=label2; break; default: code to be executed if n is different from both label1 and label2; } This is how it works: First we have a single expression n (most often a variable), that is evaluated once. The value of the expression is then compared with the values for each case in the structure. If there is a match, the block of code associated with that case is executed. Use break to prevent the code from running into the next case automatically. The default statement is used if no match is found.
Example
<html> <body> <?php switch ($x) {
case 1: echo "Number 1"; break; case 2: echo "Number 2"; break; case 3: echo "Number 3"; break; default: echo "No number between 1 and 3"; } ?> </body> </html>
An array stores multiple values in one single variable.
What is an Array?
A variable is a storage area holding a number or text. The problem is, a variable will hold only one value. An array is a special variable, which can store multiple values in one single variable. If you have a list of items (a list of car names, for example), storing the cars in single variables could look like this: $cars1="Saab"; $cars2="Volvo"; $cars3="BMW"; However, what if you want to loop through the cars and find a specific one? And what if you had not 3 cars, but 300? The best solution here is to use an array! An array can hold all your variable values under a single name. And you can access the values by referring to the array name. Each element in the array has its own index so that it can be easily accessed.
In PHP, there are three kind of arrays:

Numeric array - An array with a numeric index Associative array - An array where each ID key is associated with a value Multidimensional array - An array containing one or more arrays
Numeric Arrays
A numeric array stores each array element with a numeric index. There are two methods to create a numeric array. 1. In the following example the index are automatically assigned (the index starts at 0): $cars=array("Saab","Volvo","BMW","Toyota"); 2. In the following example we assign the index manually: $cars[0]="Saab"; $cars[1]="Volvo"; $cars[2]="BMW"; $cars[3]="Toyota";
Example
In the following example you access the variable values by referring to the array name and index: <?php $cars[0]="Saab"; $cars[1]="Volvo"; $cars[2]="BMW"; $cars[3]="Toyota"; echo $cars[0] . " and " . $cars[1] . " are Swedish cars."; ?> The code above will output: Saab and Volvo are Swedish cars.
Associative Arrays
An associative array, each ID key is associated with a value.
When storing data about specific named values, a numerical array is not always the best way to do it. With associative arrays we can use the values as keys and assign values to them.
Example 1
In this example we use an array to assign ages to the different persons: $ages = array("Peter"=>32, "Quagmire"=>30, "Joe"=>34);
Example 2
This example is the same as example 1, but shows a different way of creating the array: $ages['Peter'] = "32"; $ages['Quagmire'] = "30"; $ages['Joe'] = "34"; The ID keys can be used in a script: <?php $ages['Peter'] = "32"; $ages['Quagmire'] = "30"; $ages['Joe'] = "34"; echo "Peter is " . $ages['Peter'] . " years old."; ?> The code above will output: Peter is 32 years old.
Multidimensional Arrays
In a multidimensional array, each element in the main array can also be an array. And each element in the sub-array can be an array, and so on.
Example
In this example we create a multidimensional array, with automatically assigned ID keys: $families = array (
"Griffin"=>array ( "Peter", "Lois", "Megan" ), "Quagmire"=>array ( "Glenn" ), "Brown"=>array ( "Cleveland", "Loretta", "Junior" ) ); The array above would look like this if written to the output: Array ( [Griffin] => Array ( [0] => Peter [1] => Lois [2] => Megan ) [Quagmire] => Array ( [0] => Glenn ) [Brown] => Array ( [0] => Cleveland [1] => Loretta [2] => Junior ) )
Example 2
Lets try displaying a single value from the array above: echo "Is " . $families['Griffin'][2] . " a part of the Griffin family?";
The code above will output: Is Megan a part of the Griffin family?
Complete PHP Array Reference

For a complete reference of all array functions, go to our complete PHP Array Reference. The reference contains a brief description, and examples of use, for each function! Loops execute a block of code a specified number of times, or while a specified condition is true.
PHP Loops
Often when you write code, you want the same block of code to run over and over again in a row. Instead of adding several almost equal lines in a script we can use loops to perform a task like this. In PHP, we have the following looping statements:

while - loops through a block of code while a specified condition is true do...while - loops through a block of code once, and then repeats the loop as long as a specified condition is true for - loops through a block of code a specified number of times foreach - loops through a block of code for each element in an array
The while Loop

The while loop executes a block of code while a condition is true.
Syntax
while (condition) { code to be executed; }
Example
The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. The loop will continue to run as long as i is less than, or equal to 5. i will increase by 1 each time the loop runs:
<html> <body> <?php $i=1; while($i<=5) { echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />"; $i++; } ?> </body> </html> Output: The number is 1 The number is 2 The number is 3 The number is 4 The number is 5
The do...while Statement

The do...while statement will always execute the block of code once, it will then check the condition, and repeat the loop while the condition is true.
Syntax
do { code to be executed; } while (condition);
Example
The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. It will then increment i with 1, and write some output. Then the condition is checked, and the loop will continue to run as long as i is less than, or equal to 5: <html> <body>
<?php $i=1; do { $i++; echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />"; } while ($i<=5); ?> </body> </html> Output: The number is 2 The number is 3 The number is 4 The number is 5 The number is 6 The for loop and the foreach loop will be explained in the next chapter. Loops execute a block of code a specified number of times, or while a specified condition is true.
The for Loop

The for loop is used when you know in advance how many times the script should run.
Syntax
for (init; condition; increment) { code to be executed; } Parameters:

init: Mostly used to set a counter (but can be any code to be executed once at the beginning of the loop) condition: Evaluated for each loop iteration. If it evaluates to TRUE, the loop continues. If it evaluates to FALSE, the loop ends. increment: Mostly used to increment a counter (but can be any code to be executed at the end of the loop)
Note: Each of the parameters above can be empty, or have multiple expressions (separated by commas).
Example
The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. The loop will continue to run as long as i is less than, or equal to 5. i will increase by 1 each time the loop runs: <html> <body> <?php for ($i=1; $i<=5; $i++) { echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />"; } ?> </body> </html> Output: The number is 1 The number is 2 The number is 3 The number is 4 The number is 5
The foreach Loop

The foreach loop is used to loop through arrays.
Syntax
foreach ($array as $value) { code to be executed; } For every loop iteration, the value of the current array element is assigned to $value (and the array pointer is moved by one) - so on the next loop iteration, you'll be looking at the next array value.
Example
The following example demonstrates a loop that will print the values of the given array: <html> <body> <?php $x=array("one","two","three"); foreach ($x as $value) { echo $value . "<br />"; } ?> </body> </html> Output: one two three The real power of PHP comes from its functions. In PHP, there are more than 700 built-in functions.
PHP Built-in Functions

For a complete reference and examples of the built-in functions, please visit our PHP Reference.
PHP Functions
In this chapter we will show you how to create your own functions. To keep the script from being executed when the page loads, you can put it into a function. A function will be executed by a call to the function. You may call a function from anywhere within a page.
Create a PHP Function

A function will be executed by a call to the function.
Syntax
function functionName() { code to be executed; } PHP function guidelines:

Give the function a name that reflects what the function does The function name can start with a letter or underscore (not a number)
Example
A simple function that writes my name when it is called: <html> <body> <?php function writeName() { echo "Kai Jim Refsnes"; } echo "My name is "; writeName(); ?> </body> </html> Output: My name is Kai Jim Refsnes
PHP Functions - Adding parameters

To add more functionality to a function, we can add parameters. A parameter is just like a variable.
Parameters are specified after the function name, inside the parentheses.
Example 1
The following example will write different first names, but equal last name: <html> <body> <?php function writeName($fname) { echo $fname . " Refsnes.<br />"; } echo "My name is "; writeName("Kai Jim"); echo "My sister's name is "; writeName("Hege"); echo "My brother's name is "; writeName("Stale"); ?> </body> </html> Output: My name is Kai Jim Refsnes. My sister's name is Hege Refsnes. My brother's name is Stale Refsnes.
Example 2
The following function has two parameters: <html> <body> <?php function writeName($fname,$punctuation) { echo $fname . " Refsnes" . $punctuation . "<br />"; } echo "My name is ";
writeName("Kai Jim","."); echo "My sister's name is "; writeName("Hege","!"); echo "My brother's name is "; writeName("Stle","?"); ?> </body> </html> Output: My name is Kai Jim Refsnes. My sister's name is Hege Refsnes! My brother's name is Stle Refsnes?
PHP Functions - Return values

To let a function return a value, use the return statement.
Example
<html> <body> <?php function add($x,$y) { $total=$x+$y; return $total; } echo "1 + 16 = " . add(1,16); ?> </body> </html> Output: 1 + 16 = 17 The PHP $_GET and $_POST variables are used to retrieve information from forms, like user input.
PHP Form Handling

The most important thing to notice when dealing with HTML forms and PHP is that any form element in an HTML page will automatically be available to your PHP scripts.
Example
The example below contains an HTML form with two input fields and a submit button: <html> <body> <form action="welcome.php" method="post"> Name: <input type="text" name="fname" /> Age: <input type="text" name="age" /> <input type="submit" /> </form> </body> </html> When a user fills out the form above and click on the submit button, the form data is sent to a PHP file, called "welcome.php": "welcome.php" looks like this: <html> <body> Welcome <?php echo $_POST["fname"]; ?>!<br /> You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old. </body> </html> Output could be something like this: Welcome John! You are 28 years old. The PHP $_GET and $_POST functions will be explained in the next chapters.
Form Validation
User input should be validated on the browser whenever possible (by client scripts). Browser validation is faster and reduces the server load. You should consider server validation if the user input will be inserted into a database. A good way to validate a form on the server is to post the form to itself, instead of jumping to a different page. The user will then get the error messages on the same page as the form. This makes it easier to discover the error. The built-in $_GET function is used to collect values in a form with method="get".
The $_GET Function

The built-in $_GET function is used to collect values from a form sent with method="get". Information sent from a form with the GET method is visible to everyone (it will be displayed in the browser's address bar) and has limits on the amount of information to send.
Example
<form action="welcome.php" method="get"> Name: <input type="text" name="fname" /> Age: <input type="text" name="age" /> <input type="submit" /> </form> When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL sent to the server could look something like this: http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php?fname=Peter&age=37 The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_GET function to collect form data (the names of the form fields will automatically be the keys in the $_GET array): Welcome <?php echo $_GET["fname"]; ?>.<br /> You are <?php echo $_GET["age"]; ?> years old!
When to use method="get"?

When using method="get" in HTML forms, all variable names and values are displayed in the URL.
Note: This method should not be used when sending passwords or other sensitive information! However, because the variables are displayed in the URL, it is possible to bookmark the page. This can be useful in some cases. Note: The get method is not suitable for very large variable values. It should not be used with values exceeding 2000 characters. The built-in $_POST function is used to collect values in a form with method="post".
The $_POST Function

The built-in $_POST function is used to collect values from a form sent with method="post". Information sent from a form with the POST method is invisible to others and has no limits on the amount of information to send. Note: However, there is an 8 Mb max size for the POST method, by default (can be changed by setting the post_max_size in the php.ini file).
Example
<form action="welcome.php" method="post"> Name: <input type="text" name="fname" /> Age: <input type="text" name="age" /> <input type="submit" /> </form> When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL will look like this: http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_POST function to collect form data (the names of the form fields will automatically be the keys in the $_POST array): Welcome <?php echo $_POST["fname"]; ?>!<br /> You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old.
When to use method="post"?

Information sent from a form with the POST method is invisible to others and has no limits on the amount of information to send.
However, because the variables are not displayed in the URL, it is not possible to bookmark the page.
The PHP $_REQUEST Function

The PHP built-in $_REQUEST function contains the contents of both $_GET, $_POST, and $_COOKIE. The $_REQUEST function can be used to collect form data sent with both the GET and POST methods.
Example
Welcome <?php echo $_REQUEST["fname"]; ?>!<br /> You are <?php echo $_REQUEST["age"]; ?> years old. The PHP date() function is used to format a time and/or date.
The PHP Date() Function

The PHP date() function formats a timestamp to a more readable date and time. A timestamp is a sequence of characters, denoting the date and/or time at which a certain event occurred.
Syntax
date(format,timestamp) Parameter format timestamp Description Required. Specifies the format of the timestamp Optional. Specifies a timestamp. Default is the current date and time
PHP Date() - Format the Date

The required format parameter in the date() function specifies how to format the date/time. Here are some characters that can be used:
d - Represents the day of the month (01 to 31)
m - Represents a month (01 to 12) Y - Represents a year (in four digits)
A list of all the characters that can be used in the format parameter, can be found in our PHP Date reference. Other characters, like"/", ".", or "-" can also be inserted between the letters to add additional formatting: <?php echo date("Y/m/d") . "<br />"; echo date("Y.m.d") . "<br />"; echo date("Y-m-d"); ?> The output of the code above could be something like this: 2009/05/11 2009.05.11 2009-05-11
PHP Date() - Adding a Timestamp

The optional timestamp parameter in the date() function specifies a timestamp. If you do not specify a timestamp, the current date and time will be used. The mktime() function returns the Unix timestamp for a date. The Unix timestamp contains the number of seconds between the Unix Epoch (January 1 1970 00:00:00 GMT) and the time specified.
Syntax for mktime()

mktime(hour,minute,second,month,day,year,is_dst) To go one day in the future we simply add one to the day argument of mktime(): <?php $tomorrow = mktime(0,0,0,date("m"),date("d")+1,date("Y")); echo "Tomorrow is ".date("Y/m/d", $tomorrow); ?> The output of the code above could be something like this: Tomorrow is 2009/05/12
Server Side Includes (SSI)

You can insert the content of one PHP file into another PHP file before the server executes it, with the include() or require() function. The two functions are identical in every way, except how they handle errors:

include() generates a warning, but the script will continue execution require() generates a fatal error, and the script will stop
These two functions are used to create functions, headers, footers, or elements that will be reused on multiple pages. Server side includes saves a lot of work. This means that you can create a standard header, footer, or menu file for all your web pages. When the header needs to be updated, you can only update the include file, or when you add a new page to your site, you can simply change the menu file (instead of updating the links on all your web pages).
PHP include() Function

The include() function takes all the content in a specified file and includes it in the current file. If an error occurs, the include() function generates a warning, but the script will continue execution.
Example 1
Assume that you have a standard header file, called "header.php". To include the header file in a page, use the include() function: <html> <body> <?php include("header.php"); ?> <h1>Welcome to my home page!</h1> <p>Some text.</p> </body> </html>
Example 2
Assume we have a standard menu file, called "menu.php", that should be used on all pages: <a href="/default.php">Home</a> <a href="/tutorials.php">Tutorials</a> <a href="/references.php">References</a> <a href="/examples.php">Examples</a> <a href="/about.php">About Us</a> <a href="/contact.php">Contact Us</a> All pages in the Web site should include this menu file. Here is how it can be done: <html> <body> <div class="leftmenu"> <?php include("menu.php"); ?> </div> <h1>Welcome to my home page.</h1> <p>Some text.</p> </body> </html> If you look at the source code of the page above (in a browser), it will look like this: <html> <body> <div class="leftmenu"> <a href="/default.php">Home</a> <a href="/tutorials.php">Tutorials</a> <a href="/references.php">References</a> <a href="/examples.php">Examples</a> <a href="/about.php">About Us</a> <a href="/contact.php">Contact Us</a> </div> <h1>Welcome to my home page!</h1> <p>Some text.</p> </body> </html>
PHP require() Function

The require() function is identical to include(), except that it handles errors differently. If an error occurs, the include() function generates a warning, but the script will continue execution. The require() generates a fatal error, and the script will stop.
Error Example include() Function

<html> <body> <?php include("wrongFile.php"); echo "Hello World!"; ?> </body> </html> Error message: Warning: include(wrongFile.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in C:\home\website\test.php on line 5 Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'wrongFile.php' for inclusion (include_path='.;C:\php5\pear') in C:\home\website\test.php on line 5 Hello World! Notice that the echo statement is executed! This is because a Warning does not stop the script execution.
Error Example require() Function

Now, let's run the same example with the require() function. <html> <body> <?php
require("wrongFile.php"); echo "Hello World!"; ?> </body> </html> Error message: Warning: require(wrongFile.php) [function.require]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in C:\home\website\test.php on line 5 Fatal error: require() [function.require]: Failed opening required 'wrongFile.php' (include_path='.;C:\php5\pear') in C:\home\website\test.php on line 5 The echo statement is not executed, because the script execution stopped after the fatal error. It is recommended to use the require() function instead of include(), because scripts should not continue after an error.
The fopen() function is used to open files in PHP.
Opening a File
The fopen() function is used to open files in PHP. The first parameter of this function contains the name of the file to be opened and the second parameter specifies in which mode the file should be opened: <html> <body> <?php $file=fopen("welcome.txt","r"); ?> </body> </html>
The file may be opened in one of the following modes: Modes r r+ w w+ a a+ x x+ Description Read only. Starts at the beginning of the file Read/Write. Starts at the beginning of the file Write only. Opens and clears the contents of file; or creates a new file if it doesn't exist Read/Write. Opens and clears the contents of file; or creates a new file if it doesn't exist Append. Opens and writes to the end of the file or creates a new file if it doesn't exist Read/Append. Preserves file content by writing to the end of the file Write only. Creates a new file. Returns FALSE and an error if file already exists Read/Write. Creates a new file. Returns FALSE and an error if file already exists
Note: If the fopen() function is unable to open the specified file, it returns 0 (false).
Example
The following example generates a message if the fopen() function is unable to open the specified file: <html> <body> <?php $file=fopen("welcome.txt","r") or exit("Unable to open file!"); ?> </body> </html>
Closing a File
The fclose() function is used to close an open file: <?php $file = fopen("test.txt","r"); //some code to be executed
fclose($file); ?>
Check End-of-file
The feof() function checks if the "end-of-file" (EOF) has been reached. The feof() function is useful for looping through data of unknown length. Note: You cannot read from files opened in w, a, and x mode! if (feof($file)) echo "End of file";
Reading a File Line by Line

The fgets() function is used to read a single line from a file. Note: After a call to this function the file pointer has moved to the next line.
Example
The example below reads a file line by line, until the end of file is reached: <?php $file = fopen("welcome.txt", "r") or exit("Unable to open file!"); //Output a line of the file until the end is reached while(!feof($file)) { echo fgets($file). "<br />"; } fclose($file); ?>
Reading a File Character by Character

The fgetc() function is used to read a single character from a file. Note: After a call to this function the file pointer moves to the next character.
Example
The example below reads a file character by character, until the end of file is reached: <?php $file=fopen("welcome.txt","r") or exit("Unable to open file!"); while (!feof($file)) { echo fgetc($file); } fclose($file); ?>
PHP Filesystem Reference

For a full reference of the PHP filesystem functions, visit our PHP Filesystem Reference. With PHP, it is possible to upload files to the server.
Create an Upload-File Form

To allow users to upload files from a form can be very useful. Look at the following HTML form for uploading files: <html> <body> <form action="upload_file.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data"> <label for="file">Filename:</label> <input type="file" name="file" id="file" /> <br /> <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit" /> </form> </body> </html> Notice the following about the HTML form above:
The enctype attribute of the <form> tag specifies which content-type to use when submitting the form. "multipart/form-data" is used when a form requires binary data, like the contents of a file, to be uploaded The type="file" attribute of the <input> tag specifies that the input should be processed as a file. For example, when viewed in a browser, there will be a browse-button next to the input field
Note: Allowing users to upload files is a big security risk. Only permit trusted users to perform file uploads.
Create The Upload Script

The "upload_file.php" file contains the code for uploading a file: <?php if ($_FILES["file"]["error"] > 0) { echo "Error: " . $_FILES["file"]["error"] . "<br />"; } else { echo "Upload: " . $_FILES["file"]["name"] . "<br />"; echo "Type: " . $_FILES["file"]["type"] . "<br />"; echo "Size: " . ($_FILES["file"]["size"] / 1024) . " Kb<br />"; echo "Stored in: " . $_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"]; } ?> By using the global PHP $_FILES array you can upload files from a client computer to the remote server. The first parameter is the form's input name and the second index can be either "name", "type", "size", "tmp_name" or "error". Like this:

$_FILES["file"]["name"] - the name of the uploaded file $_FILES["file"]["type"] - the type of the uploaded file $_FILES["file"]["size"] - the size in bytes of the uploaded file $_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"] - the name of the temporary copy of the file stored on the server $_FILES["file"]["error"] - the error code resulting from the file upload
This is a very simple way of uploading files. For security reasons, you should add restrictions on what the user is allowed to upload.
Restrictions on Upload
In this script we add some restrictions to the file upload. The user may only upload .gif or .jpeg files and the file size must be under 20 kb: <?php if ((($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/gif") || ($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/jpeg") || ($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/pjpeg")) && ($_FILES["file"]["size"] < 20000)) { if ($_FILES["file"]["error"] > 0) { echo "Error: " . $_FILES["file"]["error"] . "<br />"; } else { echo "Upload: " . $_FILES["file"]["name"] . "<br />"; echo "Type: " . $_FILES["file"]["type"] . "<br />"; echo "Size: " . ($_FILES["file"]["size"] / 1024) . " Kb<br />"; echo "Stored in: " . $_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"]; } } else { echo "Invalid file"; } ?> Note: For IE to recognize jpg files the type must be pjpeg, for FireFox it must be jpeg.
Saving the Uploaded File

The examples above create a temporary copy of the uploaded files in the PHP temp folder on the server. The temporary copied files disappears when the script ends. To store the uploaded file we need to copy it to a different location: <?php if ((($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/gif") || ($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/jpeg") || ($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/pjpeg")) && ($_FILES["file"]["size"] < 20000))
{ if ($_FILES["file"]["error"] > 0) { echo "Return Code: " . $_FILES["file"]["error"] . "<br />"; } else { echo "Upload: " . $_FILES["file"]["name"] . "<br />"; echo "Type: " . $_FILES["file"]["type"] . "<br />"; echo "Size: " . ($_FILES["file"]["size"] / 1024) . " Kb<br />"; echo "Temp file: " . $_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"] . "<br />"; if (file_exists("upload/" . $_FILES["file"]["name"])) { echo $_FILES["file"]["name"] . " already exists. "; } else { move_uploaded_file($_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"], "upload/" . $_FILES["file"]["name"]); echo "Stored in: " . "upload/" . $_FILES["file"]["name"]; } } } else { echo "Invalid file"; } ?> The script above checks if the file already exists, if it does not, it copies the file to the specified folder. Note: This example saves the file to a new folder called "upload" A cookie is often used to identify a user.
What is a Cookie?
A cookie is often used to identify a user. A cookie is a small file that the server embeds on the user's computer. Each time the same computer requests a page with a browser, it will send the cookie too. With PHP, you can both create and retrieve cookie values.
How to Create a Cookie?

The setcookie() function is used to set a cookie. Note: The setcookie() function must appear BEFORE the <html> tag.
Syntax
setcookie(name, value, expire, path, domain);
Example 1
In the example below, we will create a cookie named "user" and assign the value "Alex Porter" to it. We also specify that the cookie should expire after one hour: <?php setcookie("user", "Alex Porter", time()+3600); ?> <html> ..... Note: The value of the cookie is automatically URLencoded when sending the cookie, and automatically decoded when received (to prevent URLencoding, use setrawcookie() instead).
Example 2
You can also set the expiration time of the cookie in another way. It may be easier than using seconds. <?php $expire=time()+60*60*24*30; setcookie("user", "Alex Porter", $expire); ?> <html> ..... In the example above the expiration time is set to a month (60 sec * 60 min * 24 hours * 30 days).
How to Retrieve a Cookie Value?
The PHP $_COOKIE variable is used to retrieve a cookie value. In the example below, we retrieve the value of the cookie named "user" and display it on a page: <?php // Print a cookie echo $_COOKIE["user"]; // A way to view all cookies print_r($_COOKIE); ?> In the following example we use the isset() function to find out if a cookie has been set: <html> <body> <?php if (isset($_COOKIE["user"])) echo "Welcome " . $_COOKIE["user"] . "!<br />"; else echo "Welcome guest!<br />"; ?> </body> </html>
How to Delete a Cookie?

When deleting a cookie you should assure that the expiration date is in the past. Delete example: <?php // set the expiration date to one hour ago setcookie("user", "", time()-3600); ?>
What if a Browser Does NOT Support Cookies?

If your application deals with browsers that do not support cookies, you will have to use other methods to pass information from one page to another in your application. One
method is to pass the data through forms (forms and user input are described earlier in this tutorial). The form below passes the user input to "welcome.php" when the user clicks on the "Submit" button: <html> <body> <form action="welcome.php" method="post"> Name: <input type="text" name="name" /> Age: <input type="text" name="age" /> <input type="submit" /> </form> </body> </html> Retrieve the values in the "welcome.php" file like this: <html> <body> Welcome <?php echo $_POST["name"]; ?>.<br /> You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old. </body> </html>
A PHP session variable is used to store information about, or change settings for a user session. Session variables hold information about one single user, and are available to all pages in one application.
PHP Session Variables

When you are working with an application, you open it, do some changes and then you close it. This is much like a Session. The computer knows who you are. It knows when you start the application and when you end. But on the internet there is one problem: the web server does not know who you are and what you do because the HTTP address doesn't maintain state. A PHP session solves this problem by allowing you to store user information on the server for later use (i.e. username, shopping items, etc). However, session information is
temporary and will be deleted after the user has left the website. If you need a permanent storage you may want to store the data in a database. Sessions work by creating a unique id (UID) for each visitor and store variables based on this UID. The UID is either stored in a cookie or is propagated in the URL.
Starting a PHP Session

Before you can store user information in your PHP session, you must first start up the session. Note: The session_start() function must appear BEFORE the <html> tag: <?php session_start(); ?> <html> <body> </body> </html> The code above will register the user's session with the server, allow you to start saving user information, and assign a UID for that user's session.
Storing a Session Variable

The correct way to store and retrieve session variables is to use the PHP $_SESSION variable: <?php session_start(); // store session data $_SESSION['views']=1; ?> <html> <body> <?php //retrieve session data echo "Pageviews=". $_SESSION['views']; ?>
</body> </html> Output: Pageviews=1 In the example below, we create a simple page-views counter. The isset() function checks if the "views" variable has already been set. If "views" has been set, we can increment our counter. If "views" doesn't exist, we create a "views" variable, and set it to 1: <?php session_start(); if(isset($_SESSION['views'])) $_SESSION['views']=$_SESSION['views']+1; else $_SESSION['views']=1; echo "Views=". $_SESSION['views']; ?>
Destroying a Session
If you wish to delete some session data, you can use the unset() or the session_destroy() function. The unset() function is used to free the specified session variable: <?php unset($_SESSION['views']); ?> You can also completely destroy the session by calling the session_destroy() function: <?php session_destroy(); ?> Note: session_destroy() will reset your session and you will lose all your stored session data. PHP allows you to send e-mails directly from a script.
The PHP mail() Function

The PHP mail() function is used to send emails from inside a script. Syntax mail(to,subject,message,headers,parameters) Parameter to subject message headers parameters Description Required. Specifies the receiver / receivers of the email Required. Specifies the subject of the email. Note: This parameter cannot contain any newline characters Required. Defines the message to be sent. Each line should be separated with a LF (\n). Lines should not exceed 70 characters Optional. Specifies additional headers, like From, Cc, and Bcc. The additional headers should be separated with a CRLF (\r\n) Optional. Specifies an additional parameter to the sendmail program
Note: For the mail functions to be available, PHP requires an installed and working email system. The program to be used is defined by the configuration settings in the php.ini file. Read more in our PHP Mail reference.
PHP Simple E-Mail

The simplest way to send an email with PHP is to send a text email. In the example below we first declare the variables ($to, $subject, $message, $from, $headers), then we use the variables in the mail() function to send an e-mail: <?php $to = "someone@example.com"; $subject = "Test mail"; $message = "Hello! This is a simple email message."; $from = "someonelse@example.com"; $headers = "From:" . $from; mail($to,$subject,$message,$headers); echo "Mail Sent."; ?>
PHP Mail Form
With PHP, you can create a feedback-form on your website. The example below sends a text message to a specified e-mail address: <html> <body> <?php if (isset($_REQUEST['email'])) //if "email" is filled out, send email { //send email $email = $_REQUEST['email'] ; $subject = $_REQUEST['subject'] ; $message = $_REQUEST['message'] ; mail("someone@example.com", "$subject", $message, "From:" . $email); echo "Thank you for using our mail form"; } else //if "email" is not filled out, display the form { echo "<form method='post' action='mailform.php'> Email: <input name='email' type='text' /><br /> Subject: <input name='subject' type='text' /><br /> Message:<br /> <textarea name='message' rows='15' cols='40'> </textarea><br /> <input type='submit' /> </form>"; } ?> </body> </html> This is how the example above works: First, check if the email input field is filled out If it is not set (like when the page is first visited); output the HTML form If it is set (after the form is filled out); send the email from the form When submit is pressed after the form is filled out, the page reloads, sees that the email input is set, and sends the email Note: This is the simplest way to send e-mail, but it is not secure. In the next chapter of this tutorial you can read more about vulnerabilities in e-mail scripts, and how to validate user input to make it more secure.
PHP Mail Reference

For more information about the PHP mail() function, visit our PHP Mail Reference. There is a weakness in the PHP e-mail script in the previous chapter.
PHP E-mail Injections

First, look at the PHP code from the previous chapter: <html> <body> <?php if (isset($_REQUEST['email'])) //if "email" is filled out, send email { //send email $email = $_REQUEST['email'] ; $subject = $_REQUEST['subject'] ; $message = $_REQUEST['message'] ; mail("someone@example.com", "Subject: $subject", $message, "From: $email" ); echo "Thank you for using our mail form"; } else //if "email" is not filled out, display the form { echo "<form method='post' action='mailform.php'> Email: <input name='email' type='text' /><br /> Subject: <input name='subject' type='text' /><br /> Message:<br /> <textarea name='message' rows='15' cols='40'> </textarea><br /> <input type='submit' /> </form>"; } ?> </body> </html> The problem with the code above is that unauthorized users can insert data into the mail headers via the input form.
What happens if the user adds the following text to the email input field in the form? someone@example.com%0ACc:person2@example.com %0ABcc:person3@example.com,person3@example.com, anotherperson4@example.com,person5@example.com %0ABTo:person6@example.com The mail() function puts the text above into the mail headers as usual, and now the header has an extra Cc:, Bcc:, and To: field. When the user clicks the submit button, the e-mail will be sent to all of the addresses above!
PHP Stopping E-mail Injections

The best way to stop e-mail injections is to validate the input. The code below is the same as in the previous chapter, but now we have added an input validator that checks the email field in the form: <html> <body> <?php function spamcheck($field) { //filter_var() sanitizes the e-mail //address using FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL $field=filter_var($field, FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL); //filter_var() validates the e-mail //address using FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL if(filter_var($field, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) { return TRUE; } else { return FALSE; } } if (isset($_REQUEST['email'])) {//if "email" is filled out, proceed //check if the email address is invalid $mailcheck = spamcheck($_REQUEST['email']); if ($mailcheck==FALSE)
{ echo "Invalid input"; } else {//send email $email = $_REQUEST['email'] ; $subject = $_REQUEST['subject'] ; $message = $_REQUEST['message'] ; mail("someone@example.com", "Subject: $subject", $message, "From: $email" ); echo "Thank you for using our mail form"; } } else {//if "email" is not filled out, display the form echo "<form method='post' action='mailform.php'> Email: <input name='email' type='text' /><br /> Subject: <input name='subject' type='text' /><br /> Message:<br /> <textarea name='message' rows='15' cols='40'> </textarea><br /> <input type='submit' /> </form>"; } ?> </body> </html> In the code above we use PHP filters to validate input:

The FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL filter removes all illegal e-mail characters from a string The FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL filter validates value as an e-mail address
You can read more about filters in our PHP Filter chapter. The default error handling in PHP is very simple. An error message with filename, line number and a message describing the error is sent to the browser.
PHP Error Handling

When creating scripts and web applications, error handling is an important part. If your code lacks error checking code, your program may look very unprofessional and you may be open to security risks.
This tutorial contains some of the most common error checking methods in PHP. We will show different error handling methods:

Simple "die()" statements Custom errors and error triggers Error reporting
Basic Error Handling: Using the die() function

The first example shows a simple script that opens a text file: <?php $file=fopen("welcome.txt","r"); ?> If the file does not exist you might get an error like this: Warning: fopen(welcome.txt) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in C:\webfolder\test.php on line 2 To avoid that the user gets an error message like the one above, we test if the file exist before we try to access it: <?php if(!file_exists("welcome.txt")) { die("File not found"); } else { $file=fopen("welcome.txt","r"); } ?> Now if the file does not exist you get an error like this: File not found The code above is more efficient than the earlier code, because it uses a simple error handling mechanism to stop the script after the error. However, simply stopping the script is not always the right way to go. Let's take a look at alternative PHP functions for handling errors.
Creating a Custom Error Handler

Creating a custom error handler is quite simple. We simply create a special function that can be called when an error occurs in PHP. This function must be able to handle a minimum of two parameters (error level and error message) but can accept up to five parameters (optionally: file, line-number, and the error context):
Syntax
error_function(error_level,error_message, error_file,error_line,error_context) Parameter error_level error_message error_file error_line error_context Description Required. Specifies the error report level for the user-defined error. Must be a value number. See table below for possible error report levels Required. Specifies the error message for the user-defined error Optional. Specifies the filename in which the error occurred Optional. Specifies the line number in which the error occurred Optional. Specifies an array containing every variable, and their values, in use when the error occurred
Error Report levels

These error report levels are the different types of error the user-defined error handler can be used for: Value Constant 2 E_WARNING 8 E_NOTICE Description Non-fatal run-time errors. Execution of the script is not halted Run-time notices. The script found something that might be an error, but could also happen when running a script normally Fatal user-generated error. This is like an E_ERROR set by the programmer using the PHP function trigger_error() Non-fatal user-generated warning. This is like an E_WARNING set by the programmer using the PHP function trigger_error()
256
E_USER_ERROR
512
E_USER_WARNING
1024 E_USER_NOTICE
User-generated notice. This is like an E_NOTICE set by the programmer using the PHP function trigger_error() 4096 E_RECOVERABLE_ERROR Catchable fatal error. This is like an E_ERROR but can be caught by a user defined handle (see also set_error_handler()) 8191 E_ALL All errors and warnings, except level E_STRICT (E_STRICT will be part of E_ALL as of PHP 6.0) Now lets create a function to handle errors: function customError($errno, $errstr) { echo "<b>Error:</b> [$errno] $errstr<br />"; echo "Ending Script"; die(); } The code above is a simple error handling function. When it is triggered, it gets the error level and an error message. It then outputs the error level and message and terminates the script. Now that we have created an error handling function we need to decide when it should be triggered.
Set Error Handler

The default error handler for PHP is the built in error handler. We are going to make the function above the default error handler for the duration of the script. It is possible to change the error handler to apply for only some errors, that way the script can handle different errors in different ways. However, in this example we are going to use our custom error handler for all errors: set_error_handler("customError"); Since we want our custom function to handle all errors, the set_error_handler() only needed one parameter, a second parameter could be added to specify an error level.
Example
Testing the error handler by trying to output variable that does not exist:
<?php //error handler function function customError($errno, $errstr) { echo "<b>Error:</b> [$errno] $errstr"; } //set error handler set_error_handler("customError"); //trigger error echo($test); ?> The output of the code above should be something like this: Error: [8] Undefined variable: test
Trigger an Error
In a script where users can input data it is useful to trigger errors when an illegal input occurs. In PHP, this is done by the trigger_error() function.
Example
In this example an error occurs if the "test" variable is bigger than "1": <?php $test=2; if ($test>1) { trigger_error("Value must be 1 or below"); } ?> The output of the code above should be something like this: Notice: Value must be 1 or below in C:\webfolder\test.php on line 6 An error can be triggered anywhere you wish in a script, and by adding a second parameter, you can specify what error level is triggered. Possible error types:
E_USER_ERROR - Fatal user-generated run-time error. Errors that can not be recovered from. Execution of the script is halted E_USER_WARNING - Non-fatal user-generated run-time warning. Execution of the script is not halted E_USER_NOTICE - Default. User-generated run-time notice. The script found something that might be an error, but could also happen when running a script normally
Example
In this example an E_USER_WARNING occurs if the "test" variable is bigger than "1". If an E_USER_WARNING occurs we will use our custom error handler and end the script: <?php //error handler function function customError($errno, $errstr) { echo "<b>Error:</b> [$errno] $errstr<br />"; echo "Ending Script"; die(); } //set error handler set_error_handler("customError",E_USER_WARNING); //trigger error $test=2; if ($test>1) { trigger_error("Value must be 1 or below",E_USER_WARNING); } ?> The output of the code above should be something like this: Error: [512] Value must be 1 or below Ending Script Now that we have learned to create our own errors and how to trigger them, lets take a look at error logging.
Error Logging
By default, PHP sends an error log to the servers logging system or a file, depending on how the error_log configuration is set in the php.ini file. By using the error_log() function you can send error logs to a specified file or a remote destination. Sending errors messages to yourself by e-mail can be a good way of getting notified of specific errors.
Send an Error Message by E-Mail

In the example below we will send an e-mail with an error message and end the script, if a specific error occurs: <?php //error handler function function customError($errno, $errstr) { echo "<b>Error:</b> [$errno] $errstr<br />"; echo "Webmaster has been notified"; error_log("Error: [$errno] $errstr",1, "someone@example.com","From: webmaster@example.com"); } //set error handler set_error_handler("customError",E_USER_WARNING); //trigger error $test=2; if ($test>1) { trigger_error("Value must be 1 or below",E_USER_WARNING); } ?> The output of the code above should be something like this: Error: [512] Value must be 1 or below Webmaster has been notified And the mail received from the code above looks like this: Error: [512] Value must be 1 or below This should not be used with all errors. Regular errors should be logged on the server using the default PHP logging system. Exceptions are used to change the normal flow of a script if a specified error occurs
What is an Exception
With PHP 5 came a new object oriented way of dealing with errors. Exception handling is used to change the normal flow of the code execution if a specified error (exceptional) condition occurs. This condition is called an exception. This is what normally happens when an exception is triggered:

The current code state is saved The code execution will switch to a predefined (custom) exception handler function Depending on the situation, the handler may then resume the execution from the saved code state, terminate the script execution or continue the script from a different location in the code
We will show different error handling methods:

Basic use of Exceptions Creating a custom exception handler Multiple exceptions Re-throwing an exception Setting a top level exception handler
Note: Exceptions should only be used with error conditions, and should not be used to jump to another place in the code at a specified point.
Basic Use of Exceptions

When an exception is thrown, the code following it will not be executed, and PHP will try to find the matching "catch" block. If an exception is not caught, a fatal error will be issued with an "Uncaught Exception" message. Lets try to throw an exception without catching it: <?php //create function with an exception function checkNum($number) { if($number>1) {
throw new Exception("Value must be 1 or below"); } return true; } //trigger exception checkNum(2); ?> The code above will get an error like this: Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'Exception' with message 'Value must be 1 or below' in C:\webfolder\test.php:6 Stack trace: #0 C:\webfolder\test.php(12): checkNum(28) #1 {main} thrown in C:\webfolder\test.php on line 6
Try, throw and catch

To avoid the error from the example above, we need to create the proper code to handle an exception. Proper exception code should include: 1. Try - A function using an exception should be in a "try" block. If the exception does not trigger, the code will continue as normal. However if the exception triggers, an exception is "thrown" 2. Throw - This is how you trigger an exception. Each "throw" must have at least one "catch" 3. Catch - A "catch" block retrieves an exception and creates an object containing the exception information Lets try to trigger an exception with valid code: <?php //create function with an exception function checkNum($number) { if($number>1) { throw new Exception("Value must be 1 or below"); } return true; } //trigger exception in a "try" block try
{ checkNum(2); //If the exception is thrown, this text will not be shown echo 'If you see this, the number is 1 or below'; } //catch exception catch(Exception $e) { echo 'Message: ' .$e->getMessage(); } ?> The code above will get an error like this: Message: Value must be 1 or below
Example explained:
The code above throws an exception and catches it: 1. The checkNum() function is created. It checks if a number is greater than 1. If it is, an exception is thrown 2. The checkNum() function is called in a "try" block 3. The exception within the checkNum() function is thrown 4. The "catch" block retrives the exception and creates an object ($e) containing the exception information 5. The error message from the exception is echoed by calling $e->getMessage() from the exception object However, one way to get around the "every throw must have a catch" rule is to set a top level exception handler to handle errors that slip through.
Creating a Custom Exception Class

Creating a custom exception handler is quite simple. We simply create a special class with functions that can be called when an exception occurs in PHP. The class must be an extension of the exception class. The custom exception class inherits the properties from PHP's exception class and you can add custom functions to it. Lets create an exception class:
<?php class customException extends Exception { public function errorMessage() { //error message $errorMsg = 'Error on line '.$this->getLine().' in '.$this->getFile() .': <b>'.$this->getMessage().'</b> is not a valid E-Mail address'; return $errorMsg; } } $email = "someone@example...com"; try { //check if if(filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL) === FALSE) { //throw exception if email is not valid throw new customException($email); } } catch (customException $e) { //display custom message echo $e->errorMessage(); } ?> The new class is a copy of the old exception class with an addition of the errorMessage() function. Since it is a copy of the old class, and it inherits the properties and methods from the old class, we can use the exception class methods like getLine() and getFile() and getMessage().
Example explained:
The code above throws an exception and catches it with a custom exception class: 1. The customException() class is created as an extension of the old exception class. This way it inherits all methods and properties from the old exception class 2. The errorMessage() function is created. This function returns an error message if an e-mail address is invalid 3. The $email variable is set to a string that is not a valid e-mail address
4. The "try" block is executed and an exception is thrown since the e-mail address is invalid 5. The "catch" block catches the exception and displays the error message
Multiple Exceptions
It is possible for a script to use multiple exceptions to check for multiple conditions. It is possible to use several if..else blocks, a switch, or nest multiple exceptions. These exceptions can use different exception classes and return different error messages: <?php class customException extends Exception { public function errorMessage() { //error message $errorMsg = 'Error on line '.$this->getLine().' in '.$this->getFile() .': <b>'.$this->getMessage().'</b> is not a valid E-Mail address'; return $errorMsg; } } $email = "someone@example.com"; try { //check if if(filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL) === FALSE) { //throw exception if email is not valid throw new customException($email); } //check for "example" in mail address if(strpos($email, "example") !== FALSE) { throw new Exception("$email is an example e-mail"); } } catch (customException $e) { echo $e->errorMessage(); }
catch(Exception $e) { echo $e->getMessage(); } ?>
Example explained:
The code above tests two conditions and throws an exception if any of the conditions are not met: 1. The customException() class is created as an extension of the old exception class. This way it inherits all methods and properties from the old exception class 2. The errorMessage() function is created. This function returns an error message if an e-mail address is invalid 3. The $email variable is set to a string that is a valid e-mail address, but contains the string "example" 4. The "try" block is executed and an exception is not thrown on the first condition 5. The second condition triggers an exception since the e-mail contains the string "example" 6. The "catch" block catches the exception and displays the correct error message If there was no customException catch, only the base exception catch, the exception would be handled there
Re-throwing Exceptions
Sometimes, when an exception is thrown, you may wish to handle it differently than the standard way. It is possible to throw an exception a second time within a "catch" block. A script should hide system errors from users. System errors may be important for the coder, but is of no interest to the user. To make things easier for the user you can rethrow the exception with a user friendly message: <?php class customException extends Exception { public function errorMessage() { //error message $errorMsg = $this->getMessage().' is not a valid E-Mail address.'; return $errorMsg; } }
$email = "someone@example.com"; try { try { //check for "example" in mail address if(strpos($email, "example") !== FALSE) { //throw exception if email is not valid throw new Exception($email); } } catch(Exception $e) { //re-throw exception throw new customException($email); } } catch (customException $e) { //display custom message echo $e->errorMessage(); } ?>
Example explained:
The code above tests if the email-address contains the string "example" in it, if it does, the exception is re-thrown: 1. The customException() class is created as an extension of the old exception class. This way it inherits all methods and properties from the old exception class 2. The errorMessage() function is created. This function returns an error message if an e-mail address is invalid 3. The $email variable is set to a string that is a valid e-mail address, but contains the string "example" 4. The "try" block contains another "try" block to make it possible to re-throw the exception 5. The exception is triggered since the e-mail contains the string "example" 6. The "catch" block catches the exception and re-throws a "customException" 7. The "customException" is caught and displays an error message
If the exception is not caught in its current "try" block, it will search for a catch block on "higher levels".
Set a Top Level Exception Handler

The set_exception_handler() function sets a user-defined function to handle all uncaught exceptions. <?php function myException($exception) { echo "<b>Exception:</b> " , $exception->getMessage(); } set_exception_handler('myException'); throw new Exception('Uncaught Exception occurred'); ?> The output of the code above should be something like this: Exception: Uncaught Exception occurred In the code above there was no "catch" block. Instead, the top level exception handler triggered. This function should be used to catch uncaught exceptions.
Rules for exceptions

Code may be surrounded in a try block, to help catch potential exceptions Each try block or "throw" must have at least one corresponding catch block Multiple catch blocks can be used to catch different classes of exceptions Exceptions can be thrown (or re-thrown) in a catch block within a try block
A simple rule: If you throw something, you have to catch it. PHP filters are used to validate and filter data coming from insecure sources, like user input.
What is a PHP Filter?

A PHP filter is used to validate and filter data coming from insecure sources.
To test, validate and filter user input or custom data is an important part of any web application. The PHP filter extension is designed to make data filtering easier and quicker.
Why use a Filter?

Almost all web applications depend on external input. Usually this comes from a user or another application (like a web service). By using filters you can be sure your application gets the correct input type. You should always filter all external data! Input filtering is one of the most important application security issues. What is external data?

Input data from a form Cookies Web services data Server variables Database query results
Functions and Filters

To filter a variable, use one of the following filter functions:

filter_var() - Filters a single variable with a specified filter filter_var_array() - Filter several variables with the same or different filters filter_input - Get one input variable and filter it filter_input_array - Get several input variables and filter them with the same or different filters
In the example below, we validate an integer using the filter_var() function: <?php $int = 123; if(!filter_var($int, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT)) { echo("Integer is not valid"); } else
{ echo("Integer is valid"); } ?> The code above uses the "FILTER_VALIDATE_INT" filter to filter the variable. Since the integer is valid, the output of the code above will be: "Integer is valid". If we try with a variable that is not an integer (like "123abc"), the output will be: "Integer is not valid". For a complete list of functions and filters, visit our PHP Filter Reference.
Validating and Sanitizing

There are two kinds of filters: Validating filters:

Are used to validate user input Strict format rules (like URL or E-Mail validating) Returns the expected type on success or FALSE on failure
Sanitizing filters:

Are used to allow or disallow specified characters in a string No data format rules Always return the string
Options and Flags

Options and flags are used to add additional filtering options to the specified filters. Different filters have different options and flags. In the example below, we validate an integer using the filter_var() and the "min_range" and "max_range" options: <?php $var=300; $int_options = array( "options"=>array
( "min_range"=>0, "max_range"=>256 ) ); if(!filter_var($var, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT, $int_options)) { echo("Integer is not valid"); } else { echo("Integer is valid"); } ?> Like the code above, options must be put in an associative array with the name "options". If a flag is used it does not need to be in an array. Since the integer is "300" it is not in the specified range, and the output of the code above will be: "Integer is not valid". For a complete list of functions and filters, visit our PHP Filter Reference. Check each filter to see what options and flags are available.
Validate Input
Let's try validating input from a form. The first thing we need to do is to confirm that the input data we are looking for exists. Then we filter the input data using the filter_input() function. In the example below, the input variable "email" is sent to the PHP page: <?php if(!filter_has_var(INPUT_GET, "email")) { echo("Input type does not exist"); } else { if (!filter_input(INPUT_GET, "email", FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) { echo "E-Mail is not valid";
} else { echo "E-Mail is valid"; } } ?>
Example Explained
The example above has an input (email) sent to it using the "GET" method: 1. Check if an "email" input variable of the "GET" type exist 2. If the input variable exists, check if it is a valid e-mail address
Sanitize Input
Let's try cleaning up an URL sent from a form. First we confirm that the input data we are looking for exists. Then we sanitize the input data using the filter_input() function. In the example below, the input variable "url" is sent to the PHP page: <?php if(!filter_has_var(INPUT_POST, "url")) { echo("Input type does not exist"); } else { $url = filter_input(INPUT_POST, "url", FILTER_SANITIZE_URL); } ?>
Example Explained
The example above has an input (url) sent to it using the "POST" method: 1. Check if the "url" input of the "POST" type exists 2. If the input variable exists, sanitize (take away invalid characters) and store it in the $url variable
If the input variable is a string like this "http://www.W3Schools.com/", the $url variable after the sanitizing will look like this: http://www.W3Schools.com/
Filter Multiple Inputs

A form almost always consist of more than one input field. To avoid calling the filter_var or filter_input functions over and over, we can use the filter_var_array or the filter_input_array functions. In this example we use the filter_input_array() function to filter three GET variables. The received GET variables is a name, an age and an e-mail address: <?php $filters = array ( "name" => array ( "filter"=>FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING ), "age" => array ( "filter"=>FILTER_VALIDATE_INT, "options"=>array ( "min_range"=>1, "max_range"=>120 ) ), "email"=> FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL, ); $result = filter_input_array(INPUT_GET, $filters); if (!$result["age"]) { echo("Age must be a number between 1 and 120.<br />"); } elseif(!$result["email"]) { echo("E-Mail is not valid.<br />"); } else {
echo("User input is valid"); } ?>
Example Explained
The example above has three inputs (name, age and email) sent to it using the "GET" method: 1. Set an array containing the name of input variables and the filters used on the specified input variables 2. Call the filter_input_array() function with the GET input variables and the array we just set 3. Check the "age" and "email" variables in the $result variable for invalid inputs. (If any of the input variables are invalid, that input variable will be FALSE after the filter_input_array() function) The second parameter of the filter_input_array() function can be an array or a single filter ID. If the parameter is a single filter ID all values in the input array are filtered by the specified filter. If the parameter is an array it must follow these rules:

Must be an associative array containing an input variable as an array key (like the "age" input variable) The array value must be a filter ID or an array specifying the filter, flags and options
Using Filter Callback

It is possible to call a user defined function and use it as a filter using the FILTER_CALLBACK filter. This way, we have full control of the data filtering. You can create your own user defined function or use an existing PHP function The function you wish to use to filter is specified the same way as an option is specified. In an associative array with the name "options" In the example below, we use a user created function to convert all "_" to whitespaces: <?php function convertSpace($string)
{ return str_replace("_", " ", $string); } $string = "Peter_is_a_great_guy!"; echo filter_var($string, FILTER_CALLBACK, array("options"=>"convertSpace")); ?> The result from the code above should look like this: Peter is a great guy!
Example Explained
The example above converts all "_" to whitespaces: 1. Create a function to replace "_" to whitespaces 2. Call the filter_var() function with the FILTER_CALLBACK filter and an array containing our function MySQL is the most popular open-source database system.
What is MySQL?
MySQL is a database. The data in MySQL is stored in database objects called tables. A table is a collection of related data entries and it consists of columns and rows. Databases are useful when storing information categorically. A company may have a database with the following tables: "Employees", "Products", "Customers" and "Orders".
Database Tables
A database most often contains one or more tables. Each table is identified by a name (e.g. "Customers" or "Orders"). Tables contain records (rows) with data. Below is an example of a table called "Persons":
LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen
FirstName Ola Tove Kari
Address Timoteivn 10 Borgvn 23 Storgt 20
City Sandnes Sandnes Stavanger
The table above contains three records (one for each person) and four columns (LastName, FirstName, Address, and City).
Queries
A query is a question or a request. With MySQL, we can query a database for specific information and have a recordset returned. Look at the following query: SELECT LastName FROM Persons The query above selects all the data in the "LastName" column from the "Persons" table, and will return a recordset like this: LastName Hansen Svendson Pettersen
Download MySQL Database

If you don't have a PHP server with a MySQL Database, you can download MySQL for free here: http://www.mysql.com/downloads/index.html
Facts About MySQL Database

One great thing about MySQL is that it can be scaled down to support embedded database applications. Perhaps it is because of this reputation that many people believe that MySQL can only handle small to medium-sized systems.
The truth is that MySQL is the de-facto standard database for web sites that support huge volumes of both data and end users (like Friendster, Yahoo, Google). Look at http://www.mysql.com/customers/ for an overview of companies using MySQL. The free MySQL database is very often used with PHP.
Create a Connection to a MySQL Database

Before you can access data in a database, you must create a connection to the database. In PHP, this is done with the mysql_connect() function.
Syntax
mysql_connect(servername,username,password); Parameter servername username password Description Optional. Specifies the server to connect to. Default value is "localhost:3306" Optional. Specifies the username to log in with. Default value is the name of the user that owns the server process Optional. Specifies the password to log in with. Default is ""
Note: There are more available parameters, but the ones listed above are the most important. Visit our full PHP MySQL Reference for more details.
Example
In the following example we store the connection in a variable ($con) for later use in the script. The "die" part will be executed if the connection fails: <?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } // some code ?>
Closing a Connection
The connection will be closed automatically when the script ends. To close the connection before, use the mysql_close() function: <?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } // some code mysql_close($con); ?>
A database holds one or multiple tables.
Create a Database
The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a database in MySQL.
Syntax
CREATE DATABASE database_name To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial. To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
Example
The following example creates a database called "my_db": <?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); }
if (mysql_query("CREATE DATABASE my_db",$con)) { echo "Database created"; } else { echo "Error creating database: " . mysql_error(); } mysql_close($con); ?>
Create a Table
The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a table in MySQL.
Syntax
CREATE TABLE table_name ( column_name1 data_type, column_name2 data_type, column_name3 data_type, .... ) To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial. We must add the CREATE TABLE statement to the mysql_query() function to execute the command.
Example
The following example creates a table named "Persons", with three columns. The column names will be "FirstName", "LastName" and "Age": <?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } // Create database if (mysql_query("CREATE DATABASE my_db",$con))
{ echo "Database created"; } else { echo "Error creating database: " . mysql_error(); } // Create table mysql_select_db("my_db", $con); $sql = "CREATE TABLE Persons ( FirstName varchar(15), LastName varchar(15), Age int )"; // Execute query mysql_query($sql,$con); mysql_close($con); ?> Important: A database must be selected before a table can be created. The database is selected with the mysql_select_db() function. Note: When you create a database field of type varchar, you must specify the maximum length of the field, e.g. varchar(15). The data type specifies what type of data the column can hold. For a complete reference of all the data types available in MySQL, go to our complete Data Types reference.
Primary Keys and Auto Increment Fields

Each table should have a primary key field. A primary key is used to uniquely identify the rows in a table. Each primary key value must be unique within the table. Furthermore, the primary key field cannot be null because the database engine requires a value to locate the record. The following example sets the personID field as the primary key field. The primary key field is often an ID number, and is often used with the AUTO_INCREMENT setting. AUTO_INCREMENT automatically increases the value of the field by 1 each time a new record is added. To ensure that the primary key field cannot be null, we must add the NOT NULL setting to the field.
Example
$sql = "CREATE TABLE Persons ( personID int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, PRIMARY KEY(personID), FirstName varchar(15), LastName varchar(15), Age int )"; mysql_query($sql,$con);
The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new records in a table.
Insert Data Into a Database Table

The INSERT INTO statement is used to add new records to a database table.
Syntax
It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two forms. The first form doesn't specify the column names where the data will be inserted, only their values: INSERT INTO table_name VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...) The second form specifies both the column names and the values to be inserted: INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3,...) VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...) To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial. To get PHP to execute the statements above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
Example
In the previous chapter we created a table named "Persons", with three columns; "Firstname", "Lastname" and "Age". We will use the same table in this example. The following example adds two new records to the "Persons" table: <?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } mysql_select_db("my_db", $con); mysql_query("INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName, Age) VALUES ('Peter', 'Griffin', '35')"); mysql_query("INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName, Age) VALUES ('Glenn', 'Quagmire', '33')"); mysql_close($con); ?>
Insert Data From a Form Into a Database

Now we will create an HTML form that can be used to add new records to the "Persons" table. Here is the HTML form: <html> <body> <form action="insert.php" method="post"> Firstname: <input type="text" name="firstname" /> Lastname: <input type="text" name="lastname" /> Age: <input type="text" name="age" /> <input type="submit" /> </form> </body> </html>
When a user clicks the submit button in the HTML form in the example above, the form data is sent to "insert.php". The "insert.php" file connects to a database, and retrieves the values from the form with the PHP $_POST variables. Then, the mysql_query() function executes the INSERT INTO statement, and a new record will be added to the "Persons" table. Here is the "insert.php" page: <?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } mysql_select_db("my_db", $con); $sql="INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName, Age) VALUES ('$_POST[firstname]','$_POST[lastname]','$_POST[age]')"; if (!mysql_query($sql,$con)) { die('Error: ' . mysql_error()); } echo "1 record added"; mysql_close($con) ?>
The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database.
Select Data From a Database Table

The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database.
Syntax
SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name
To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial. To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
Example
The following example selects all the data stored in the "Persons" table (The * character selects all the data in the table): <?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } mysql_select_db("my_db", $con); $result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Persons"); while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) { echo $row['FirstName'] . " " . $row['LastName']; echo "<br />"; } mysql_close($con); ?> The example above stores the data returned by the mysql_query() function in the $result variable. Next, we use the mysql_fetch_array() function to return the first row from the recordset as an array. Each call to mysql_fetch_array() returns the next row in the recordset. The while loop loops through all the records in the recordset. To print the value of each row, we use the PHP $row variable ($row['FirstName'] and $row['LastName']). The output of the code above will be: Peter Griffin Glenn Quagmire
Display the Result in an HTML Table
The following example selects the same data as the example above, but will display the data in an HTML table: <?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } mysql_select_db("my_db", $con); $result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Persons"); echo "<table border='1'> <tr> <th>Firstname</th> <th>Lastname</th> </tr>"; while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) { echo "<tr>"; echo "<td>" . $row['FirstName'] . "</td>"; echo "<td>" . $row['LastName'] . "</td>"; echo "</tr>"; } echo "</table>"; mysql_close($con); ?> The output of the code above will be: Firstname Lastname Glenn Peter Quagmire Griffin
The WHERE clause is used to filter records.
The WHERE clause
The WHERE clause is used to extract only those records that fulfill a specified criterion.
Syntax
SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name WHERE column_name operator value To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial. To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
Example
The following example selects all rows from the "Persons" table where "FirstName='Peter': <?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } mysql_select_db("my_db", $con); $result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Peter'"); while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) { echo $row['FirstName'] . " " . $row['LastName']; echo "<br />"; } ?> The output of the code above will be: Peter Griffin
The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the data in a recordset.
The ORDER BY Keyword

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the data in a recordset. The ORDER BY keyword sort the records in ascending order by default. If you want to sort the records in a descending order, you can use the DESC keyword.
Syntax
SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name ORDER BY column_name(s) ASC|DESC To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.
Example
The following example selects all the data stored in the "Persons" table, and sorts the result by the "Age" column: <?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } mysql_select_db("my_db", $con); $result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Persons ORDER BY age"); while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) { echo $row['FirstName']; echo " " . $row['LastName']; echo " " . $row['Age']; echo "<br />"; } mysql_close($con); ?> The output of the code above will be: Glenn Quagmire 33
Peter Griffin 35
Order by Two Columns

It is also possible to order by more than one column. When ordering by more than one column, the second column is only used if the values in the first column are equal: SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name ORDER BY column1, column2
The UPDATE statement is used to modify data in a table.
Update Data In a Database

The UPDATE statement is used to update existing records in a table.
Syntax
UPDATE table_name SET column1=value, column2=value2,... WHERE some_column=some_value Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the UPDATE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be updated. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be updated! To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial. To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
Example
Earlier in the tutorial we created a table named "Persons". Here is how it looks: FirstName Peter Glenn LastName Griffin Quagmire Age 35 33
The following example updates some data in the "Persons" table:
<?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } mysql_select_db("my_db", $con); mysql_query("UPDATE Persons SET Age = '36' WHERE FirstName = 'Peter' AND LastName = 'Griffin'"); mysql_close($con); ?> After the update, the "Persons" table will look like this: FirstName Peter Glenn LastName Griffin Quagmire Age 36 33
The DELETE statement is used to delete records in a table.
Delete Data In a Database

The DELETE FROM statement is used to delete records from a database table.
Syntax
DELETE FROM table_name WHERE some_column = some_value Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the DELETE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be deleted. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be deleted! To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial. To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
Example
Look at the following "Persons" table: FirstName Peter Glenn LastName Griffin Quagmire Age 35 33
The following example deletes all the records in the "Persons" table where LastName='Griffin': <?php $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123"); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } mysql_select_db("my_db", $con); mysql_query("DELETE FROM Persons WHERE LastName='Griffin'"); mysql_close($con); ?> After the deletion, the table will look like this: FirstName Glenn LastName Quagmire Age 33
ODBC is an Application Programming Interface (API) that allows you to connect to a data source (e.g. an MS Access database).
Create an ODBC Connection

With an ODBC connection, you can connect to any database, on any computer in your network, as long as an ODBC connection is available. Here is how to create an ODBC connection to a MS Access Database: 1. Open the Administrative Tools icon in your Control Panel.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Double-click on the Data Sources (ODBC) icon inside. Choose the System DSN tab. Click on Add in the System DSN tab. Select the Microsoft Access Driver. Click Finish. In the next screen, click Select to locate the database. Give the database a Data Source Name (DSN). Click OK.
Note that this configuration has to be done on the computer where your web site is located. If you are running Internet Information Server (IIS) on your own computer, the instructions above will work, but if your web site is located on a remote server, you have to have physical access to that server, or ask your web host to to set up a DSN for you to use.
Connecting to an ODBC
The odbc_connect() function is used to connect to an ODBC data source. The function takes four parameters: the data source name, username, password, and an optional cursor type. The odbc_exec() function is used to execute an SQL statement.
Example
The following example creates a connection to a DSN called northwind, with no username and no password. It then creates an SQL and executes it: $conn=odbc_connect('northwind','',''); $sql="SELECT * FROM customers"; $rs=odbc_exec($conn,$sql);
Retrieving Records
The odbc_fetch_row() function is used to return records from the result-set. This function returns true if it is able to return rows, otherwise false. The function takes two parameters: the ODBC result identifier and an optional row number: odbc_fetch_row($rs)
Retrieving Fields from a Record

The odbc_result() function is used to read fields from a record. This function takes two parameters: the ODBC result identifier and a field number or name. The code line below returns the value of the first field from the record: $compname=odbc_result($rs,1); The code line below returns the value of a field called "CompanyName": $compname=odbc_result($rs,"CompanyName");
Closing an ODBC Connection

The odbc_close() function is used to close an ODBC connection. odbc_close($conn);
An ODBC Example
The following example shows how to first create a database connection, then a result-set, and then display the data in an HTML table. <html> <body> <?php $conn=odbc_connect('northwind','',''); if (!$conn) {exit("Connection Failed: " . $conn);} $sql="SELECT * FROM customers"; $rs=odbc_exec($conn,$sql); if (!$rs) {exit("Error in SQL");} echo "<table><tr>"; echo "<th>Companyname</th>"; echo "<th>Contactname</th></tr>"; while (odbc_fetch_row($rs)) { $compname=odbc_result($rs,"CompanyName"); $conname=odbc_result($rs,"ContactName"); echo "<tr><td>$compname</td>";
echo "<td>$conname</td></tr>"; } odbc_close($conn); echo "</table>"; ?> </body> </html>
The built-in Expat parser makes it possible to process XML documents in PHP.
What is XML?
XML is used to describe data and to focus on what data is. An XML file describes the structure of the data. In XML, no tags are predefined. You must define your own tags. If you want to learn more about XML, please visit our XML tutorial.
What is Expat?
To read and update - create and manipulate - an XML document, you will need an XML parser. There are two basic types of XML parsers:
Tree-based parser: This parser transforms an XML document into a tree structure. It analyzes the whole document, and provides access to the tree elements. e.g. the Document Object Model (DOM) Event-based parser: Views an XML document as a series of events. When a specific event occurs, it calls a function to handle it
The Expat parser is an event-based parser. Event-based parsers focus on the content of the XML documents, not their structure. Because of this, event-based parsers can access data faster than tree-based parsers. Look at the following XML fraction: <from>Jani</from>
An event-based parser reports the XML above as a series of three events:

Start element: from Start CDATA section, value: Jani Close element: from
The XML example above contains well-formed XML. However, the example is not valid XML, because there is no Document Type Definition (DTD) associated with it. However, this makes no difference when using the Expat parser. Expat is a nonvalidating parser, and ignores any DTDs. As an event-based, non-validating XML parser, Expat is fast and small, and a perfect match for PHP web applications. Note: XML documents must be well-formed or Expat will generate an error.
Installation
The XML Expat parser functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
An XML File
The XML file below will be used in our example: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <note> <to>Tove</to> <from>Jani</from> <heading>Reminder</heading> <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body> </note>
Initializing the XML Parser

We want to initialize the XML parser in PHP, define some handlers for different XML events, and then parse the XML file.
Example
<?php
//Initialize the XML parser $parser=xml_parser_create(); //Function to use at the start of an element function start($parser,$element_name,$element_attrs) { switch($element_name) { case "NOTE": echo "-- Note --<br />"; break; case "TO": echo "To: "; break; case "FROM": echo "From: "; break; case "HEADING": echo "Heading: "; break; case "BODY": echo "Message: "; } } //Function to use at the end of an element function stop($parser,$element_name) { echo "<br />"; } //Function to use when finding character data function char($parser,$data) { echo $data; } //Specify element handler xml_set_element_handler($parser,"start","stop"); //Specify data handler xml_set_character_data_handler($parser,"char"); //Open XML file $fp=fopen("test.xml","r");
//Read data while ($data=fread($fp,4096)) { xml_parse($parser,$data,feof($fp)) or die (sprintf("XML Error: %s at line %d", xml_error_string(xml_get_error_code($parser)), xml_get_current_line_number($parser))); } //Free the XML parser xml_parser_free($parser); ?> The output of the code above will be: -- Note -To: Tove From: Jani Heading: Reminder Message: Don't forget me this weekend! How it works: 1. Initialize the XML parser with the xml_parser_create() function 2. Create functions to use with the different event handlers 3. Add the xml_set_element_handler() function to specify which function will be executed when the parser encounters the opening and closing tags 4. Add the xml_set_character_data_handler() function to specify which function will execute when the parser encounters character data 5. Parse the file "test.xml" with the xml_parse() function 6. In case of an error, add xml_error_string() function to convert an XML error to a textual description 7. Call the xml_parser_free() function to release the memory allocated with the xml_parser_create() function
More PHP Expat Parser

For more information about the PHP Expat functions, visit our PHP XML Parser Reference. The built-in DOM parser makes it possible to process XML documents in PHP.
What is DOM?
The W3C DOM provides a standard set of objects for HTML and XML documents, and a standard interface for accessing and manipulating them. The W3C DOM is separated into different parts (Core, XML, and HTML) and different levels (DOM Level 1/2/3): * Core DOM - defines a standard set of objects for any structured document * XML DOM - defines a standard set of objects for XML documents * HTML DOM - defines a standard set of objects for HTML documents If you want to learn more about the XML DOM, please visit our XML DOM tutorial.
XML Parsing
To read and update - create and manipulate - an XML document, you will need an XML parser. There are two basic types of XML parsers:

Tree-based parser: This parser transforms an XML document into a tree structure. It analyzes the whole document, and provides access to the tree elements Event-based parser: Views an XML document as a series of events. When a specific event occurs, it calls a function to handle it
The DOM parser is an tree-based parser. Look at the following XML document fraction: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <from>Jani</from> The XML DOM sees the XML above as a tree structure:

Level 1: XML Document Level 2: Root element: <from> Level 3: Text element: "Jani"
Installation
The DOM XML parser functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
An XML File
The XML file below will be used in our example: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <note> <to>Tove</to> <from>Jani</from> <heading>Reminder</heading> <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body> </note>
Load and Output XML

We want to initialize the XML parser, load the xml, and output it:
Example
<?php $xmlDoc = new DOMDocument(); $xmlDoc->load("note.xml"); print $xmlDoc->saveXML(); ?> The output of the code above will be: Tove Jani Reminder Don't forget me this weekend! If you select "View source" in the browser window, you will see the following HTML: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <note> <to>Tove</to> <from>Jani</from> <heading>Reminder</heading> <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body> </note> The example above creates a DOMDocument-Object and loads the XML from "note.xml" into it. Then the saveXML() function puts the internal XML document into a string, so we can output it.
Looping through XML

We want to initialize the XML parser, load the XML, and loop through all elements of the <note> element:
Example
<?php $xmlDoc = new DOMDocument(); $xmlDoc->load("note.xml"); $x = $xmlDoc->documentElement; foreach ($x->childNodes AS $item) { print $item->nodeName . " = " . $item->nodeValue . "<br />"; } ?> The output of the code above will be: #text = to = Tove #text = from = Jani #text = heading = Reminder #text = body = Don't forget me this weekend! #text = In the example above you see that there are empty text nodes between each element. When XML generates, it often contains white-spaces between the nodes. The XML DOM parser treats these as ordinary elements, and if you are not aware of them, they sometimes cause problems.
If you want to learn more about the XML DOM, please visit our XML DOM tutorial. SimpleXML handles the most common XML tasks and leaves the rest for other extensions.
What is SimpleXML?
SimpleXML is new in PHP 5. It is an easy way of getting an element's attributes and text, if you know the XML document's layout. Compared to DOM or the Expat parser, SimpleXML just takes a few lines of code to read text data from an element. SimpleXML converts the XML document into an object, like this:

Elements - Are converted to single attributes of the SimpleXMLElement object. When there's more than one element on one level, they're placed inside an array Attributes - Are accessed using associative arrays, where an index corresponds to the attribute name Element Data - Text data from elements are converted to strings. If an element has more than one text node, they will be arranged in the order they are found
SimpleXML is fast and easy to use when performing basic tasks like:

Reading XML files Extracting data from XML strings Editing text nodes or attributes
However, when dealing with advanced XML, like namespaces, you are better off using the Expat parser or the XML DOM.
Installation
As of PHP 5.0, the SimpleXML functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
Using SimpleXML
Below is an XML file: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <note> <to>Tove</to> <from>Jani</from> <heading>Reminder</heading> <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body> </note> We want to output the element names and data from the XML file above.
Here's what to do: 1. 2. 3. 4. Load the XML file Get the name of the first element Create a loop that will trigger on each child node, using the children() function Output the element name and data for each child node
Example <?php $xml = simplexml_load_file("test.xml"); echo $xml->getName() . "<br />"; foreach($xml->children() as $child) { echo $child->getName() . ": " . $child . "<br />"; } ?> The output of the code above will be: note to: Tove from: Jani heading: Reminder body: Don't forget me this weekend!
More PHP SimpleXML

For more information about the PHP SimpleXML functions, visit our PHP SimpleXML Reference.
AJAX is about updating parts of a web page, without reloading the whole page.
What is AJAX?
AJAX = Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. AJAX is a technique for creating fast and dynamic web pages.
AJAX allows web pages to be updated asynchronously by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes. This means that it is possible to update parts of a web page, without reloading the whole page. Classic web pages, (which do not use AJAX) must reload the entire page if the content should change. Examples of applications using AJAX: Google Maps, Gmail, Youtube, and Facebook tabs.
How AJAX Works
AJAX is Based on Internet Standards

AJAX is based on internet standards, and uses a combination of:

XMLHttpRequest object (to exchange data asynchronously with a server) JavaScript/DOM (to display/interact with the information) CSS (to style the data) XML (often used as the format for transferring data)
AJAX applications are browser- and platform-independent!
Google Suggest
AJAX was made popular in 2005 by Google, with Google Suggest. Google Suggest is using AJAX to create a very dynamic web interface: When you start typing in Google's search box, a JavaScript sends the letters off to a server and the server returns a list of suggestions.
Start Using AJAX Today

In our PHP tutorial, we will demonstrate how AJAX can update parts of a web page, without reloading the whole page. The server script will be written in PHP. If you want to learn more about AJAX, visit our AJAX tutorial. AJAX is used to create more interactive applications.
AJAX PHP Example

The following example will demonstrate how a web page can communicate with a web server while a user type characters in an input field:
Example
Start typing a name in the input field below: First name: Suggestions:
Example Explained - The HTML Page

When a user types a character in the input field above, the function "showHint()" is executed. The function is triggered by the "onkeyup" event: <html> <head> <script type="text/javascript"> function showHint(str) {
if (str.length==0) { document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML=""; return; } if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); } else {// code for IE6, IE5 xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function() { if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200) { document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText; } } xmlhttp.open("GET","gethint.php?q="+str,true); xmlhttp.send(); } </script> </head> <body> <p><b>Start typing a name in the input field below:</b></p> <form> First name: <input type="text" onkeyup="showHint(this.value)" size="20" /> </form> <p>Suggestions: <span id="txtHint"></span></p> </body> </html> Source code explanation: If the input field is empty (str.length==0), the function clears the content of the txtHint placeholder and exits the function. If the input field is not empty, the showHint() function executes the following:

Create an XMLHttpRequest object Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready Send the request off to a file on the server
Notice that a parameter (q) is added to the URL (with the content of the input field)
The PHP File

The page on the server called by the JavaScript above is a PHP file called "gethint.php". The source code in "gethint.php" checks an array of names, and returns the corresponding name(s) to the browser: <?php // Fill up array with names $a[]="Anna"; $a[]="Brittany"; $a[]="Cinderella"; $a[]="Diana"; $a[]="Eva"; $a[]="Fiona"; $a[]="Gunda"; $a[]="Hege"; $a[]="Inga"; $a[]="Johanna"; $a[]="Kitty"; $a[]="Linda"; $a[]="Nina"; $a[]="Ophelia"; $a[]="Petunia"; $a[]="Amanda"; $a[]="Raquel"; $a[]="Cindy"; $a[]="Doris"; $a[]="Eve"; $a[]="Evita"; $a[]="Sunniva"; $a[]="Tove"; $a[]="Unni"; $a[]="Violet"; $a[]="Liza"; $a[]="Elizabeth"; $a[]="Ellen"; $a[]="Wenche"; $a[]="Vicky"; //get the q parameter from URL $q=$_GET["q"];
//lookup all hints from array if length of q>0 if (strlen($q) > 0) { $hint=""; for($i=0; $i<count($a); $i++) { if (strtolower($q)==strtolower(substr($a[$i],0,strlen($q)))) { if ($hint=="") { $hint=$a[$i]; } else { $hint=$hint." , ".$a[$i]; } } } } // Set output to "no suggestion" if no hint were found // or to the correct values if ($hint == "") { $response="no suggestion"; } else { $response=$hint; } //output the response echo $response; ?> Explanation: If there is any text sent from the JavaScript (strlen($q) > 0), the following happens: 1. Find a name matching the characters sent from the JavaScript 2. If no match were found, set the response string to "no suggestion" 3. If one or more matching names were found, set the response string to all these names 4. The response is sent to the "txtHint" placeholder AJAX can be used for interactive communication with a database.
AJAX Database Example

The following example will demonstrate how a web page can fetch information from a database with AJAX:
Example
Person info will be listed here...
Example Explained - The MySQL Database

The database table we use in the example above looks like this: id 1 2 3 4 FirstName Peter Lois Joseph Glenn LastName Griffin Griffin Swanson Quagmire Age 41 40 39 41 Hometown Quahog Newport Quahog Quahog Job Brewery Piano Teacher Police Officer Pilot

When a user selects a user in the dropdown list above, a function called "showUser()" is executed. The function is triggered by the "onchange" event: <html> <head> <script type="text/javascript"> function showUser(str) { if (str=="") { document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML=""; return; } if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); }
else {// code for IE6, IE5 xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function() { if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200) { document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText; } } xmlhttp.open("GET","getuser.php?q="+str,true); xmlhttp.send(); } </script> </head> <body> <form> <select name="users" onchange="showUser(this.value)"> <option value="">Select a person:</option> <option value="1">Peter Griffin</option> <option value="2">Lois Griffin</option> <option value="3">Glenn Quagmire</option> <option value="4">Joseph Swanson</option> </select> </form> <br /> <div id="txtHint"><b>Person info will be listed here.</b></div> </body> </html> The showUser() function does the following:

Check if a person is selected Create an XMLHttpRequest object Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready Send the request off to a file on the server Notice that a parameter (q) is added to the URL (with the content of the dropdown list)
The PHP File

The page on the server called by the JavaScript above is a PHP file called "getuser.php".
The source code in "getuser.php" runs a query against a MySQL database, and returns the result in an HTML table: <?php $q=$_GET["q"]; $con = mysql_connect('localhost', 'peter', 'abc123'); if (!$con) { die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error()); } mysql_select_db("ajax_demo", $con); $sql="SELECT * FROM user WHERE id = '".$q."'"; $result = mysql_query($sql); echo "<table border='1'> <tr> <th>Firstname</th> <th>Lastname</th> <th>Age</th> <th>Hometown</th> <th>Job</th> </tr>"; while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) { echo "<tr>"; echo "<td>" . $row['FirstName'] . "</td>"; echo "<td>" . $row['LastName'] . "</td>"; echo "<td>" . $row['Age'] . "</td>"; echo "<td>" . $row['Hometown'] . "</td>"; echo "<td>" . $row['Job'] . "</td>"; echo "</tr>"; } echo "</table>"; mysql_close($con); ?> Explanation: When the query is sent from the JavaScript to the PHP file, the following happens: 1. PHP opens a connection to a MySQL server
2. The correct person is found 3. An HTML table is created, filled with data, and sent back to the "txtHint" placeholder AJAX can be used for interactive communication with an XML file.
AJAX XML Example

The following example will demonstrate how a web page can fetch information from an XML file with AJAX:
Example
CD info will be listed here...

When a user selects a CD in the dropdown list above, a function called "showCD()" is executed. The function is triggered by the "onchange" event: <html> <head> <script type="text/javascript"> function showCD(str) { if (str=="") { document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML=""; return; } if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); } else {// code for IE6, IE5 xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function() {
if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200) { document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText; } } xmlhttp.open("GET","getcd.php?q="+str,true); xmlhttp.send(); } </script> </head> <body> <form> Select a CD: <select name="cds" onchange="showCD(this.value)"> <option value="">Select a CD:</option> <option value="Bob Dylan">Bob Dylan</option> <option value="Bonnie Tyler">Bonnie Tyler</option> <option value="Dolly Parton">Dolly Parton</option> </select> </form> <div id="txtHint"><b>CD info will be listed here...</b></div> </body> </html> The showCD() function does the following:

Check if a CD is selected Create an XMLHttpRequest object Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready Send the request off to a file on the server Notice that a parameter (q) is added to the URL (with the content of the dropdown list)
The PHP File

The page on the server called by the JavaScript above is a PHP file called "getcd.php". The PHP script loads an XML document, "cd_catalog.xml", runs a query against the XML file, and returns the result as HTML: <?php $q=$_GET["q"];
$xmlDoc = new DOMDocument(); $xmlDoc->load("cd_catalog.xml"); $x=$xmlDoc->getElementsByTagName('ARTIST'); for ($i=0; $i<=$x->length-1; $i++) { //Process only element nodes if ($x->item($i)->nodeType==1) { if ($x->item($i)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue == $q) { $y=($x->item($i)->parentNode); } } } $cd=($y->childNodes); for ($i=0;$i<$cd->length;$i++) { //Process only element nodes if ($cd->item($i)->nodeType==1) { echo("<b>" . $cd->item($i)->nodeName . ":</b> "); echo($cd->item($i)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue); echo("<br />"); } } ?> When the CD query is sent from the JavaScript to the PHP page, the following happens: 1. PHP creates an XML DOM object 2. Find all <artist> elements that matches the name sent from the JavaScript 3. Output the album information (send to the "txtHint" placeholder) AJAX can be used to create more user-friendly and interactive searches.
AJAX Live Search

The following example will demonstrate a live search, where you get search results while you type. Live search has many benefits compared to traditional searching:
Results are shown as you type Results narrow as you continue typing If results become too narrow, remove characters to see a broader result
Search for a W3Schools page in the input field below:
The results in the example above are found in an XML file (links.xml). To make this example small and simple, only eight results are available.

When a user types a character in the input field above, the function "showResult()" is executed. The function is triggered by the "onkeyup" event: <html> <head> <script type="text/javascript"> function showResult(str) { if (str.length==0) { document.getElementById("livesearch").innerHTML=""; document.getElementById("livesearch").style.border="0px"; return; } if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); } else {// code for IE6, IE5 xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function() { if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200) { document.getElementById("livesearch").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText; document.getElementById("livesearch").style.border="1px solid #A5ACB2"; } } xmlhttp.open("GET","livesearch.php?q="+str,true);
xmlhttp.send(); } </script> </head> <body> <form> <input type="text" size="30" onkeyup="showResult(this.value)" /> <div id="livesearch"></div> </form> </body> </html> Source code explanation: If the input field is empty (str.length==0), the function clears the content of the livesearch placeholder and exits the function. If the input field is not empty, the showResult() function executes the following:

Create an XMLHttpRequest object Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready Send the request off to a file on the server Notice that a parameter (q) is added to the URL (with the content of the input field)
The PHP File

The page on the server called by the JavaScript above is a PHP file called "livesearch.php". The source code in "livesearch.php" searches an XML file for titles matching the search string and returns the result: <?php $xmlDoc=new DOMDocument(); $xmlDoc->load("links.xml"); $x=$xmlDoc->getElementsByTagName('link'); //get the q parameter from URL $q=$_GET["q"]; //lookup all links from the xml file if length of q>0
if (strlen($q)>0) { $hint=""; for($i=0; $i<($x->length); $i++) { $y=$x->item($i)->getElementsByTagName('title'); $z=$x->item($i)->getElementsByTagName('url'); if ($y->item(0)->nodeType==1) { //find a link matching the search text if (stristr($y->item(0)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue,$q)) { if ($hint=="") { $hint="<a href='" . $z->item(0)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue . "' target='_blank'>" . $y->item(0)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue . "</a>"; } else { $hint=$hint . "<br /><a href='" . $z->item(0)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue . "' target='_blank'>" . $y->item(0)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue . "</a>"; } } } } } // Set output to "no suggestion" if no hint were found // or to the correct values if ($hint=="") { $response="no suggestion"; } else { $response=$hint; } //output the response echo $response; ?>
If there is any text sent from the JavaScript (strlen($q) > 0), the following happens:

Load an XML file into a new XML DOM object Loop through all <title> elements to find matches from the text sent from the JavaScript Sets the correct url and title in the "$response" variable. If more than one match is found, all matches are added to the variable If no matches are found, the $response variable is set to "no suggestion"
An RSS Reader is used to read RSS Feeds.
AJAX RSS Reader

The following example will demonstrate an RSS reader, where the RSS-feed is loaded into a webpage without reloading:
RSS-feed will be listed here...

When a user selects an RSS-feed in the dropdown list above, a function called "showResult()" is executed. The function is triggered by the "onchange" event: <html> <head> <script type="text/javascript"> function showRSS(str) { if (str.length==0) { document.getElementById("rssOutput").innerHTML=""; return; } if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); } else {// code for IE6, IE5 xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
{ if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200) { document.getElementById("rssOutput").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText; } } xmlhttp.open("GET","getrss.php?q="+str,true); xmlhttp.send(); } </script> </head> <body> <form> <select onchange="showRSS(this.value)"> <option value="">Select an RSS-feed:</option> <option value="Google">Google News</option> <option value="MSNBC">MSNBC News</option> </select> </form> <br /> <div id="rssOutput">RSS-feed will be listed here...</div> </body> </html> The showResult() function does the following:

Check if an RSS-feed is selected Create an XMLHttpRequest object Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready Send the request off to a file on the server Notice that a parameter (q) is added to the URL (with the content of the dropdown list)
The PHP File

The page on the server called by the JavaScript above is a PHP file called "getrss.php": <?php //get the q parameter from URL $q=$_GET["q"]; //find out which feed was selected if($q=="Google") {
$xml=("http://news.google.com/news?ned=us&topic=h&output=rss"); } elseif($q=="MSNBC") { $xml=("http://rss.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032091/device/rss/rss.xml"); } $xmlDoc = new DOMDocument(); $xmlDoc->load($xml); //get elements from "<channel>" $channel=$xmlDoc->getElementsByTagName('channel')->item(0); $channel_title = $channel->getElementsByTagName('title') ->item(0)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue; $channel_link = $channel->getElementsByTagName('link') ->item(0)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue; $channel_desc = $channel->getElementsByTagName('description') ->item(0)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue; //output elements from "<channel>" echo("<p><a href='" . $channel_link . "'>" . $channel_title . "</a>"); echo("<br />"); echo($channel_desc . "</p>"); //get and output "<item>" elements $x=$xmlDoc->getElementsByTagName('item'); for ($i=0; $i<=2; $i++) { $item_title=$x->item($i)->getElementsByTagName('title') ->item(0)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue; $item_link=$x->item($i)->getElementsByTagName('link') ->item(0)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue; $item_desc=$x->item($i)->getElementsByTagName('description') ->item(0)->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue; echo ("<p><a href='" . $item_link . "'>" . $item_title . "</a>"); echo ("<br />"); echo ($item_desc . "</p>"); } ?> When an RSS-feed is sent from the JavaScript, the following happens:
Check which feed was selected
Create a new XML DOM object Load the RSS document in the xml variable Extract and output elements from the channel element Extract and output elements from the item element
AJAX Poll
The following example will demonstrate a poll where the result is shown without reloading.
Do you like PHP and AJAX so far?

Yes: No:

When a user choose an option above, a function called "getVote()" is executed. The function is triggered by the "onclick" event: <html> <head> <script type="text/javascript"> function getVote(int) { if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); } else {// code for IE6, IE5 xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function() { if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200) { document.getElementById("poll").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText; } } xmlhttp.open("GET","poll_vote.php?vote="+int,true); xmlhttp.send(); } </script> </head>
<body> <div id="poll"> <h3>Do you like PHP and AJAX so far?</h3> <form> Yes: <input type="radio" name="vote" value="0" onclick="getVote(this.value)" /> <br />No: <input type="radio" name="vote" value="1" onclick="getVote(this.value)" /> </form> </div> </body> </html> The getVote() function does the following:

Create an XMLHttpRequest object Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready Send the request off to a file on the server Notice that a parameter (vote) is added to the URL (with the value of the yes or no option)
The PHP File

The page on the server called by the JavaScript above is a PHP file called "poll_vote.php": <?php $vote = $_REQUEST['vote']; //get content of textfile $filename = "poll_result.txt"; $content = file($filename); //put content in array $array = explode("||", $content[0]); $yes = $array[0]; $no = $array[1]; if ($vote == 0) { $yes = $yes + 1; } if ($vote == 1)
{ $no = $no + 1; } //insert votes to txt file $insertvote = $yes."||".$no; $fp = fopen($filename,"w"); fputs($fp,$insertvote); fclose($fp); ?> <h2>Result:</h2> <table> <tr> <td>Yes:</td> <td> <img src="poll.gif" width='<?php echo(100*round($yes/($no+$yes),2)); ?>' height='20'> <?php echo(100*round($yes/($no+$yes),2)); ?>% </td> </tr> <tr> <td>No:</td> <td> <img src="poll.gif" width='<?php echo(100*round($no/($no+$yes),2)); ?>' height='20'> <?php echo(100*round($no/($no+$yes),2)); ?>% </td> </tr> </table> The value is sent from the JavaScript, and the following happens: 1. 2. 3. 4. Get the content of the "poll_result.txt" file Put the content of the file in variables and add one to the selected variable Write the result to the "poll_result.txt" file Output a graphical representation of the poll result
The Text File

The text file (poll_result.txt) is where we store the data from the poll. It is stored like this:
0||0 The first number represents the "Yes" votes, the second number represents the "No" votes. Note: Remember to allow your web server to edit the text file. Do NOT give everyone access, just the web server (PHP).
PHP Array Introduction

The array functions allow you to manipulate arrays. PHP supports both simple and multi-dimensional arrays. There are also specific functions for populating arrays from database queries.
Installation
The array functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
PHP Array Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function array() array_change_key_case() array_chunk() array_combine() array_count_values() array_diff() array_diff_assoc() array_diff_key() array_diff_uassoc() array_diff_ukey() Description PHP Creates an array 3 Returns an array with all keys in lowercase or 4 uppercase Splits an array into chunks of arrays 4 Creates an array by using one array for keys and 5 another for its values Returns an array with the number of occurrences for 4 each value Compares array values, and returns the differences 4 Compares array keys and values, and returns the 4 differences Compares array keys, and returns the differences 5 Compares array keys and values, with an additional 5 user-made function check, and returns the differences Compares array keys, with an additional user-made 5
array_fill() array_filter() array_flip() array_intersect() array_intersect_assoc() array_intersect_key() array_intersect_uassoc() array_intersect_ukey() array_key_exists() array_keys() array_map() array_merge() array_merge_recursive() array_multisort() array_pad() array_pop() array_product() array_push() array_rand() array_reduce() array_reverse() array_search() array_shift() array_slice() array_splice() array_sum() array_udiff()
function check, and returns the differences Fills an array with values 4 Filters elements of an array using a user-made 4 function Exchanges all keys with their associated values in an 4 array Compares array values, and returns the matches 4 Compares array keys and values, and returns the 4 matches Compares array keys, and returns the matches 5 Compares array keys and values, with an additional 5 user-made function check, and returns the matches Compares array keys, with an additional user-made 5 function check, and returns the matches Checks if the specified key exists in the array 4 Returns all the keys of an array 4 Sends each value of an array to a user-made function, 4 which returns new values Merges one or more arrays into one array 4 Merges one or more arrays into one array 4 Sorts multiple or multi-dimensional arrays 4 Inserts a specified number of items, with a specified 4 value, to an array Deletes the last element of an array 4 Calculates the product of the values in an array 5 Inserts one or more elements to the end of an array 4 Returns one or more random keys from an array 4 Returns an array as a string, using a user-defined 4 function Returns an array in the reverse order 4 Searches an array for a given value and returns the 4 key Removes the first element from an array, and returns 4 the value of the removed element Returns selected parts of an array 4 Removes and replaces specified elements of an array 4 Returns the sum of the values in an array 4 Compares array values in a user-made function and 5 returns an array
array_udiff_assoc() array_udiff_uassoc() array_uintersect() array_uintersect_assoc() array_uintersect_uassoc() array_unique() array_unshift() array_values() array_walk() array_walk_recursive() arsort() asort() compact() count() current() each() end() extract() in_array() key() krsort() ksort() list() natcasesort() natsort() next() pos() prev()
Compares array keys, and compares array values in a 5 user-made function, and returns an array Compares array keys and array values in user-made 5 functions, and returns an array Compares array values in a user-made function and 5 returns an array Compares array keys, and compares array values in a 5 user-made function, and returns an array Compares array keys and array values in user-made 5 functions, and returns an array Removes duplicate values from an array 4 Adds one or more elements to the beginning of an 4 array Returns all the values of an array 4 Applies a user function to every member of an array 3 Applies a user function recursively to every member 5 of an array Sorts an array in reverse order and maintain index 3 association Sorts an array and maintain index association 3 Create array containing variables and their values 4 Counts elements in an array, or properties in an 3 object Returns the current element in an array 3 Returns the current key and value pair from an array 3 Sets the internal pointer of an array to its last element 3 Imports variables into the current symbol table from 3 an array Checks if a specified value exists in an array 4 Fetches a key from an array 3 Sorts an array by key in reverse order 3 Sorts an array by key 3 Assigns variables as if they were an array 3 Sorts an array using a case insensitive "natural order" 4 algorithm Sorts an array using a "natural order" algorithm 4 Advance the internal array pointer of an array 3 Alias of current() 3 Rewinds the internal array pointer 3
range() reset() rsort() shuffle() sizeof() sort() uasort() uksort() usort()
Creates an array containing a range of elements Sets the internal pointer of an array to its first element Sorts an array in reverse order Shuffles an array Alias of count() Sorts an array Sorts an array with a user-defined function and maintain index association Sorts an array by keys using a user-defined function Sorts an array by values using a user-defined function
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
PHP Array Constants

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the constant. Constant CASE_LOWER CASE_UPPER SORT_ASC SORT_DESC SORT_REGULAR SORT_NUMERIC SORT_STRING SORT_LOCALE_STRING COUNT_NORMAL COUNT_RECURSIVE EXTR_OVERWRITE EXTR_SKIP EXTR_PREFIX_SAME EXTR_PREFIX_ALL EXTR_PREFIX_INVALID Description PHP Used with array_change_key_case() to convert array keys to lower case Used with array_change_key_case() to convert array keys to upper case Used with array_multisort() to sort in ascending order Used with array_multisort() to sort in descending order Used to compare items normally Used to compare items numerically Used to compare items as strings Used to compare items as strings, based on the 4 current locale
EXTR_PREFIX_IF_EXISTS EXTR_IF_EXISTS EXTR_REFS
PHP Calendar Introduction

The calendar functions are useful when working with different calendar formats. The standard it is based on is the Julian day count (Julian day count is a count of days starting from January 1, 4713 B.C.). Note that the Julian day count is not the same as the Julian calendar! Note: To convert between calendar formats, you must first convert to Julian day count, then to the calendar format.
Installation
The windows version of PHP has built-in support for the calendar extension. So, the calendar functions will work automatically. However, if you are running the Linux version of PHP, you will have to compile PHP with --enable-calendar to get the calendar functions to work.
PHP Calendar Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function cal_days_in_month() cal_from_jd() cal_info() cal_to_jd() easter_date() easter_days() FrenchToJD() GregorianToJD() Description Returns the number of days in a month for a specified year and calendar Converts a Julian day count into a date of a specified calendar Returns information about a given calendar Converts a date to Julian day count Returns the Unix timestamp for midnight on Easter of a specified year Returns the number of days after March 21, on which Easter falls for a specified year Converts a French Republican date to a Julian day count Converts a Gregorian date to a Julian day count PHP 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3
JDDayOfWeek() JDMonthName() JDToFrench() JDToGregorian() jdtojewish() JDToJulian() jdtounix() JewishToJD() JulianToJD() unixtojd()
Returns the day of a week Returns a month name Converts a Julian day count to a French Republican date Converts a Julian day count to a Gregorian date Converts a Julian day count to a Jewish date Converts a Julian day count to a Julian date Converts a Julian day count to a Unix timestamp Converts a Jewish date to a Julian day count Converts a Julian date to a Julian day count Converts a Unix timestamp to a Julian day count
3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 4
PHP Calendar Constants

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the constant. Constant Description CAL_GREGORIAN Gregorian calendar CAL_JULIAN Julian calendar CAL_JEWISH Jewish calendar CAL_FRENCH French Republican calendar CAL_NUM_CALS CAL_DOW_DAYNO CAL_DOW_SHORT CAL_DOW_LONG CAL_MONTH_GREGORIAN_SHORT CAL_MONTH_GREGORIAN_LONG CAL_MONTH_JULIAN_SHORT CAL_MONTH_JULIAN_LONG CAL_MONTH_JEWISH CAL_MONTH_FRENCH CAL_EASTER_DEFAULT CAL_EASTER_ROMAN CAL_EASTER_ALWAYS_GREGORIAN CAL_EASTER_ALWAYS_JULIAN CAL_JEWISH_ADD_ALAFIM_GERESH CAL_JEWISH_ADD_ALAFIM CAL_JEWISH_ADD_GERESHAYIM PHP 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5
PHP Date / Time Introduction

The date/time functions allow you to extract and format the date and time on the server. Note: These functions depend on the locale settings of the server!
Installation
The date/time functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
Runtime Configuration
The behavior of the date/time functions is affected by settings in php.ini. Date/Time configuration options: Name Default Description Changeable date.default_latitude "31.7667" Specifies the default latitude PHP_INI_ALL (available since PHP 5). This option is used by date_sunrise() and date_sunset() date.default_longitude "35.2333" Specifies the default longitude PHP_INI_ALL (available since PHP 5). This option is used by date_sunrise() and date_sunset() date.sunrise_zenith "90.83" Specifies the default sunrise zenith PHP_INI_ALL (available since PHP 5). This option is used by date_sunrise() and date_sunset() date.sunset_zenith "90.83" Specifies the default sunset zenith PHP_INI_ALL (available since PHP 5). This option is used by date_sunrise() and date_sunset() date.timezone "" Specifies the default timezone PHP_INI_ALL (available since PHP 5.1)
PHP Date / Time Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function checkdate() date_default_timezone_get() date_default_timezone_set() date_sunrise() date_sunset() date() getdate() gettimeofday() gmdate() gmmktime() gmstrftime() idate() localtime() microtime() mktime() strftime() strptime() strtotime() time() Description Validates a Gregorian date Returns the default time zone Sets the default time zone Returns the time of sunrise for a given day / location Returns the time of sunset for a given day / location Formats a local time/date Returns an array that contains date and time information for a Unix timestamp Returns an array that contains current time information Formats a GMT/UTC date/time Returns the Unix timestamp for a GMT date Formats a GMT/UTC time/date according to locale settings Formats a local time/date as integer Returns an array that contains the time components of a Unix timestamp Returns the microseconds for the current time Returns the Unix timestamp for a date Formats a local time/date according to locale settings Parses a time/date generated with strftime() Parses an English textual date or time into a Unix timestamp Returns the current time as a Unix timestamp PHP 3 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 4 3 3 3 5 3 3
PHP Date / Time Constants

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the constant. Constant DATE_ATOM Description Atom (example: 2005-08-15T16:13:03+0000) PHP
DATE_COOKIE DATE_ISO8601 DATE_RFC822 DATE_RFC850 DATE_RFC1036 DATE_RFC1123 DATE_RFC2822 DATE_RSS DATE_W3C
HTTP Cookies (example: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:13:03 UTC) ISO-8601 (example: 2005-08-14T16:13:03+0000) RFC 822 (example: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:13:03 UTC) RFC 850 (example: Sunday, 14-Aug-05 16:13:03 UTC) RFC 1036 (example: Sunday, 14-Aug-05 16:13:03 UTC) RFC 1123 (example: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:13:03 UTC) RFC 2822 (Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:13:03 +0000) RSS (Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:13:03 UTC) World Wide Web Consortium (example: 2005-0814T16:13:03+0000)
PHP Directory Introduction

The directory functions allow you to retrieve information about directories and their contents.
Installation
The directory functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
PHP Directory Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function chdir() chroot() dir() closedir() getcwd() Description Changes the current directory Changes the root directory of the current process Opens a directory handle and returns an object Closes a directory handle Returns the current directory PHP 3 4 3 3 4
opendir() readdir() rewinddir() scandir()
Opens a directory handle Returns an entry from a directory handle Resets a directory handle Lists files and directories inside a specified path
3 3 3 5
PHP Directory Constants

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the constant. Constant DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR PATH_SEPARATOR Description PHP 3 4
PHP Error and Logging Introduction

The error and logging functions allows error handling and logging. The error functions allow users to define error handling rules, and modify the way the errors can be logged. The logging functions allow users to log applications and send log messages to email, system logs or other machines.
Installation
The error and logging functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
PHP Error and Logging Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function debug_backtrace() debug_print_backtrace() error_get_last() Description Generates a backtrace Prints a backtrace Gets the last error occurred PHP 4 5 5
error_log() error_reporting() restore_error_handler() restore_exception_handler() set_error_handler() set_exception_handler() trigger_error() user_error()
Sends an error to the server error-log, to a file or 4 to a remote destination Specifies which errors are reported 4 Restores the previous error handler 4 Restores the previous exception handler 5 Sets a user-defined function to handle errors 4 Sets a user-defined function to handle exceptions5 Creates a user-defined error message 4 Alias of trigger_error() 4
PHP Error and Logging Constants

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the constant. Value Constant 1 E_ERROR Description PHP Fatal run-time errors. Errors that cannot be recovered from. Execution of the script is halted Non-fatal run-time errors. Execution of the script is not halted Compile-time parse errors. Parse errors should only be generated by the parser Run-time notices. The script found something that might be an error, but could also happen when running a script normally Fatal errors at PHP startup. This is like an 4 E_ERROR in the PHP core Non-fatal errors at PHP startup. This is like an 4 E_WARNING in the PHP core Fatal compile-time errors. This is like an 4 E_ERROR generated by the Zend Scripting Engine Non-fatal compile-time errors. This is like an 4 E_WARNING generated by the Zend Scripting Engine Fatal user-generated error. This is like an 4 E_ERROR set by the programmer using the PHP function trigger_error() Non-fatal user-generated warning. This is like 4 an E_WARNING set by the programmer using
2 4 8
E_WARNING E_PARSE E_NOTICE
16 32 64
E_CORE_ERROR E_CORE_WARNING E_COMPILE_ERROR
128
E_COMPILE_WARNING
256
E_USER_ERROR
512
E_USER_WARNING
1024
2048
4096
6143
the PHP function trigger_error() E_USER_NOTICE User-generated notice. This is like an 4 E_NOTICE set by the programmer using the PHP function trigger_error() E_STRICT Run-time notices. PHP suggest changes to your5 code to help interoperability and compatibility of the code E_RECOVERABLE_ERROR Catchable fatal error. This is like an 5 E_ERROR but can be caught by a user defined handle (see also set_error_handler()) E_ALL All errors and warnings, except of level 5 E_STRICT
PHP Filesystem Introduction

The filesystem functions allow you to access and manipulate the filesystem.
Installation
The filesystem functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
The behavior of the filesystem functions is affected by settings in php.ini. Filesystem configuration options: Name allow_url_fopen Default Description Changeable "1" PHP_INI_SYSTEM Allows fopen()-type functions to work with URLs (available since PHP 4.0.4) user_agent NULL Defines the user agent for PHP to PHP_INI_ALL send (available since PHP 4.3) default_socket_timeout "60" Sets the default timeout, in PHP_INI_ALL seconds, for socket based streams (available since PHP 4.3)
from
""
auto_detect_line_endings "0"
Defines the anonymous FTP PHP_INI_ALL password (your email address) When set to "1", PHP will PHP_INI_ALL examine the data read by fgets() and file() to see if it is using Unix, MS-Dos or Mac lineending characters (available since PHP 4.3)
Unix / Windows Compatibility

When specifying a path on Unix platforms, the forward slash (/) is used as directory separator. However, on Windows platforms, both forward slash (/) and backslash (\) can be used.
PHP Filesystem Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function basename() chgrp() chmod() chown() clearstatcache() copy() delete() dirname() disk_free_space() disk_total_space() diskfreespace() fclose() feof() fflush() fgetc() fgetcsv() fgets() fgetss() Description Returns the filename component of a path Changes the file group Changes the file mode Changes the file owner Clears the file status cache Copies a file See unlink() or unset() Returns the directory name component of a path Returns the free space of a directory Returns the total size of a directory Alias of disk_free_space() Closes an open file Tests for end-of-file on an open file Flushes buffered output to an open file Returns a character from an open file Parses a line from an open file, checking for CSV fields Returns a line from an open file Returns a line, with HTML and PHP tags removed, from PHP 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 3
file() file_exists() file_get_contents() file_put_contents fileatime() filectime() filegroup() fileinode() filemtime() fileowner() fileperms() filesize() filetype() flock() fnmatch() fopen() fpassthru() fputcsv() fputs() fread() fscanf() fseek() fstat() ftell() ftruncate() fwrite() glob() is_dir() is_executable() is_file() is_link() is_readable() is_uploaded_file() is_writable()
an open file Reads a file into an array Checks whether or not a file or directory exists Reads a file into a string Writes a string to a file Returns the last access time of a file Returns the last change time of a file Returns the group ID of a file Returns the inode number of a file Returns the last modification time of a file Returns the user ID (owner) of a file Returns the permissions of a file Returns the file size Returns the file type Locks or releases a file Matches a filename or string against a specified pattern Opens a file or URL Reads from an open file, until EOF, and writes the result to the output buffer Formats a line as CSV and writes it to an open file Alias of fwrite() Reads from an open file Parses input from an open file according to a specified format Seeks in an open file Returns information about an open file Returns the current position in an open file Truncates an open file to a specified length Writes to an open file Returns an array of filenames / directories matching a specified pattern Checks whether a file is a directory Checks whether a file is executable Checks whether a file is a regular file Checks whether a file is a link Checks whether a file is readable Checks whether a file was uploaded via HTTP POST Checks whether a file is writeable
3 3 4 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 5 3 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 4
is_writeable() link() linkinfo() lstat() mkdir() move_uploaded_file() parse_ini_file() pathinfo() pclose() popen() readfile() readlink() realpath() rename() rewind() rmdir() set_file_buffer() stat() symlink() tempnam() tmpfile() touch() umask() unlink()
Alias of is_writable() Creates a hard link Returns information about a hard link Returns information about a file or symbolic link Creates a directory Moves an uploaded file to a new location Parses a configuration file Returns information about a file path Closes a pipe opened by popen() Opens a pipe Reads a file and writes it to the output buffer Returns the target of a symbolic link Returns the absolute pathname Renames a file or directory Rewinds a file pointer Removes an empty directory Sets the buffer size of an open file Returns information about a file Creates a symbolic link Creates a unique temporary file Creates a unique temporary file Sets access and modification time of a file Changes file permissions for files Deletes a file
3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
PHP Filesystem Constants

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the constant. Constant GLOB_BRACE GLOB_ONLYDIR GLOB_MARK GLOB_NOSORT GLOB_NOCHECK GLOB_NOESCAPE PATHINFO_DIRNAME Description PHP
PATHINFO_BASENAME PATHINFO_EXTENSION FILE_USE_INCLUDE_PATH FILE_APPEND FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES
PHP Filter Introduction

This PHP filters is used to validate and filter data coming from insecure sources, like user input.
Installation
The filter functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
PHP Filter Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function filter_has_var() filter_id() filter_input() filter_input_array() filter_list() filter_var_array() filter_var() Description Checks if a variable of a specified input type exist Returns the ID number of a specified filter Get input from outside the script and filter it Get multiple inputs from outside the script and filters them Returns an array of all supported filters Get multiple variables and filter them Get a variable and filter it PHP 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
PHP Filters
ID Name FILTER_CALLBACK Description Call a user-defined function to filter data
FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING FILTER_SANITIZE_STRIPPED FILTER_SANITIZE_ENCODED FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL FILTER_SANITIZE_URL FILTER_SANITIZE_NUMBER_INT FILTER_SANITIZE_NUMBER_FLOAT FILTER_SANITIZE_MAGIC_QUOTES FILTER_UNSAFE_RAW FILTER_VALIDATE_INT FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN
FILTER_VALIDATE_FLOAT FILTER_VALIDATE_REGEXP FILTER_VALIDATE_URL FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL FILTER_VALIDATE_IP
Strip tags, optionally strip or encode special characters Alias of "string" filter URL-encode string, optionally strip or encode special characters HTML-escape '"<>& and characters with ASCII value less than 32 Remove all characters, except letters, digits and !#$%&'*+-/=?^_`{|}~@.[] Remove all characters, except letters, digits and $-_.+!*'(),{}|\\^~[]`<>#%";/?:@&= Remove all characters, except digits and +Remove all characters, except digits, +- and optionally .,eE Apply addslashes() Do nothing, optionally strip or encode special characters Validate value as integer, optionally from the specified range Return TRUE for "1", "true", "on" and "yes", FALSE for "0", "false", "off", "no", and "", NULL otherwise Validate value as float Validate value against regexp, a Perlcompatible regular expression Validate value as URL, optionally with required components Validate value as e-mail Validate value as IP address, optionally only IPv4 or IPv6 or not from private or reserved ranges
PHP FTP Introduction

The FTP functions give client access to file servers through the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The FTP functions are used to open, login and close connections, as well as upload, download, rename, delete, and get information on files from file servers. Not all of the
FTP functions will work with every server or return the same results. The FTP functions became available with PHP 3. These functions are meant for detailed access to an FTP server. If you only wish to read from or write to a file on an FTP server, consider using the ftp:// wrapper with the Filesystem functions.
Installation
The windows version of PHP has built-in support for the FTP extension. So, the FTP functions will work automatically. However, if you are running the Linux version of PHP, you will have to compile PHP with --enable-ftp (PHP 4+) or --with-ftp (PHP 3) to get the FTP functions to work.
PHP FTP Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function ftp_alloc() ftp_cdup() ftp_chdir() ftp_chmod() ftp_close() ftp_connect() ftp_delete() ftp_exec() ftp_fget() ftp_fput() ftp_get_option() ftp_get() ftp_login() ftp_mdtm() ftp_mkdir() ftp_nb_continue() Description PHP Allocates space for a file to be uploaded to the FTP server5 Changes the current directory to the parent directory on 3 the FTP server Changes the current directory on the FTP server 3 Sets permissions on a file via FTP 5 Closes an FTP connection 4 Opens an FTP connection 3 Deletes a file on the FTP server 3 Executes a program/command on the FTP server 4 Downloads a file from the FTP server and saves it to an 3 open file Uploads from an open file and saves it to a file on the 3 FTP server Returns runtime behaviors of the FTP connection 4 Downloads a file from the FTP server 3 Logs on to an FTP connection 3 Returns the last modified time of a specified file 3 Creates a new directory on the FTP server 3 Continues retrieving/sending a file (non-blocking) 4
ftp_nb_fget() ftp_nb_fput() ftp_nb_get() ftp_nb_put() ftp_nlist() ftp_pasv() ftp_put() ftp_pwd() ftp_quit() ftp_raw() ftp_rawlist() ftp_rename() ftp_rmdir() ftp_set_option() ftp_site() ftp_size() ftp_ssl_connect() ftp_systype()
Downloads a file from the FTP server and saves it to an open file (non-blocking) Uploads from an open file and saves it to a file on the FTP server (non-blocking) Downloads a file from the FTP server (non-blocking) Uploads a file to the FTP server (non-blocking) Lists the files in a specified directory on the FTP server Turns passive mode on or off Uploads a file to the FTP server Returns the current directory name Alias of ftp_close() Sends a raw command to the FTP server Returns a detailed list of files in the specified directory Renames a file or directory on the FTP server Removes a directory on the FTP server Sets runtime options for the FTP connection Sends a SITE command to the server Returns the size of the specified file Opens a secure SSL-FTP connection Returns the system type identifier of the FTP server
4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 5 3 3 3 4 3 3 4 3
PHP FTP Constants

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the constant. Constant FTP_ASCII FTP_TEXT FTP_BINARY FTP_IMAGE FTP_TIMEOUT_SEC FTP_AUTOSEEK FTP_AUTORESUME FTP_FAILED FTP_FINISHED FTP_MOREDATA Description PHP 3 3 3 3 3 4 Determine resume position and start position for get and 4 put requests automatically Asynchronous transfer has failed 4 Asynchronous transfer has finished 4 Asynchronous transfer is still active 4
PHP HTTP Introduction

The HTTP functions let you manipulate information sent to the browser by the Web server, before any other output has been sent.
Installation
The directory functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
PHP HTTP Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function header() headers_list() headers_sent() setcookie() setrawcookie() Description PHP Sends a raw HTTP header to a client 3 Returns a list of response headers sent (or ready to 5 send) Checks if / where the HTTP headers have been 3 sent Sends an HTTP cookie to a client 3 Sends an HTTP cookie without URL encoding the 5 cookie value
PHP HTTP Constants

None.
PHP libxml Introduction

The libxml functions and constants are used together with SimpleXML, XSLT and DOM functions.
Installation
These functions require the libxml package. Download at xmlsoft.org
PHP libxml Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function libxml_clear_errors() libxml_get_errors() libxml_get_last_error() libxml_set_streams_context() libxml_use_internal_errors() Description Clear libxml error buffer Retrieve array of errors Retrieve last error from libxml Set the streams context for the next libxml document load or write Disable libxml errors and allow user to fetch error information as needed PHP 5 5 5 5 5
PHP libxml Constants

Function LIBXML_COMPACT LIBXML_DTDATTR LIBXML_DTDLOAD LIBXML_DTDVALID LIBXML_NOBLANKS LIBXML_NOCDATA LIBXML_NOEMPTYTAG Description PHP Set small nodes allocation optimization. This may 5 improve the application performance Set default DTD attributes 5 Load external subset 5 Validate with the DTD 5 Remove blank nodes 5 Set CDATA as text nodes 5 Change empty tags (e.g. <br/> to <br></br>), only 5 available in the DOMDocument->save() and DOMDocument->saveXML() functions Substitute entities 5 Do not show error reports 5 Stop network access while loading documents 5 Do not show warning reports 5 Drop the XML declaration when saving a 5 document Remove excess namespace declarations 5 Use XInclude substitution 5 Get recoverable errors 5 Get fatal errors 5 Get no errors 5 Get simple warnings 5
LIBXML_NOENT LIBXML_NOERROR LIBXML_NONET LIBXML_NOWARNING LIBXML_NOXMLDECL LIBXML_NSCLEAN LIBXML_XINCLUDE LIBXML_ERR_ERROR LIBXML_ERR_FATAL LIBXML_ERR_NONE LIBXML_ERR_WARNING
LIBXML_VERSION Get libxml version (e.g. 20605 or 20617) LIBXML_DOTTED_VERSION Get dotted libxml version (e.g. 2.6.5 or 2.6.17)
5 5
PHP Mail Introduction

The mail() function allows you to send emails directly from a script.
Requirements
For the mail functions to be available, PHP requires an installed and working email system. The program to be used is defined by the configuration settings in the php.ini file.
Installation
The mail functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
The behavior of the mail functions is affected by settings in the php.ini file. Mail configuration options: Name SMTP smtp_port sendmail_from Default "localhost" "25" NULL Description Windows only: The DNS name or IP address of the SMTP server Windows only: The SMTP port number. Available since PHP 4.3 Windows only: Specifies the "from" address to be used in email sent from PHP Unix systems only: Specifies where the sendmail program can be found (usually /usr/sbin/sendmail or /usr/lib/sendmail) Changeable PHP_INI_ALL PHP_INI_ALL PHP_INI_ALL
sendmail_path
NULL
PHP_INI_SYSTEM
PHP Mail Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function ezmlm_hash() mail() Description Calculates the hash value needed by the EZMLM mailing list system Allows you to send emails directly from a script PHP 3 3
PHP Mail Constants

None.
PHP Math Introduction

The math functions can handle values within the range of integer and float types.
Installation
The math functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
PHP Math Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function abs() acos() acosh() asin() asinh() atan() atan2() atanh() Description Returns the absolute value of a number Returns the arccosine of a number Returns the inverse hyperbolic cosine of a number Returns the arcsine of a number Returns the inverse hyperbolic sine of a number Returns the arctangent of a number as a numeric value between -PI/2 and PI/2 radians Returns the angle theta of an (x,y) point as a numeric value between -PI and PI radians Returns the inverse hyperbolic tangent of a number PHP 3 3 4 3 4 3 3 4
base_convert() bindec() ceil() cos() cosh() decbin() dechex() decoct() deg2rad() exp() expm1() floor() fmod()
getrandmax() hexdec() hypot() is_finite() is_infinite() is_nan() lcg_value() log() log10() log1p() max() min() mt_getrandmax() mt_rand() mt_srand() octdec() pi()
Converts a number from one base to another Converts a binary number to a decimal number Returns the value of a number rounded upwards to the nearest integer Returns the cosine of a number Returns the hyperbolic cosine of a number Converts a decimal number to a binary number Converts a decimal number to a hexadecimal number Converts a decimal number to an octal number Converts a degree to a radian number Returns the value of Ex Returns the value of Ex - 1 Returns the value of a number rounded downwards to the nearest integer Returns the remainder (modulo) of the division of the arguments Returns the maximum random number that can be returned by a call to the rand() function Converts a hexadecimal number to a decimal number Returns the length of the hypotenuse of a right-angle triangle Returns true if a value is a finite number Returns true if a value is an infinite number Returns true if a value is not a number Returns a pseudo random number in the range of (0,1) Returns the natural logarithm (base E) of a number Returns the base-10 logarithm of a number Returns log(1+number) Returns the number with the highest value of two specified numbers Returns the number with the lowest value of two specified numbers Returns the largest possible value that can be returned by mt_rand() Returns a random integer using Mersenne Twister algorithm Seeds the Mersenne Twister random number generator Converts an octal number to a decimal number Returns the value of PI
3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
pow() rad2deg() rand() round() sin() sinh() sqrt() srand() tan() tanh()
Returns the value of x to the power of y Converts a radian number to a degree Returns a random integer Rounds a number to the nearest integer Returns the sine of a number Returns the hyperbolic sine of a number Returns the square root of a number Seeds the random number generator Returns the tangent of an angle Returns the hyperbolic tangent of an angle
3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 4
PHP Math Constants

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the constant. Constant M_E M_EULER M_LNPI M_LN2 M_LN10 M_LOG2E M_LOG10E M_PI M_PI_2 M_PI_4 M_1_PI M_2_PI M_SQRTPI M_2_SQRTPI M_SQRT1_2 M_SQRT2 M_SQRT3 Description Returns e (approx. 2.718) Returns Euler's constant (approx. 0.577) Returns the natural logarithm of PI (approx. 1.144) Returns the natural logarithm of 2 (approx. 0.693) Returns the natural logarithm of 10 (approx. 2.302) Returns the base-2 logarithm of E (approx. 1.442) Returns the base-10 logarithm of E (approx. 0.434) Returns PI (approx. 3.14159) Returns PI/2 (approx. 1.570) Returns PI/4 (approx. 0.785) Returns 1/PI (approx. 0.318) Returns 2/PI (approx. 0.636) Returns the square root of PI (approx. 1.772) Returns 2/square root of PI (approx. 1.128) Returns the square root of 1/2 (approx. 0.707) Returns the square root of 2 (approx. 1.414) Returns the square root of 3 (approx. 1.732) PHP 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
PHP Miscellaneous Introduction
The misc. functions were only placed here because none of the other categories seemed to fit.
Installation
The misc functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
The behavior of the misc functions is affected by settings in the php.ini file. Misc. configuration options: Name Default ignore_user_abort "0" Description FALSE indicates that scripts will be terminated as soon as they try to output something after a client has aborted their connection Color for highlighting a string in PHP syntax Color for highlighting PHP comments Color for syntax highlighting PHP keywords (e.g. parenthesis and semicolon) Color for background Default color for PHP syntax Color for HTML code Name and location of browsercapabilities file (e.g. browscap.ini) Changeable PHP_INI_ALL
highlight.string
"#DD0000"
PHP_INI_ALL PHP_INI_ALL PHP_INI_ALL
highlight.comment "#FF8000" highlight.keyword "#007700"
highlight.bg highlight.default highlight.html browscap
"#FFFFFF" "#0000BB" "#000000" NULL
PHP_INI_ALL PHP_INI_ALL PHP_INI_ALL PHP_INI_SYSTEM
PHP Misc. Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function connection_aborted() Description Checks whether the client has disconnected PHP 3
connection_status() connection_timeout() constant() define() defined() die() eval() exit() get_browser() highlight_file() highlight_string() ignore_user_abort() pack() php_check_syntax() php_strip_whitespace() show_source() sleep() time_nanosleep() time_sleep_until() uniqid() unpack() usleep()
Returns the current connection status 3 Deprecated in PHP 4.0.5 3 Returns the value of a constant 4 Defines a constant 3 Checks whether a constant exists 3 Prints a message and exits the current script 3 Evaluates a string as PHP code 3 Prints a message and exits the current script 3 Returns the capabilities of the user's browser 3 Outputs a file with the PHP syntax highlighted 4 Outputs a string with the PHP syntax highlighted 4 Sets whether a remote client can abort the running of a 3 script Packs data into a binary string 3 Deprecated in PHP 5.0.5 5 Returns the source code of a file with PHP comments and 5 whitespace removed Alias of highlight_file() 4 Delays code execution for a number of seconds 3 Delays code execution for a number of seconds and 5 nanoseconds Delays code execution until a specified time 5 Generates a unique ID 3 Unpacks data from a binary string 3 Delays code execution for a number of microseconds 3
PHP Misc. Constants

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the constant. Constant Description CONNECTION_ABORTED CONNECTION_NORMAL CONNECTION_TIMEOUT __COMPILER_HALT_OFFSET__ PHP
PHP MySQL Introduction

The MySQL functions allows you to access MySQL database servers.
Installation
For the MySQL functions to be available, you must compile PHP with MySQL support. For compiling, use --with-mysql=DIR (the optional DIR points to the MySQL directory). Note: For full functionality of MySQL versions greater than 4.1., use the MySQLi extension instead. If you would like to install both the mysql extension and the mysqli extension you should use the same client library to avoid any conflicts. Installation on Linux Systems PHP 5+: MySQL and the MySQL library is not enabled by default. Use the --withmysql=DIR configure option to include MySQL support and download headers and libraries from www.mysql.com. Installation on Windows Systems PHP 5+: MySQL is not enabled by default, so the php_mysql.dll must be enabled inside of php.ini. Also, PHP needs access to the MySQL client library. A file named libmysql.dll is included in the Windows PHP distribution, and in order for PHP to talk to MySQL this file needs to be available to the Windows systems PATH. To enable any PHP extension, the PHP extension_dir setting (in the php.ini file) should be set to the directory where the PHP extensions are located. An example extension_dir value is c:\php\ext. Note: If you get the following error when starting the web server: "Unable to load dynamic library './php_mysql.dll'", this is because php_mysql.dll or libmysql.dll cannot be found by the system.
The behavior of the MySQL functions is affected by settings in the php.ini file. MySQL configuration options: Name Default Description Changeable
mysql.allow_persistent "1" mysql.max_persistent mysql.max_links "-1" "-1"
mysql.trace_mode
"0"
mysql.default_port mysql.default_socket mysql.default_host mysql.default_user
NULL NULL NULL NULL
mysql.default_password NULL mysql.connect_timeout "60"
Whether or not to allow persistent PHP_INI_SYSTEM connections The maximum number of PHP_INI_SYSTEM persistent connections per process The maximum number of PHP_INI_SYSTEM connections per process (persistent connections included) Trace mode. When set to "1", PHP_INI_ALL warnings and SQL-errors will be displayed. Available since PHP 4.3 The default TCP port number to PHP_INI_ALL use The default socket name to use. PHP_INI_ALL Available since PHP 4.0.1 The default server host to use PHP_INI_ALL (doesn't apply in SQL safe mode) The default user name to use PHP_INI_ALL (doesn't apply in SQL safe mode) The default password to use PHP_INI_ALL (doesn't apply in SQL safe mode) Connection timeout in seconds PHP_INI_ALL
Resource Types
There are two resource types used in the MySQL extension. The first one is the link_identifier for a database connection, the second is a resource which holds the result of a query. Note: Most MySQL functions accept link_identifier as the last optional parameter. If it is not provided, the last opened connection is used.
PHP MySQL Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function mysql_affected_rows() mysql_change_user() Description PHP Returns the number of affected rows in the previous 3 MySQL operation Deprecated. Changes the user of the current MySQL 3
mysql_client_encoding() mysql_close() mysql_connect() mysql_create_db() mysql_data_seek() mysql_db_name() mysql_db_query() mysql_drop_db() mysql_errno() mysql_error() mysql_escape_string()
mysql_fetch_array() mysql_fetch_assoc() mysql_fetch_field() mysql_fetch_lengths() mysql_fetch_object() mysql_fetch_row() mysql_field_flags() mysql_field_len() mysql_field_name() mysql_field_seek() mysql_field_table() mysql_field_type() mysql_free_result() mysql_get_client_info() mysql_get_host_info()
connection Returns the name of the character set for the current connection Closes a non-persistent MySQL connection Opens a non-persistent MySQL connection Deprecated. Creates a new MySQL database. Use mysql_query() instead Moves the record pointer Returns a database name from a call to mysql_list_dbs() Deprecated. Sends a MySQL query. Use mysql_select_db() and mysql_query() instead Deprecated. Deletes a MySQL database. Use mysql_query() instead Returns the error number of the last MySQL operation Returns the error description of the last MySQL operation Deprecated. Escapes a string for use in a mysql_query. Use mysql_real_escape_string() instead Returns a row from a recordset as an associative array and/or a numeric array Returns a row from a recordset as an associative array Returns column info from a recordset as an object Returns the length of the contents of each field in a result row Returns a row from a recordset as an object Returns a row from a recordset as a numeric array Returns the flags associated with a field in a recordset Returns the maximum length of a field in a recordset Returns the name of a field in a recordset Moves the result pointer to a specified field Returns the name of the table the specified field is in Returns the type of a field in a recordset Free result memory Returns MySQL client info Returns MySQL host info
4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4
3 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4
mysql_get_proto_info() mysql_get_server_info() mysql_info() mysql_insert_id() mysql_list_dbs() mysql_list_fields() mysql_list_processes() mysql_list_tables() mysql_num_fields() mysql_num_rows() mysql_pconnect() mysql_ping() mysql_query() mysql_real_escape_string() mysql_result() mysql_select_db() mysql_stat() mysql_tablename() mysql_thread_id() mysql_unbuffered_query()
Returns MySQL protocol info Returns MySQL server info Returns information about the last query Returns the AUTO_INCREMENT ID generated from the previous INSERT operation Lists available databases on a MySQL server Deprecated. Lists MySQL table fields. Use mysql_query() instead Lists MySQL processes Deprecated. Lists tables in a MySQL database. Use mysql_query() instead Returns the number of fields in a recordset Returns the number of rows in a recordset Opens a persistent MySQL connection Pings a server connection or reconnects if there is no connection Executes a query on a MySQL database Escapes a string for use in SQL statements Returns the value of a field in a recordset Sets the active MySQL database Returns the current system status of the MySQL server Deprecated. Returns the table name of field. Use mysql_query() instead Returns the current thread ID Executes a query on a MySQL database (without fetching / buffering the result)
4 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 3 4 3 4 4
PHP MySQL Constants

Since PHP 4.3 it has been possible to specify additional flags for the mysql_connect() and mysql_pconnect() functions: PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the constant. Constant Description MYSQL_CLIENT_COMPRESS Use compression protocol MYSQL_CLIENT_IGNORE_SPACE Allow space after function names MYSQL_CLIENT_INTERACTIVE Allow interactive timeout seconds of PHP 4.3 4.3 4.3
MYSQL_CLIENT_SSL
inactivity before closing the connection Use SSL encryption (only available with version 4+ of the MySQL client library)
4.3
The mysql_fetch_array() function uses a constant for the different types of result arrays. The following constants are defined: Constant MYSQL_ASSOC MYSQL_BOTH MYSQL_NUM Description PHP Columns are returned into the array with the fieldname as the array index Columns are returned into the array having both a numerical index and the fieldname as the array index Columns are returned into the array having a numerical index (index starts at 0)
PHP SimpleXML Introduction

The SimpleXML functions lets you convert XML to an object. This object can be processed, like any other object, with normal property selectors and array iterators. Some of these functions requires the newest PHP build.
Installation
The SimpleXML functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
PHP SimpleXML Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function __construct() addAttribute() addChild() Description Creates a new SimpleXMLElement object Adds an attribute to the SimpleXML element Adds a child element the SimpleXML element PHP 5 5 5
asXML() attributes() children() getDocNamespaces() getName() getNamespace() registerXPathNamespace() simplexml_import_dom() simplexml_load_file() simplexml_load_string() xpath()
Gets an XML string from a SimpleXML element Gets a SimpleXML element's attributes Gets the children of a specified node Gets the namespaces of an XML document Gets the name of a SimpleXML element Gets the namespaces from XML data Creates a namespace context for the next XPath query Gets a SimpleXMLElement object from a DOM node Gets a SimpleXMLElement object from an XML document Gets a SimpleXMLElement object from an XML string Runs an XPath query on XML data
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
PHP SimpleXML Constants

None
PHP String Introduction

The string functions allow you to manipulate strings.
Installation
The string functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
PHP String Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function addcslashes() addslashes() Description Returns a string with backslashes in front of the specified characters Returns a string with backslashes in front of PHP 4 3
bin2hex() chop() chr() chunk_split() convert_cyr_string() convert_uudecode() convert_uuencode() count_chars() crc32() crypt() echo() explode() fprintf() get_html_translation_table() hebrev() hebrevc() html_entity_decode() htmlentities() htmlspecialchars_decode() htmlspecialchars() implode() join() levenshtein() localeconv() ltrim() md5() md5_file() metaphone()
predefined characters Converts a string of ASCII characters to 3 hexadecimal values Alias of rtrim() 3 Returns a character from a specified ASCII value 3 Splits a string into a series of smaller parts 3 Converts a string from one Cyrillic character-set to 3 another Decodes a uuencoded string 5 Encodes a string using the uuencode algorithm 5 Returns how many times an ASCII character 4 occurs within a string and returns the information Calculates a 32-bit CRC for a string 4 One-way string encryption (hashing) 3 Outputs strings 3 Breaks a string into an array 3 Writes a formatted string to a specified output 5 stream Returns the translation table used by 4 htmlspecialchars() and htmlentities() Converts Hebrew text to visual text 3 Converts Hebrew text to visual text and new lines 3 (\n) into <br /> Converts HTML entities to characters 4 Converts characters to HTML entities 3 Converts some predefined HTML entities to 5 characters Converts some predefined characters to HTML 3 entities Returns a string from the elements of an array 3 Alias of implode() 3 Returns the Levenshtein distance between two 3 strings Returns locale numeric and monetary formatting 4 information Strips whitespace from the left side of a string 3 Calculates the MD5 hash of a string 3 Calculates the MD5 hash of a file 4 Calculates the metaphone key of a string 4
money_format() nl_langinfo() nl2br() number_format() ord() parse_str() print() printf() quoted_printable_decode() quotemeta() rtrim() setlocale() sha1() sha1_file() similar_text() soundex() sprintf() sscanf() str_ireplace() str_pad() str_repeat() str_replace() str_rot13() str_shuffle() str_split() str_word_count() strcasecmp() strchr() strcmp() strcoll() strcspn()
strip_tags()
Returns a string formatted as a currency string 4 Returns specific local information 4 Inserts HTML line breaks in front of each newline 3 in a string Formats a number with grouped thousands 3 Returns the ASCII value of the first character of a 3 string Parses a query string into variables 3 Outputs a string 3 Outputs a formatted string 3 Decodes a quoted-printable string 3 Quotes meta characters 3 Strips whitespace from the right side of a string 3 Sets locale information 3 Calculates the SHA-1 hash of a string 4 Calculates the SHA-1 hash of a file 4 Calculates the similarity between two strings 3 Calculates the soundex key of a string 3 Writes a formatted string to a variable 3 Parses input from a string according to a format 4 Replaces some characters in a string (case5 insensitive) Pads a string to a new length 4 Repeats a string a specified number of times 4 Replaces some characters in a string (case3 sensitive) Performs the ROT13 encoding on a string 4 Randomly shuffles all characters in a string 4 Splits a string into an array 5 Count the number of words in a string 4 Compares two strings (case-insensitive) 3 Finds the first occurrence of a string inside another 3 string (alias of strstr()) Compares two strings (case-sensitive) 3 Locale based string comparison 4 Returns the number of characters found in a string 3 before any part of some specified characters are found Strips HTML and PHP tags from a string 3
stripcslashes() stripslashes() stripos() stristr() strlen() strnatcasecmp() strnatcmp() strncasecmp() strncmp() strpbrk() strpos() strrchr() strrev() strripos() strrpos() strspn()
strstr() strtok() strtolower() strtoupper() strtr() substr() substr_compare() substr_count() substr_replace()
Unquotes a string quoted with addcslashes() 4 Unquotes a string quoted with addslashes() 3 Returns the position of the first occurrence of a 5 string inside another string (case-insensitive) Finds the first occurrence of a string inside another 3 string (case-insensitive) Returns the length of a string 3 Compares two strings using a "natural order" 4 algorithm (case-insensitive) Compares two strings using a "natural order" 4 algorithm (case-sensitive) String comparison of the first n characters (case- 4 insensitive) String comparison of the first n characters (case- 4 sensitive) Searches a string for any of a set of characters 5 Returns the position of the first occurrence of a 3 string inside another string (case-sensitive) Finds the last occurrence of a string inside another 3 string Reverses a string 3 Finds the position of the last occurrence of a string 5 inside another string (case-insensitive) Finds the position of the last occurrence of a string 3 inside another string (case-sensitive) Returns the number of characters found in a string 3 that contains only characters from a specified charlist Finds the first occurrence of a string inside another 3 string (case-sensitive) Splits a string into smaller strings 3 Converts a string to lowercase letters 3 Converts a string to uppercase letters 3 Translates certain characters in a string 3 Returns a part of a string 3 Compares two strings from a specified start 5 position (binary safe and optionally case-sensitive) Counts the number of times a substring occurs in a 4 string Replaces a part of a string with another string 4
trim() ucfirst() ucwords() vfprintf() vprintf() vsprintf() wordwrap()
Strips whitespace from both sides of a string Converts the first character of a string to uppercase Converts the first character of each word in a string to uppercase Writes a formatted string to a specified output stream Outputs a formatted string Writes a formatted string to a variable Wraps a string to a given number of characters
3 3 3 5 4 4 4
PHP String Constants

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the constant. Constant CRYPT_SALT_LENGTH Description PHP Contains the length of the default encryption method for the system. For standard DES encryption, the length is 2 Set to 1 if the standard DES-based encryption with a 2 character salt is supported, 0 otherwise Set to 1 if the extended DES-based encryption with a 9 character salt is supported, 0 otherwise Set to 1 if the MD5 encryption with a 12 character salt starting with $1$ is supported, 0 otherwise Set to 1 if the Blowfish encryption with a 16 character salt starting with $2$ or $2a$ is supported, 0 otherwise0
CRYPT_STD_DES CRYPT_EXT_DES CRYPT_MD5 CRYPT_BLOWFISH
HTML_SPECIALCHARS HTML_ENTITIES ENT_COMPAT ENT_QUOTES ENT_NOQUOTES CHAR_MAX LC_CTYPE LC_NUMERIC LC_TIME LC_COLLATE
LC_MONETARY LC_ALL LC_MESSAGES STR_PAD_LEFT STR_PAD_RIGHT STR_PAD_BOTH
PHP XML Parser Introduction

The XML functions lets you parse, but not validate, XML documents. XML is a data format for standardized structured document exchange. More information on XML can be found in our XML Tutorial. This extension uses the Expat XML parser. Expat is an event-based parser, it views an XML document as a series of events. When an event occurs, it calls a specified function to handle it. Expat is a non-validating parser, and ignores any DTDs linked to a document. However, if the document is not well formed it will end with an error message. Because it is an event-based, non validating parser, Expat is fast and well suited for web applications. The XML parser functions lets you create XML parsers and define handlers for XML events.
Installation
The XML functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.
PHP XML Parser Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function utf8_decode() Description Decodes an UTF-8 string to ISOPHP 3
utf8_encode() xml_error_string() xml_get_current_byte_index() xml_get_current_column_number() xml_get_current_line_number() xml_get_error_code() xml_parse() xml_parse_into_struct() xml_parser_create_ns() xml_parser_create() xml_parser_free() xml_parser_get_option() xml_parser_set_option() xml_set_character_data_handler() xml_set_default_handler() xml_set_element_handler() xml_set_end_namespace_decl_handler() xml_set_external_entity_ref_handler() xml_set_notation_decl_handler() xml_set_object() xml_set_processing_instruction_handler() xml_set_start_namespace_decl_handler() xml_set_unparsed_entity_decl_handler()
8859-1 Encodes an ISO-8859-1 string to 3 UTF-8 Gets an error string from the XML 3 parser Gets the current byte index from the 3 XML parser Gets the current column number from 3 the XML parser Gets the current line number from the 3 XML parser Gets an error code from the XML 3 parser Parses an XML document 3 Parse XML data into an array 3 Create an XML parser with 4 namespace support Create an XML parser 3 Free an XML parser 3 Get options from an XML parser 3 Set options in an XML parser 3 Set handler function for character 3 data Set default handler function 3 Set handler function for start and end 3 element of elements Set handler function for the end of 4 namespace declarations Set handler function for external 3 entities Set handler function for notation 3 declarations Use XML Parser within an object 4 Set handler function for processing 3 instruction Set handler function for the start of 4 namespace declarations Set handler function for unparsed 3 entity declarations
PHP XML Parser Constants

Constant XML_ERROR_NONE (integer) XML_ERROR_NO_MEMORY (integer) XML_ERROR_SYNTAX (integer) XML_ERROR_NO_ELEMENTS (integer) XML_ERROR_INVALID_TOKEN (integer) XML_ERROR_UNCLOSED_TOKEN (integer) XML_ERROR_PARTIAL_CHAR (integer) XML_ERROR_TAG_MISMATCH (integer) XML_ERROR_DUPLICATE_ATTRIBUTE (integer) XML_ERROR_JUNK_AFTER_DOC_ELEMENT (integer) XML_ERROR_PARAM_ENTITY_REF (integer) XML_ERROR_UNDEFINED_ENTITY (integer) XML_ERROR_RECURSIVE_ENTITY_REF (integer) XML_ERROR_ASYNC_ENTITY (integer) XML_ERROR_BAD_CHAR_REF (integer) XML_ERROR_BINARY_ENTITY_REF (integer) XML_ERROR_ATTRIBUTE_EXTERNAL_ENTITY_REF (integer) XML_ERROR_MISPLACED_XML_PI (integer) XML_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ENCODING (integer) XML_ERROR_INCORRECT_ENCODING (integer) XML_ERROR_UNCLOSED_CDATA_SECTION (integer) XML_ERROR_EXTERNAL_ENTITY_HANDLING (integer) XML_OPTION_CASE_FOLDING (integer) XML_OPTION_TARGET_ENCODING (integer) XML_OPTION_SKIP_TAGSTART (integer) XML_OPTION_SKIP_WHITE (integer)
PHP Zip File Introduction

The Zip files functions allows you to read ZIP files.
Installation
For the Zip file functions to work on your server, these libraries must be installed:

The ZZIPlib library by Guido Draheim: Download the ZZIPlib library The Zip PELC extension: Download the Zip PELC extension
Installation on Linux Systems PHP 5+: Zip functions and the Zip library is not enabled by default and must be downloaded from the links above. Use the --with-zip=DIR configure option to include Zip support. Installation on Windows Systems PHP 5+: Zip functions is not enabled by default, so the php_zip.dll and the ZZIPlib library must be downloaded from the link above. php_zip.dll must be enabled inside of php.ini. To enable any PHP extension, the PHP extension_dir setting (in the php.ini file) should be set to the directory where the PHP extensions are located. An example extension_dir value is c:\php\ext.
PHP Zip File Functions

PHP: indicates the earliest version of PHP that supports the function. Function zip_close() zip_entry_close() zip_entry_compressedsize() zip_entry_compressionmethod() zip_entry_filesize() zip_entry_name() zip_entry_open() zip_entry_read() zip_open() zip_read() Description PHP Closes a ZIP file 4 Closes an entry in the ZIP file 4 Returns the compressed size of an entry in the 4 ZIP file Returns the compression method of an entry in 4 the ZIP file Returns the actual file size of an entry in the ZIP 4 file Returns the name of an entry in the ZIP file 4 Opens an entry in the ZIP file for reading 4 Reads from an open entry in the ZIP file 4 Opens a ZIP file 4 Reads the next entry in a ZIP file 4
PHP Zip File Constants

NONE

PHP Notes

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PHP Notes

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PHP Basic

PHP and AJAX

PHP Quiz PHP Certificate

Basic PHP Syntax

PHP is a Loosely Typed Language

Naming Rules for Variables

PHP String Variables

String Variables in PHP

The Concatenation Operator

The strlen() function

The strpos() function

Complete PHP String Reference

Modulus (division remainder)

5%2 10%8 10%2 x=5 x++ x=5 x--

(x==5 || y==5) returns false x=6 y=3 !(x==y) returns true

PHP If...Else Statements

The if...else Statement

The if...elseif....else Statement

The PHP Switch Statement

An array stores multiple values in one single variable.

In PHP, there are three kind of arrays:

Complete PHP Array Reference

The while Loop

The do...while Statement

The for Loop

The foreach Loop

PHP Built-in Functions

Create a PHP Function

PHP Functions - Adding parameters

PHP Functions - Return values

PHP Form Handling

The $_GET Function

When to use method="get"?

The $_POST Function

When to use method="post"?

The PHP $_REQUEST Function

The PHP Date() Function

PHP Date() - Format the Date

d - Represents the day of the month (01 to 31)

m - Represents a month (01 to 12) Y - Represents a year (in four digits)

PHP Date() - Adding a Timestamp

Syntax for mktime()

Server Side Includes (SSI)

PHP include() Function

PHP require() Function

Error Example include() Function

Error Example require() Function

The fopen() function is used to open files in PHP.

Reading a File Line by Line

Reading a File Character by Character

PHP Filesystem Reference

Create an Upload-File Form

Create The Upload Script

Saving the Uploaded File

How to Create a Cookie?

How to Retrieve a Cookie Value?

How to Delete a Cookie?

What if a Browser Does NOT Support Cookies?

PHP Session Variables

Starting a PHP Session

Storing a Session Variable

The PHP mail() Function

PHP Simple E-Mail

PHP Mail Form

PHP Mail Reference

PHP E-mail Injections

PHP Stopping E-mail Injections

PHP Error Handling

Basic Error Handling: Using the die() function

Creating a Custom Error Handler

Error Report levels

Set Error Handler

Send an Error Message by E-Mail

We will show different error handling methods:

Basic Use of Exceptions

Try, throw and catch