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PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Introduction
PHP Intro
PHP Install « Previous Next Chapter »
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables PHP is a server-side scripting language.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch What You Should Already Know
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:
PHP For Loops
HTML/XHTML
PHP Functions
JavaScript
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET If you want to study these subjects first, find the tutorials on our Home page.
PHP $_POST
PHP Advanced
What is PHP?
PHP Date
PHP Include PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
PHP File PHP is a server-side scripting language, like ASP
PHP File Upload PHP scripts are executed on the server
PHP Cookies PHP supports many databases (MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL, Generic
PHP Sessions ODBC, etc.)
PHP E-mail PHP is an open source software
PHP Secure E-mail PHP is free to download and use
PHP Error
PHP Exception
PHP Filter
What is a PHP File?
PHP files can contain text, HTML tags and scripts
PHP Database PHP files are returned to the browser as plain HTML
MySQL Introduction PHP files have a file extension of ".php", ".php3", or ".phtml"
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert
What is MySQL?
MySQL Select
MySQL is a database server
MySQL Where
MySQL is ideal for both small and large applications
MySQL Order By
MySQL supports standard SQL
MySQL Update
MySQL compiles on a number of platforms
MySQL Delete
MySQL is free to download and use
PHP ODBC
PHP XML PHP + MySQL

XML Expat Parser
PHP combined with MySQL are cross-platform (you can develop in Windows and serve on a Unix
XML DOM
platform)
XML SimpleXML
PHP and AJAX Why PHP?

AJAX Intro PHP runs on different platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.)
AJAX PHP PHP is compatible with almost all servers used today (Apache, IIS, etc.)
AJAX Database PHP is FREE to download from the official PHP resource: www.php.net
AJAX XML PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server side
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll Where to Start?
PHP Reference To get access to a web server with PHP support, you can:
PHP Array Install Apache (or IIS) on your own server, install PHP, and MySQL
PHP Calendar Or find a web hosting plan with PHP and MySQL support
PHP Date
PHP Directory
PHP Error « Previous Next Chapter »
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP W3Schools' Online Certification
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail The perfect solution for professionals who need to balance work,
PHP Math family, and career building.
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL More than 10 000 certificates already issued!
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String Get Your Certificate »
PHP XML
PHP Zip
The HTML Certificate documents your knowledge of HTML.
PHP Quiz The CSS Certificate documents your knowledge of advanced CSS.
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate The JavaScript Certificate documents your knowledge of JavaScript and HTML DOM.

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Installation
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables
PHP String What do you Need?
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else If your server supports PHP you don't need to do anything.
PHP Switch
Just create some .php files in your web directory, and the server will parse them for you. Because it is
PHP Arrays
free, most web hosts offer PHP support.
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops However, if your server does not support PHP, you must install PHP.
PHP Functions
PHP Forms Here is a link to a good tutorial from PHP.net on how to install PHP5:
PHP $_GET http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.php
PHP $_POST
PHP Advanced Download PHP

PHP Date Download PHP for free here: http://www.php.net/downloads.php
PHP Include
PHP File
PHP File Upload Download MySQL Database
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions Download MySQL for free here: http://www.mysql.com/downloads/
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail Download Apache Server
PHP Error
PHP Exception Download Apache for free here: http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi
PHP Filter
PHP Database « Previous Next Chapter »

MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC
PHP XML
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML
PHP and AJAX

AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
PHP Reference
PHP Array
PHP Calendar
PHP Date
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Syntax
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The PHP script is executed on the server, and the plain HTML result is sent back to the
PHP String
browser.
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays Basic PHP Syntax
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops A PHP script always starts with <?php and ends with ?>. A PHP script can be placed anywhere in the
PHP Functions document.
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET On servers with shorthand-support, you can start a PHP script with <? and end with ?>.
PHP $_POST
For maximum compatibility, we recommend that you use the standard form (<?php) rather than the
shorthand form.
PHP Advanced
PHP Date
PHP Include <?php
PHP File
?>
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies A PHP file must have a .php extension.
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail A PHP file normally contains HTML tags, and some PHP scripting code.
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error Below, we have an example of a simple PHP script that sends the text "Hello World" back to the
PHP Exception browser:
PHP Filter
<html>
PHP Database <body>
MySQL Introduction
<?php
MySQL Connect echo "Hello World";
MySQL Create ?>
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select </body>
MySQL Where </html>
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update Each code line in PHP must end with a semicolon. The semicolon is a separator and is used to
MySQL Delete distinguish one set of instructions from another.
PHP ODBC
There are two basic statements to output text with PHP: echo and print.
PHP XML
XML Expat Parser In the example above we have used the echo statement to output the text "Hello World".
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML
Comments in PHP
PHP and AJAX
In PHP, we use // to make a one-line comment or /* and */ to make a comment block:
AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database <html>
AJAX XML <body>
AJAX Live Search <?php
AJAX RSS Reader //This is a comment
AJAX Poll
/*
PHP Reference This is
a comment
PHP Array block
PHP Calendar */
PHP Date ?>
PHP Directory
</body>
PHP Error </html>
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
« Previous Next Chapter »
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc W3Schools' Online Certification
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML The perfect solution for professionals who need to balance work,
PHP String family, and career building.
PHP XML
PHP Zip More than 10 000 certificates already issued!
PHP Quiz Get Your Certificate »

PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate The HTML Certificate documents your knowledge of HTML.
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Variables
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables Variables are "containers" for storing information.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch Do You Remember Algebra From School?
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops Do you remember algebra from school? x=5, y=6, z=x+y
PHP For Loops
Do you remember that a letter (like x) could be used to hold a value (like 5), and that you could use
PHP Functions
the information above to calculate the value of z to be 11?
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET These letters are called variables, and variables can be used to hold values (x=5) or expressions
PHP $_POST (z=x+y).
PHP Advanced
PHP Date PHP Variables
PHP Include
PHP File As with algebra, PHP variables are used to hold values or expressions.
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies A variable can have a short name, like x, or a more descriptive name, like carName.
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail Rules for PHP variable names:
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error Variables in PHP starts with a $ sign, followed by the name of the variable
PHP Exception The variable name must begin with a letter or the underscore character
PHP Filter A variable name can only contain alpha-numeric characters and underscores (A-z, 0-9, and _ )
A variable name should not contain spaces
PHP Database Variable names are case sensitive (y and Y are two different variables)
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create
Creating (Declaring) PHP Variables
MySQL Insert PHP has no command for declaring a variable.
MySQL Select
MySQL Where A variable is created the moment you first assign a value to it:
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete $myCar="Volvo";
PHP ODBC
After the execution of the statement above, the variable myCar will hold the value Volvo.
PHP XML
XML Expat Parser Tip: If you want to create a variable without assigning it a value, then you assign it the value of null.
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML Let's create a variable containing a string, and a variable containing a number:
PHP and AJAX <?php

AJAX Intro
$txt="Hello World!";
$x=16;
AJAX PHP ?>
AJAX Database
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search Note: When you assign a text value to a variable, put quotes around the value.
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
PHP is a Loosely Typed Language
PHP Reference
In PHP, a variable does not need to be declared before adding a value to it.
PHP Array
PHP Calendar In the example above, notice that we did not have to tell PHP which data type the variable is.
PHP Date
PHP Directory PHP automatically converts the variable to the correct data type, depending on its value.
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem In a strongly typed programming language, you have to declare (define) the type and name of the
PHP Filter variable before using it.
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP
PHP
Libxml
Mail
PHP Variable Scope
PHP Math The scope of a variable is the portion of the script in which the variable can be referenced.
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL PHP has four different variable scopes:
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String local
PHP XML global
PHP Zip static
parameter
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate Local Scope
A variable declared within a PHP function is local and can only be accessed within that function. (the
variable has local scope):
<?php
$a = 5; // global scope
function myTest()
{
echo $a; // local scope
}
myTest();
?>
The script above will not produce any output because the echo statement refers to the local scope
variable $a, which has not been assigned a value within this scope.
You can have local variables with the same name in different functions, because local variables are
only recognized by the function in which they are declared.
Local variables are deleted as soon as the function is completed.
Global Scope
Global scope refers to any variable that is defined outside of any function.
Global variables can be accessed from any part of the script that is not inside a function.
To access a global variable from within a function, use the global keyword:
<?php
$a = 5;
$b = 10;
function myTest()
{
global $a, $b;
$b = $a + $b;
}
myTest();
echo $b;
?>
The script above will output 15.
PHP also stores all global variables in an array called $GLOBALS[index]. Its index is the name of the
variable. This array is also accessible from within functions and can be used to update global variables
directly.
The example above can be rewritten as this:
<?php
$a = 5;
$b = 10;
function myTest()
{
$GLOBALS['b'] = $GLOBALS['a'] + $GLOBALS['b'];
}
myTest();
echo $b;
?>
Static Scope
When a function is completed, all of its variables are normally deleted. However, sometimes you want
a local variable to not be deleted.
To do this, use the static keyword when you first declare the variable:
static $rememberMe;
Then, each time the function is called, that variable will still have the information it contained from the
last time the function was called.
Note: The variable is still local to the function.
Parameters
A parameter is a local variable whose value is passed to the function by the calling code.
Parameters are declared in a parameter list as part of the function declaration:
function myTest($para1,$para2,...)
{
// function code
}
Parameters are also called arguments. We will discuss them in more detail when we talk about
functions.

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP String Variables
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables A string variable is used to store and manipulate text.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch String Variables in PHP
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops String variables are used for values that contain characters.
PHP For Loops
In this chapter we are going to look at the most common functions and operators used to manipulate
PHP Functions
strings in PHP.
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET After we create a string we can manipulate it. A string can be used directly in a function or it can be
PHP $_POST stored in a variable.
PHP Advanced Below, the PHP script assigns the text "Hello World" to a string variable called $txt:
PHP Date
PHP Include <?php
PHP File $txt="Hello World";
PHP File Upload echo $txt;
PHP Cookies ?>
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail
The output of the code above will be:
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
PHP Exception Hello World
PHP Filter
Now, lets try to use some different functions and operators to manipulate the string.
PHP Database
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create
The Concatenation Operator
MySQL Insert There is only one string operator in PHP.
MySQL Select
MySQL Where The concatenation operator (.) is used to put two string values together.
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update To concatenate two string variables together, use the concatenation operator:
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC
<?php
$txt1="Hello World!";
PHP XML $txt2="What a nice day!";
XML Expat Parser echo $txt1 . " " . $txt2;
XML DOM
?>
XML SimpleXML
PHP and AJAX
AJAX Intro Hello World! What a nice day!
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database
AJAX XML If we look at the code above you see that we used the concatenation operator two times. This is
AJAX Live Search because we had to insert a third string (a space character), to separate the two strings.
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
The strlen() function
PHP Reference
The strlen() function is used to return the length of a string.
PHP Array
PHP Calendar Let's find the length of a string:
PHP Date
PHP Directory
PHP Error <?php
PHP Filesystem echo strlen("Hello world!");
PHP Filter ?>
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP The output of the code above will be:
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math 12
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL The length of a string is often used in loops or other functions, when it is important to know when the
PHP SimpleXML string ends. (i.e. in a loop, we would want to stop the loop after the last character in the string).
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip
The strpos() function
PHP Quiz The strpos() function is used to search for a character/text within a string.
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate 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 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 Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Operators
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The assignment operator = is used to assign values to variables in PHP.
PHP String
PHP Operators
The arithmetic operator + is used to add values together.
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops Arithmetic Operators
PHP For Loops
PHP Functions The table below lists the arithmetic operators in PHP:
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET Operator Name Description Example Result
PHP $_POST
x +y Addition Sum of x and y 2+2 4
PHP Advanced x -y Subtraction Difference of x and y 5-2 3
PHP Date x *y Multiplication Product of x and y 5*2 10
PHP Include
x /y Division Quotient of x and y 15 / 5 3
PHP File
PHP File Upload x %y Modulus Remainder of x divided by y 5%2 1
PHP Cookies 10 % 8 2
PHP Sessions 10 % 2 0
PHP E-mail
-x Negation Opposite of x -2
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error a.b Concatenation Concatenate two strings "Hi" . "Ha" HiHa
PHP Exception
PHP Filter
Assignment Operators
PHP Database
The basic assignment operator in PHP is "=". It means that the left operand gets set to the value of
MySQL Introduction the expression on the right. That is, the value of "$x = 5" is 5.
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create Assignment Same as... Description
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select x =y x =y The left operand gets set to the value of the expression on the
MySQL Where right
MySQL Order By x += y x =x +y Addition
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete x -= y x =x -y Subtraction
PHP ODBC x *= y x =x *y Multiplication
PHP XML x /= y x =x /y Division

XML Expat Parser x %= y x =x %y Modulus
XML DOM a .= b a=a.b Concatenate two strings
XML SimpleXML
PHP and AJAX Incrementing/Decrementing Operators

AJAX Intro
Operator Name Description
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database ++ x Pre-increment Increments x by one, then returns x
AJAX XML
x ++ Post-increment Returns x, then increments x by one
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader -- x Pre-decrement Decrements x by one, then returns x
AJAX Poll
x -- Post-decrement Returns x, then decrements x by one
PHP Reference
PHP Array
Comparison Operators
PHP Calendar
Comparison operators allows you to compare two values:
PHP Date
PHP Directory
PHP Error Operator Name Description Example
PHP Filesystem x == y Equal True if x is equal to y 5==8 returns false
PHP Filter
PHP FTP x === y Identical True if x is equal to y, and they are 5==="5" returns false
PHP HTTP of same type
PHP Libxml x != y Not equal True if x is not equal to y 5!=8 returns true
PHP Mail
PHP Math x <> y Not equal True if x is not equal to y 5<>8 returns true
PHP Misc x !== y Not identical True if x is not equal to y, or they 5!=="5" returns true
PHP MySQL are not of same type
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String x >y Greater than True if x is greater than y 5>8 returns false
PHP XML x <y Less than True if x is less than y 5<8 returns true
PHP Zip
x >= y Greater than or True if x is greater than or equal to 5>=8 returns false
PHP Quiz equal to y
PHP Quiz x <= y Less than or equal True if x is less than or equal to y 5<=8 returns true
PHP Certificate to

Logical Operators
Operator Name Description Example
x and y And True if both x and y are true x=6
y=3
(x < 10 and y > 1) returns
true
x or y Or True if either or both x and y are x=6
true y=3
(x==6 or y==5) returns true
x xor y Xor True if either x or y is true, but not x=6
both y=3
(x==6 xor y==3) returns
false
x && y And True if both x and y are true x=6
y=3
(x < 10 && y > 1) returns
true
x || y Or True if either or both x and y are x=6
true y=3
(x==5 || y==5) returns false
!x Not True if x is not true x=6
y=3
!(x==y) returns true
Array Operators
Operator Name Description
x +y Union Union of x and y
x == y Equality True if x and y have the same key/value pairs
x === y Identity True if x and y have the same key/value pairs in the same order
and of the same types
x != y Inequality True if x is not equal to y
x <> y Inequality True if x is not equal to y
x !== y Non-identity True if x is not identical to y

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP If...Else Statements
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables Conditional statements are used to perform different actions based on different
PHP String
conditions.
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays Conditional Statements
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops Very often when you write code, you want to perform different actions for different decisions.
PHP Functions
PHP Forms You can use conditional statements in your code to do this.
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST In PHP we have the following conditional statements:
if statement - use this statement to execute some code only if a specified condition is true
PHP Advanced if...else statement - use this statement to execute some code if a condition is true and another
PHP Date code if the condition is false
PHP Include if...elseif....else statement - use this statement to select one of several blocks of code to be
PHP File executed
PHP File Upload switch statement - use this statement to select one of many blocks of code to be executed
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail The if Statement
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error Use the if statement to execute some code only if a specified condition is true.
PHP Exception
PHP Filter Syntax
PHP Database
MySQL Introduction if (condition) code to be executed if condition is true;
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday:
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select
MySQL Where <html>
MySQL Order By <body>
MySQL Update <?php
MySQL Delete $d=date("D");
PHP ODBC if ($d=="Fri") echo "Have a nice weekend!";
?>
PHP XML </body>
XML Expat Parser </html>
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML
Notice that there is no ..else.. in this syntax. The code is executed only if the specified condition is
true.
PHP and AJAX
AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP The if...else Statement
AJAX Database
AJAX XML Use the if....else statement to execute some code if a condition is true and another code if a condition
AJAX Live Search is false.
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll Syntax
PHP Reference
PHP Array if (condition)
PHP Calendar
{
code to be executed if condition is true;
PHP Date }
PHP Directory else
PHP Error {
PHP Filesystem code to be executed if condition is false;
PHP Filter }
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
Example
PHP Mail
PHP Math The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday, otherwise it will
PHP Misc output "Have a nice day!":
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML <html>
PHP String <body>
PHP XML
PHP Zip <?php
$d=date("D");
if ($d=="Fri")
PHP Quiz {
PHP Quiz echo "Have a nice weekend!";
PHP Certificate
}
else
{
echo "Have a nice day!";
}
?>
</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)
{
}
elseif (condition)
{
}
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>
W3Schools' Online Certification

The perfect solution for professionals who need to balance work,
family, and career building.
More than 10 000 certificates already issued!
Get Your Certificate »
The CSS Certificate documents your knowledge of advanced CSS.
The JavaScript Certificate documents your knowledge of JavaScript and HTML DOM.
The jQuery Certificate documents your knowledge of jQuery.
The XML Certificate documents your knowledge of XML, XML DOM and XSLT.
The ASP Certificate documents your knowledge of ASP, SQL, and ADO.
The PHP Certificate documents your knowledge of PHP and SQL (MySQL).

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Switch Statement
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables Conditional statements are used to perform different actions based on different
PHP String
conditions.
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays The PHP Switch Statement
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops Use the switch statement to select one of many blocks of code to be executed.
PHP Functions
PHP Forms Syntax
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST
switch (n)
PHP Advanced {
case label1:
PHP Date code to be executed if n=label1;
PHP Include break;
PHP File case label2:
code to be executed if n=label2;
PHP File Upload break;
PHP Cookies default:
PHP Sessions code to be executed if n is different from both label1 and label2;
PHP E-mail }
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
This is how it works: First we have a single expression n (most often a variable), that is evaluated
PHP Exception
once. The value of the expression is then compared with the values for each case in the structure. If
PHP Filter
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.
PHP Database
MySQL Introduction Example
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert <html>
MySQL Select <body>
MySQL Where
<?php
MySQL Order By $x=1;
MySQL Update switch ($x)
MySQL Delete {
PHP ODBC case 1:
echo "Number 1";
break;
PHP XML case 2:
XML Expat Parser echo "Number 2";
XML DOM break;
XML SimpleXML
case 3:
echo "Number 3";
break;
PHP and AJAX default:
echo "No number between 1 and 3";
AJAX Intro }
AJAX PHP ?>
AJAX Database
AJAX XML </body>
AJAX Live Search </html>
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
PHP Reference
PHP Array
PHP Calendar
PHP Date
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Arrays
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables An array stores multiple values in one single variable.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch What is an Array?
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops A variable is a storage area holding a number or text. The problem is, a variable will hold only one
PHP For Loops value.
PHP Functions
An array is a special variable, which can store multiple values in one single variable.
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET If you have a list of items (a list of car names, for example), storing the cars in single variables could
PHP $_POST look like this:
PHP Advanced
$cars1="Saab";
PHP Date $cars2="Volvo";
PHP Include $cars3="BMW";
PHP File
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies However, what if you want to loop through the cars and find a specific one? And what if you had not 3
PHP Sessions cars, but 300?
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail The best solution here is to use an array!
PHP Error
An array can hold all your variable values under a single name. And you can access the values by
PHP Exception
referring to the array name.
PHP Filter
Each element in the array has its own index so that it can be easily accessed.
PHP Database
MySQL Introduction In PHP, there are three kind of arrays:
MySQL Connect
Numeric array - An array with a numeric index
MySQL Create
Associative array - An array where each ID key is associated with a value
MySQL Insert
Multidimensional array - An array containing one or more arrays
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update Numeric Arrays
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC A numeric array stores each array element with a numeric index.
There are two methods to create a numeric array.

PHP XML
XML Expat Parser 1. In the following example the index are automatically assigned (the index starts at 0):
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML
$cars=array("Saab","Volvo","BMW","Toyota");
PHP and AJAX
AJAX Intro 2. In the following example we assign the index manually:
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database $cars[0]="Saab";
AJAX XML $cars[1]="Volvo";
AJAX Live Search $cars[2]="BMW";
AJAX RSS Reader $cars[3]="Toyota";
AJAX Poll
PHP Reference Example

PHP Array In the following example you access the variable values by referring to the array name and index:
PHP Calendar
PHP Date
PHP Directory <?php
PHP Error $cars[0]="Saab";
$cars[1]="Volvo";
PHP Filesystem $cars[2]="BMW";
PHP Filter $cars[3]="Toyota";
PHP FTP echo $cars[0] . " and " . $cars[1] . " are Swedish cars.";
PHP HTTP ?>
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
The code above will output:
PHP Math
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL Saab and Volvo are Swedish cars.
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip
Associative Arrays
PHP Quiz An associative array, each ID key is associated with a value.
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate 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.";
?>
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?";
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.


PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Looping - While Loops
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables Loops execute a block of code a specified number of times, or while a specified
PHP String
condition is true.
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays PHP Loops
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops Often when you write code, you want the same block of code to run over and over again in a row.
PHP Functions Instead of adding several almost equal lines in a script we can use loops to perform a task like this.
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET In PHP, we have the following looping statements:
PHP $_POST
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
PHP Advanced
specified condition is true
PHP Date for - loops through a block of code a specified number of times
PHP Include foreach - loops through a block of code for each element in an array
PHP File
PHP File Upload
PHP
PHP
Cookies
Sessions
The while Loop
PHP E-mail The while loop executes a block of code while a condition is true.
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
Syntax
PHP Exception
PHP Filter
while (condition)
PHP Database {
code to be executed;
MySQL Introduction }
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert Example
MySQL Select
MySQL Where The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. The loop will continue to run as long as i is less
MySQL Order By than, or equal to 5. i will increase by 1 each time the loop runs:
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC <html>
<body>
PHP XML <?php
XML Expat Parser $i=1;
XML DOM while($i<=5)
{
XML SimpleXML echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />";
$i++;
PHP and AJAX }
?>
AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP </body>
AJAX Database </html>
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search
Output:
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
The number is 1
PHP Reference The number is 2
The number is 3
PHP Array The number is 4
PHP Calendar The number is 5
PHP Date
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter
The do...while Statement
PHP FTP
The do...while statement will always execute the block of code once, it will then check the condition,
PHP HTTP
and repeat the loop while the condition is true.
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math Syntax
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
do
PHP SimpleXML {
PHP String code to be executed;
PHP XML }
PHP Zip while (condition);
PHP Quiz
Example
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate 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.

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Looping - For Loops
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables Loops execute a block of code a specified number of times, or while a specified
PHP String
condition is true.
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays The for Loop
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops The for loop is used when you know in advance how many times the script should run.
PHP Functions
PHP Forms Syntax
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST
for (init; condition; increment)
PHP Advanced {
PHP Date }
PHP Include
PHP File
Parameters:
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies init: Mostly used to set a counter (but can be any code to be executed once at the beginning of
PHP Sessions the loop)
PHP E-mail condition: Evaluated for each loop iteration. If it evaluates to TRUE, the loop continues. If it
PHP Secure E-mail evaluates to FALSE, the loop ends.
PHP Error increment: Mostly used to increment a counter (but can be any code to be executed at the end
PHP Exception of the iteration)
PHP Filter
Note: The init and increment parameters above can be empty or have multiple expressions (separated
PHP Database by commas).
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect Example
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. The loop will continue to run as long as i is less
MySQL Select than, or equal to 5. i will increase by 1 each time the loop runs:
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
<html>
MySQL Update <body>
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC <?php
for ($i=1; $i<=5; $i++)
PHP XML {
echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />";
XML Expat Parser }
XML DOM ?>
XML SimpleXML
</body>
</html>
PHP and AJAX
AJAX Intro
Output:
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database
AJAX XML The number is 1
AJAX Live Search The number is 2
AJAX RSS Reader The number is 3
AJAX Poll The number is 4
The number is 5
PHP Reference
PHP Array
PHP Calendar
PHP Date
The foreach Loop
PHP Directory
The foreach loop is used to loop through arrays.
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter Syntax
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP foreach ($array as $value)
PHP Libxml {
PHP Mail code to be executed;
PHP Math }
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
For every loop iteration, the value of the current array element is assigned to $value (and the array
PHP SimpleXML
pointer is moved by one) - so on the next loop iteration, you'll be looking at the next array value.
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip Example
PHP Quiz The following example demonstrates a loop that will print the values of the given array:
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate <html>
<body>
<?php
$x=array("one","two","three");
foreach ($x as $value)
{
echo $value . "<br />";
}
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
one
two
three

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Functions
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The real power of PHP comes from its functions.
PHP String
PHP Operators
In PHP, there are more than 700 built-in functions.
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops PHP Built-in Functions
PHP For Loops
PHP Functions For a complete reference and examples of the built-in functions, please visit our PHP Reference.
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST PHP Functions
PHP Advanced In this chapter we will show you how to create your own functions.
PHP Date
To keep the script from being executed when the page loads, you can put it into a function.
PHP Include
PHP File A function will be executed by a call to the function.
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies You may call a function from anywhere within a page.
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail
PHP
PHP
Secure E-mail
Error
Create a PHP Function
PHP Exception A function will be executed by a call to the function.
PHP Filter
Syntax
PHP Database
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect function functionName()
MySQL Create {
MySQL Insert
}
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By PHP function guidelines:
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete Give the function a name that reflects what the function does
PHP ODBC The function name can start with a letter or underscore (not a number)
PHP XML Example

XML Expat Parser
A simple function that writes my name when it is called:
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML
<html>
PHP and AJAX <body>
AJAX Intro <?php
AJAX PHP function writeName()
AJAX Database {
AJAX XML echo "Kai Jim Refsnes";
AJAX Live Search }
AJAX RSS Reader echo "My name is ";
AJAX Poll writeName();
?>
PHP Reference
</body>
PHP Array </html>
PHP Calendar
PHP Date
PHP Directory Output:
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem My name is Kai Jim Refsnes
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail PHP Functions - Adding parameters
PHP Math
PHP Misc To add more functionality to a function, we can add parameters. A parameter is just like a variable.
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML Parameters are specified after the function name, inside the parentheses.
PHP String
PHP XML Example 1
PHP Zip
The following example will write different first names, but equal last name:
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz <html>
PHP Certificate <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("Ståle","?");
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
My name is Kai Jim Refsnes.

My sister's name is Hege Refsnes!
My brother's name is Ståle 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

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Forms and User Input
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The PHP $_GET and $_POST variables are used to retrieve information from forms, like
PHP String
user input.
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays PHP Form Handling
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops The most important thing to notice when dealing with HTML forms and PHP is that any form element in
PHP Functions an HTML page will automatically be available to your PHP scripts.
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET Example
PHP $_POST
The example below contains an HTML form with two input fields and a submit button:
PHP Advanced
PHP Date <html>
PHP Include <body>
PHP File
PHP File Upload <form action="welcome.php" method="post">
PHP Cookies Name: <input type="text" name="fname" />
Age: <input type="text" name="age" />
PHP Sessions <input type="submit" />
PHP E-mail </form>
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error </body>
PHP Exception </html>
PHP Filter
When a user fills out the form above and clicks on the submit button, the form data is sent to a PHP
PHP Database file, called "welcome.php":
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect "welcome.php" looks like this:
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert <html>
MySQL Select <body>
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By Welcome <?php echo $_POST["fname"]; ?>!<br />
MySQL Update You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old.
MySQL Delete </body>
PHP ODBC </html>
PHP XML
Output could be something like this:
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML Welcome John!
You are 28 years old.
PHP and AJAX
AJAX Intro The PHP $_GET and $_POST variables will be explained in the next chapters.
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database
AJAX XML Form Validation
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader User input should be validated on the browser whenever possible (by client scripts). Browser validation
AJAX Poll is faster and reduces the server load.
PHP Reference 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
PHP Array
user will then get the error messages on the same page as the form. This makes it easier to discover
PHP Calendar
the error.
PHP Date
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem « Previous Next Chapter »
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP $_GET Variable
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables In PHP, the predefined $_GET variable is used to collect values in a form with
PHP String
method="get".
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays The $_GET Variable
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops The predefined $_GET variable is used to collect values in a form with method="get"
PHP Functions
PHP Forms Information sent from a form with the GET method is visible to everyone (it will be displayed in the
PHP $_GET browser's address bar) and has limits on the amount of information to send.
PHP $_POST
Example
PHP Advanced
PHP Date <form action="welcome.php" method="get">
PHP Include Name: <input type="text" name="fname" />
PHP File Age: <input type="text" name="age" />
PHP File Upload <input type="submit" />
PHP Cookies </form>
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL sent to the server could look something like this:
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
PHP Exception http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php?fname=Peter&age=37
PHP Filter
The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_GET variable to collect form data (the names of the form
PHP Database fields will automatically be the keys in the $_GET array):
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect Welcome <?php echo $_GET["fname"]; ?>.<br />
MySQL Create You are <?php echo $_GET["age"]; ?> years old!
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update When to use method="get"?
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC 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!
PHP XML
XML Expat Parser However, because the variables are displayed in the URL, it is possible to bookmark the page. This can
XML DOM be useful in some cases.
XML SimpleXML
Note: The get method is not suitable for very large variable values. It should not be used with values
PHP and AJAX exceeding 2000 characters.
AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database « Previous Next Chapter »
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
PHP Reference
PHP Array
PHP Calendar
PHP Date
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP $_POST Function
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables In PHP, the predefined $_POST variable is used to collect values in a form with
PHP String
method="post".
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays The $_POST Variable
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops The predefined $_POST variable is used to collect values from a form sent with method="post".
PHP Functions
PHP Forms Information sent from a form with the POST method is invisible to others and has no limits on the
PHP $_GET amount of information to send.
PHP $_POST
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).
PHP Advanced
PHP Date Example
PHP Include
PHP File
PHP File Upload <form action="welcome.php" method="post">
PHP Cookies Name: <input type="text" name="fname" />
PHP Sessions Age: <input type="text" name="age" />
PHP E-mail <input type="submit" />
</form>
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
PHP Exception When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL will look like this:
PHP Filter
http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php
PHP Database
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_POST variable to collect form data (the names of the form
MySQL Create fields will automatically be the keys in the $_POST array):
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select Welcome <?php echo $_POST["fname"]; ?>!<br />
MySQL Where You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old.
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC
When to use method="post"?
PHP XML
Information sent from a form with the POST method is invisible to others and has no limits on the
XML Expat Parser amount of information to send.
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML However, because the variables are not displayed in the URL, it is not possible to bookmark the page.
PHP and AJAX

AJAX Intro The PHP $_REQUEST Variable
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database The predefined $_REQUEST variable contains the contents of both $_GET, $_POST, and $_COOKIE.
AJAX XML
The $_REQUEST variable can be used to collect form data sent with both the GET and POST methods.
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll Example
PHP Reference Welcome <?php echo $_REQUEST["fname"]; ?>!<br />

PHP Array You are <?php echo $_REQUEST["age"]; ?> years old.
PHP Calendar
PHP Date
PHP Directory « Previous Next Chapter »
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Date() Function
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The PHP date() function is used to format a time and/or date.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch The PHP Date() Function
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The PHP date() function formats a timestamp to a more readable date and time.
PHP For Loops
PHP Functions A timestamp is a sequence of characters, denoting the date and/or time at which a certain event
PHP Forms occurred.
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST Syntax
PHP Advanced
date(format,timestamp)
PHP Date
PHP Include
PHP File Parameter Description
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies format Required. Specifies the format of the timestamp
PHP Sessions timestamp Optional. Specifies a timestamp. Default is the current date and time
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
PHP Exception
PHP Filter
PHP Date() - Format the Date
The required format parameter in the date() function specifies how to format the date/time.
PHP Database
MySQL Introduction Here are some characters that can be used:
MySQL Connect
d - Represents the day of the month (01 to 31)
MySQL Create
m - Represents a month (01 to 12)
MySQL Insert
Y - Represents a year (in four digits)
MySQL Select
MySQL Where A list of all the characters that can be used in the format parameter, can be found in our PHP Date
MySQL Order By reference.
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete Other characters, like"/", ".", or "-" can also be inserted between the letters to add additional
PHP ODBC formatting:
PHP XML
<?php
XML Expat Parser echo date("Y/m/d") . "<br />";
XML DOM echo date("Y.m.d") . "<br />";
XML SimpleXML echo date("Y-m-d");
?>
PHP and AJAX
AJAX Intro The output of the code above could be something like this:
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database 2009/05/11
AJAX XML 2009.05.11
AJAX Live Search 2009-05-11
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
PHP Reference
PHP Date() - Adding a Timestamp
PHP Array
PHP Calendar The optional timestamp parameter in the date() function specifies a timestamp. If you do not specify a
PHP Date timestamp, the current date and time will be used.
PHP Directory
PHP Error The mktime() function returns the Unix timestamp for a date.
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter The Unix timestamp contains the number of seconds between the Unix Epoch (January 1 1970
PHP FTP 00:00:00 GMT) and the time specified.
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml Syntax for mktime()
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc mktime(hour,minute,second,month,day,year,is_dst)
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML To go one day in the future we simply add one to the day argument of mktime():
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip <?php
$tomorrow = mktime(0,0,0,date("m"),date("d")+1,date("Y"));
echo "Tomorrow is ".date("Y/m/d", $tomorrow);
PHP Quiz ?>
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
The output of the code above could be something like this:
Tomorrow is 2009/05/12
Complete PHP Date Reference

For a complete reference of all date functions, go to our complete PHP Date Reference.


PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Include Files
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables
PHP String PHP include and require Statements
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else In PHP, you can insert the content of one PHP file into another PHP file before the server executes it.
PHP Switch
The include and require statements are used to insert useful codes written in other files, in the flow of
PHP Arrays
execution.
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops Include and require are identical, except upon failure:
PHP Functions
PHP Forms require will produce a fatal error (E_COMPILE_ERROR) and stop the script
PHP $_GET include will only produce a warning (E_WARNING) and the script will continue
PHP $_POST
So, if you want the execution to go on and show users the output, even if the include file is missing,
PHP Advanced use include. Otherwise, in case of FrameWork, CMS or a complex PHP application coding, always use
PHP Date require to include a key file to the flow of execution. This will help avoid compromising your
PHP Include application's security and integrity, just in-case one key file is accidentally missing.
PHP File
Including files saves a lot of work. This means that you can create a standard header, footer, or menu
PHP File Upload
file for all your web pages. Then, when the header needs to be updated, you can only update the
PHP Cookies
header include file.
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail Syntax
PHP Error
PHP Exception
include 'filename';
PHP Filter
or
PHP Database
require 'filename';
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select PHP include and require Statement
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By Basic Example
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete Assume that you have a standard header file, called "header.php". To include the header file in a page,
PHP ODBC use include/require:
PHP XML
<html>
XML Expat Parser <body>
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML <?php include 'header.php'; ?>
<h1>Welcome to my home page!</h1>
<p>Some text.</p>
PHP and AJAX
AJAX Intro </body>
AJAX PHP </html>
AJAX Database
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search
Example 2
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll Assume we have a standard menu file that should be used on all pages.
"menu.php":
PHP Reference
PHP Array
PHP Calendar
<a href="/default.php">Home</a>
<a href="/tutorials.php">Tutorials</a>
PHP Date <a href="/references.php">References</a>
PHP Directory <a href="/examples.php">Examples</a>
PHP Error <a href="/about.php">About Us</a>
PHP Filesystem <a href="/contact.php">Contact Us</a>
PHP Filter
PHP FTP All pages in the Web site should include this menu file. Here is how it can be done:
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail <html>
PHP Math <body>
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
<div class="leftmenu">
<?php include 'menu.php'; ?>
PHP SimpleXML </div>
PHP String
PHP XML <h1>Welcome to my home page.</h1>
PHP Zip <p>Some text.</p>
</body>
PHP Quiz </html>
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
Example 3
Assume we have an include file with some variables defined ("vars.php"):
<?php
$color='red';
$car='BMW';
?>
Then the variables can be used in the calling file:
<html>
<body>
<h1>Welcome to my home page.</h1>
<?php include 'vars.php';
echo "I have a $color $car"; // I have a red BMW
?>
</body>
</html>

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP File Handling
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The fopen() function is used to open files in PHP.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch Opening a File
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The fopen() function is used to open files in PHP.
PHP For Loops
The first parameter of this function contains the name of the file to be opened and the second
PHP Functions
parameter specifies in which mode the file should be opened:
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST <html>
<body>
PHP Advanced
<?php
PHP Date $file=fopen("welcome.txt","r");
PHP Include ?>
PHP File
PHP File Upload </body>
</html>
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail The file may be opened in one of the following modes:
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error Modes Description
PHP Exception
PHP Filter r Read only. Starts at the beginning of the file
r+ Read/Write. Starts at the beginning of the file
PHP Database
w Write only. Opens and clears the contents of file; or creates a new file if it
MySQL Introduction doesn't exist
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create w+ Read/Write. Opens and clears the contents of file; or creates a new file if it
MySQL Insert doesn't exist
MySQL Select a Append. Opens and writes to the end of the file or creates a new file if it doesn't
MySQL Where exist
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update a+ Read/Append. Preserves file content by writing to the end of the file
MySQL Delete x Write only. Creates a new file. Returns FALSE and an error if file already exists
PHP ODBC
x+ Read/Write. Creates a new file. Returns FALSE and an error if file already exists
PHP XML
Note: If the fopen() function is unable to open the specified file, it returns 0 (false).
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM
Example
XML SimpleXML
The following example generates a message if the fopen() function is unable to open the specified file:
PHP and AJAX
AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP <html>
<body>
AJAX Database
AJAX XML <?php
AJAX Live Search $file=fopen("welcome.txt","r") or exit("Unable to open file!");
AJAX RSS Reader ?>
AJAX Poll
</body>
</html>
PHP Reference
PHP Array
PHP Calendar
PHP Date
PHP Directory
Closing a File
PHP Error
The fclose() function is used to close an open file:
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter
PHP FTP <?php
PHP HTTP $file = fopen("test.txt","r");
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail //some code to be executed
PHP Math fclose($file);
PHP Misc ?>
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip Check End-of-file
PHP Quiz The feof() function checks if the "end-of-file" (EOF) has been reached.
PHP Quiz The feof() function is useful for looping through data of unknown length.
PHP Certificate
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.

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP File Upload
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables With PHP, it is possible to upload files to the server.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch Create an Upload-File Form
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops To allow users to upload files from a form can be very useful.
PHP For Loops
Look at the following HTML form for uploading files:
PHP Functions
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET <html>
PHP $_POST <body>
PHP Advanced <form action="upload_file.php" method="post"

enctype="multipart/form-data">
PHP Date <label for="file">Filename:</label>
PHP Include <input type="file" name="file" id="file" />
PHP File <br />
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit" />
PHP File Upload </form>
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions </body>
PHP E-mail </html>
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
Notice the following about the HTML form above:
PHP Exception
PHP Filter 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
PHP Database file, to be uploaded
MySQL Introduction The type="file" attribute of the <input> tag specifies that the input should be processed as a
MySQL Connect file. For example, when viewed in a browser, there will be a browse-button next to the input
MySQL Create field
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select Note: Allowing users to upload files is a big security risk. Only permit trusted users to perform file
MySQL Where uploads.
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete Create The Upload Script
PHP ODBC
The "upload_file.php" file contains the code for uploading a file:
PHP XML
XML Expat Parser <?php
XML DOM if ($_FILES["file"]["error"] > 0)
XML SimpleXML {
echo "Error: " . $_FILES["file"]["error"] . "<br />";
}
PHP and AJAX else
AJAX Intro {
echo "Upload: " . $_FILES["file"]["name"] . "<br />";
AJAX PHP echo "Type: " . $_FILES["file"]["type"] . "<br />";
AJAX Database echo "Size: " . ($_FILES["file"]["size"] / 1024) . " Kb<br />";
AJAX XML echo "Stored in: " . $_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"];
AJAX Live Search }
AJAX RSS Reader ?>
AJAX Poll
By using the global PHP $_FILES array you can upload files from a client computer to the remote
PHP Reference server.
PHP Array
PHP Calendar The first parameter is the form's input name and the second index can be either "name", "type", "size",
PHP Date "tmp_name" or "error". Like this:
PHP Directory
$_FILES["file"]["name"] - the name of the uploaded file
PHP Error
$_FILES["file"]["type"] - the type of the uploaded file
PHP Filesystem
$_FILES["file"]["size"] - the size in bytes of the uploaded file
PHP Filter
$_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"] - the name of the temporary copy of the file stored on the server
PHP FTP
$_FILES["file"]["error"] - the error code resulting from the file upload
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml This is a very simple way of uploading files. For security reasons, you should add restrictions on what
PHP Mail the user is allowed to upload.
PHP Math
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML Restrictions on Upload
PHP String
PHP XML In this script we add some restrictions to the file upload. The user may only upload .gif or .jpeg files
PHP Zip and the file size must be under 20 kb:
PHP Quiz <?php

PHP Quiz
if ((($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/gif")
|| ($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/jpeg")
PHP Certificate || ($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/pjpeg"))
&& ($_FILES["file"]["size"] < 20000))
{
if ($_FILES["file"]["error"] > 0)
{
echo "Error: " . $_FILES["file"]["error"] . "<br />";
}
else
{
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 "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"



PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Cookies
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables A cookie is often used to identify a user.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch What is a Cookie?
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops A cookie is often used to identify a user. A cookie is a small file that the server embeds on the user's
PHP For Loops computer. Each time the same computer requests a page with a browser, it will send the cookie too.
PHP Functions With PHP, you can both create and retrieve cookie values.
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST How to Create a Cookie?
PHP Advanced The setcookie() function is used to set a cookie.
PHP Date Note: The setcookie() function must appear BEFORE the <html> tag.
PHP Include
PHP File Syntax
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions setcookie(name, value, expire, path, domain);
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error Example 1
PHP Exception
PHP Filter 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 Database
MySQL Introduction <?php
MySQL Connect setcookie("user", "Alex Porter", time()+3600);
MySQL Create ?>
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select <html>
.....
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update Note: The value of the cookie is automatically URLencoded when sending the cookie, and automatically
MySQL Delete decoded when received (to prevent URLencoding, use setrawcookie() instead).
PHP ODBC
Example 2
PHP XML
XML Expat Parser You can also set the expiration time of the cookie in another way. It may be easier than using seconds.
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML <?php
$expire=time()+60*60*24*30;
PHP and AJAX setcookie("user", "Alex Porter", $expire);
?>
AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP <html>
AJAX Database .....
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search
In the example above the expiration time is set to a month (60 sec * 60 min * 24 hours * 30 days).
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
PHP Reference How to Retrieve a Cookie Value?

PHP Array The PHP $_COOKIE variable is used to retrieve a cookie value.
PHP Calendar
PHP Date In the example below, we retrieve the value of the cookie named "user" and display it on a page:
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem <?php
PHP Filter // Print a cookie
PHP FTP
echo $_COOKIE["user"];
PHP HTTP // A way to view all cookies
PHP Libxml print_r($_COOKIE);
PHP Mail ?>
PHP Math
PHP Misc
In the following example we use the isset() function to find out if a cookie has been set:
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String <html>
PHP XML <body>
PHP Zip
<?php
if (isset($_COOKIE["user"]))
PHP Quiz echo "Welcome " . $_COOKIE["user"] . "!<br />";
PHP Quiz else
PHP Certificate 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>

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Sessions
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables A PHP session variable is used to store information about, or change settings for a user
PHP String
session. Session variables hold information about one single user, and are available to
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else all pages in one application.
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops PHP Session Variables
PHP For Loops
PHP Functions When you are working with an application, you open it, do some changes and then you close it. This is
PHP Forms much like a Session. The computer knows who you are. It knows when you start the application and
PHP $_GET when you end. But on the internet there is one problem: the web server does not know who you are
PHP $_POST and what you do because the HTTP address doesn't maintain state.
PHP Advanced 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
PHP Date
after the user has left the website. If you need a permanent storage you may want to store the data in
PHP Include
a database.
PHP File
PHP File Upload Sessions work by creating a unique id (UID) for each visitor and store variables based on this UID. The
PHP Cookies UID is either stored in a cookie or is propagated in the URL.
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
Starting a PHP Session
PHP Exception
Before you can store user information in your PHP session, you must first start up the session.
PHP Filter
Note: The session_start() function must appear BEFORE the <html> tag:
PHP Database
MySQL Introduction
<?php session_start(); ?>
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create <html>
MySQL Insert <body>
MySQL Select
MySQL Where </body>
MySQL Order By </html>
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete The code above will register the user's session with the server, allow you to start saving user
PHP ODBC information, and assign a UID for that user's session.
PHP XML
XML Expat Parser Storing a Session Variable
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML The correct way to store and retrieve session variables is to use the PHP $_SESSION variable:
PHP and AJAX <?php

AJAX Intro session_start();
AJAX PHP // store session data
AJAX Database
$_SESSION['views']=1;
?>
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search <html>
AJAX RSS Reader <body>
AJAX Poll
<?php
//retrieve session data
PHP Reference echo "Pageviews=". $_SESSION['views'];
PHP Array ?>
PHP Calendar
</body>
PHP Date </html>
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem Output:
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
Pageviews=1
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail In the example below, we create a simple page-views counter. The isset() function checks if the
PHP Math "views" variable has already been set. If "views" has been set, we can increment our counter. If
PHP Misc "views" doesn't exist, we create a "views" variable, and set it to 1:
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String <?php
session_start();
PHP XML
PHP Zip if(isset($_SESSION['views']))
$_SESSION['views']=$_SESSION['views']+1;
PHP Quiz else
$_SESSION['views']=1;
PHP Quiz echo "Views=". $_SESSION['views'];
PHP Certificate ?>
Destroying a Session
If you wish to delete some session data, you can use the unset() or the session_destroy() function.
The unset() function is used to free the specified session variable:
<?php
unset($_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 Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Sending E-mails
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables PHP allows you to send e-mails directly from a script.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch The PHP mail() Function
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The PHP mail() function is used to send emails from inside a script.
PHP For Loops
Syntax
PHP Functions
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET mail(to,subject,message,headers,parameters)
PHP $_POST
PHP Advanced Parameter Description

PHP Date to Required. Specifies the receiver / receivers of the email
PHP Include
PHP File subject Required. Specifies the subject of the email. Note: This parameter cannot contain
PHP File Upload any newline characters
PHP Cookies message Required. Defines the message to be sent. Each line should be separated with a
PHP Sessions LF (\n). Lines should not exceed 70 characters
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail headers Optional. Specifies additional headers, like From, Cc, and Bcc. The additional
PHP Error headers should be separated with a CRLF (\r\n)
PHP Exception parameters Optional. Specifies an additional parameter to the sendmail program
PHP Filter
Note: For the mail functions to be available, PHP requires an installed and working email system. The
PHP Database program to be used is defined by the configuration settings in the php.ini file. Read more in our PHP
MySQL Introduction Mail reference.
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert PHP Simple E-Mail
MySQL Select
MySQL Where The simplest way to send an email with PHP is to send a text email.
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update In the example below we first declare the variables ($to, $subject, $message, $from, $headers), then
MySQL Delete we use the variables in the mail() function to send an e-mail:
PHP ODBC
<?php
PHP XML $to = "someone@example.com";
XML Expat Parser $subject = "Test mail";
$message = "Hello! This is a simple email message.";
XML DOM $from = "someonelse@example.com";
XML SimpleXML $headers = "From:" . $from;
mail($to,$subject,$message,$headers);
PHP and AJAX echo "Mail Sent.";
?>
AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search PHP Mail Form
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll With PHP, you can create a feedback-form on your website. The example below sends a text message
to a specified e-mail address:
PHP Reference
PHP Array <html>
PHP Calendar <body>
PHP Date <?php
PHP Directory if (isset($_REQUEST['email']))
PHP Error //if "email" is filled out, send email
PHP Filesystem {
PHP Filter //send email
PHP FTP $email = $_REQUEST['email'] ;
PHP HTTP
$subject = $_REQUEST['subject'] ;
$message = $_REQUEST['message'] ;
PHP Libxml mail("someone@example.com", $subject,
PHP Mail $message, "From:" . $email);
PHP Math echo "Thank you for using our mail form";
PHP Misc }
PHP MySQL else
PHP SimpleXML
//if "email" is not filled out, display the form
{
PHP String echo "<form method='post' action='mailform.php'>
PHP XML Email: <input name='email' type='text' /><br />
PHP Zip Subject: <input name='subject' type='text' /><br />
Message:<br />
PHP Quiz <textarea name='message' rows='15' cols='40'>
</textarea><br />
PHP Quiz <input type='submit' />
PHP Certificate </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.


PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Secure E-mails
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables There is a weakness in the PHP e-mail script in the previous chapter.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch PHP E-mail Injections
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops First, look at the PHP code from the previous chapter:
PHP For Loops
PHP Functions <html>
PHP Forms <body>
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST <?php
if (isset($_REQUEST['email']))
//if "email" is filled out, send email
PHP Advanced {
PHP Date //send email
PHP Include $email = $_REQUEST['email'] ;
PHP File $message = $_REQUEST['message'] ;
PHP File Upload mail("someone@example.com", "Subject: $subject",
PHP Cookies $message, "From: $email" );
PHP Sessions echo "Thank you for using our mail form";
PHP E-mail }
PHP Secure E-mail else
//if "email" is not filled out, display the form
PHP Error {
PHP Exception echo "<form method='post' action='mailform.php'>
PHP Filter Email: <input name='email' type='text' /><br />
Subject: <input name='subject' type='text' /><br />
PHP Database Message:<br />
<textarea name='message' rows='15' cols='40'>
MySQL Introduction </textarea><br />
MySQL Connect <input type='submit' />
MySQL Create </form>";
MySQL Insert
}
?>
MySQL Select
MySQL Where </body>
MySQL Order By </html>
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete
The problem with the code above is that unauthorized users can insert data into the mail headers via
PHP ODBC
the input form.
PHP XML What happens if the user adds the following text to the email input field in the form?
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM
someone@example.com%0ACc:person2@example.com
XML SimpleXML %0ABcc:person3@example.com,person3@example.com,
anotherperson4@example.com,person5@example.com
PHP and AJAX %0ABTo:person6@example.com
AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP The mail() function puts the text above into the mail headers as usual, and now the header has an
AJAX Database extra Cc:, Bcc:, and To: field. When the user clicks the submit button, the e-mail will be sent to all of
AJAX XML the addresses above!
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll PHP Stopping E-mail Injections
PHP Reference The best way to stop e-mail injections is to validate the input.
PHP Array
PHP Calendar The code below is the same as in the previous chapter, but now we have added an input validator that
PHP Date checks the email field in the form:
PHP Directory
PHP Error <html>
PHP Filesystem <body>
PHP Filter <?php
PHP FTP function spamcheck($field)
PHP HTTP {
PHP Libxml
//filter_var() sanitizes the e-mail
//address using FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL
PHP Mail $field=filter_var($field, FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL);
PHP Math
PHP Misc //filter_var() validates the e-mail
PHP MySQL //address using FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL
PHP SimpleXML if(filter_var($field, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL))
PHP String
{
return TRUE;
PHP XML }
PHP Zip else
{
PHP Quiz return FALSE;
}
PHP Quiz }
PHP Certificate
if (isset($_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'] ;
$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.

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Error Handling
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The default error handling in PHP is very simple. An error message with filename, line
PHP String
number and a message describing the error is sent to the browser.
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays PHP Error Handling
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops When creating scripts and web applications, error handling is an important part. If your code lacks
PHP Functions error checking code, your program may look very unprofessional and you may be open to security
PHP Forms risks.
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST This tutorial contains some of the most common error checking methods in PHP.
We will show different error handling methods:

PHP Advanced
PHP Date Simple "die()" statements
PHP Include Custom errors and error triggers
PHP File Error reporting
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions Basic Error Handling: Using the die() function
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail The first example shows a simple script that opens a text file:
PHP Error
PHP Exception
PHP Filter <?php
$file=fopen("welcome.txt","r");
?>
PHP Database
MySQL Introduction
If the file does not exist you might get an error like this:
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert Warning: fopen(welcome.txt) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream:
MySQL Select No such file or directory in C:\webfolder\test.php on line 2
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update To avoid that the user gets an error message like the one above, we test if the file exist before we try
MySQL Delete to access it:
PHP ODBC
<?php
PHP XML if(!file_exists("welcome.txt"))
{
XML Expat Parser die("File not found");
XML DOM }
XML SimpleXML else
{
PHP and AJAX $file=fopen("welcome.txt","r");
}
AJAX Intro ?>
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database
Now if the file does not exist you get an error like this:
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader File not found
AJAX Poll
PHP Reference 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.
PHP Array
PHP Calendar However, simply stopping the script is not always the right way to go. Let's take a look at alternative
PHP Date PHP functions for handling errors.
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem Creating a Custom Error Handler
PHP Filter
PHP FTP Creating a custom error handler is quite simple. We simply create a special function that can be called
PHP HTTP when an error occurs in PHP.
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail This function must be able to handle a minimum of two parameters (error level and error message) but
PHP Math can accept up to five parameters (optionally: file, line-number, and the error context):
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
Syntax
PHP String
PHP XML error_function(error_level,error_message,
PHP Zip error_file,error_line,error_context)
PHP Quiz
Parameter Description
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate error_level Required. Specifies the error report level for the user-defined error. Must be a
value number. See table below for possible error report levels
error_message Required. Specifies the error message for the user-defined error
error_file Optional. Specifies the filename in which the error occurred
error_line Optional. Specifies the line number in which the error occurred
error_context 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 Description

2 E_WARNING Non-fatal run-time errors. Execution of the script is not halted
8 E_NOTICE Run-time notices. The script found something that might be an
error, but could also happen when running a script normally
256 E_USER_ERROR Fatal user-generated error. This is like an E_ERROR set by the
programmer using the PHP function trigger_error()
512 E_USER_WARNING Non-fatal user-generated warning. This is like an E_WARNING
set by the programmer using the PHP function trigger_error()
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 (E_STRICT became a part of E_ALL in
PHP 5.4)
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
{
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");
}
?>
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
{
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);
}
?>
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 server's 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 error 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
{
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);
}
?>

Webmaster has been notified
And the mail received from the code above looks like this:
This should not be used with all errors. Regular errors should be logged on the server using the default
PHP logging system.

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Exception Handling
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables Exceptions are used to change the normal flow of a script if a specified error occurs.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch What is an Exception
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops With PHP 5 came a new object oriented way of dealing with errors.
PHP For Loops
Exception handling is used to change the normal flow of the code execution if a specified error
PHP Functions
(exceptional) condition occurs. This condition is called an exception.
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET
This is what normally happens when an exception is triggered:
PHP $_POST
The current code state is saved
PHP Advanced The code execution will switch to a predefined (custom) exception handler function
PHP Date Depending on the situation, the handler may then resume the execution from the saved code
PHP Include state, terminate the script execution or continue the script from a different location in the code
PHP File
PHP File Upload We will show different error handling methods:
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions Basic use of Exceptions
PHP E-mail Creating a custom exception handler
PHP Secure E-mail Multiple exceptions
PHP Error Re-throwing an exception
PHP Exception Setting a top level exception handler
PHP Filter
Note: Exceptions should only be used with error conditions, and should not be used to jump to another
place in the code at a specified point.
PHP Database
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect Basic Use of Exceptions
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert When an exception is thrown, the code following it will not be executed, and PHP will try to find the
MySQL Select matching "catch" block.
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By If an exception is not caught, a fatal error will be issued with an "Uncaught Exception" message.
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete Lets try to throw an exception without catching it:
PHP ODBC
<?php
PHP XML //create function with an exception
XML Expat Parser function checkNum($number)
XML DOM
{
if($number>1)
XML SimpleXML {
throw new Exception("Value must be 1 or below");
PHP and AJAX }
return true;
AJAX Intro }
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database //trigger exception
AJAX XML checkNum(2);
AJAX Live Search ?>
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll The code above will get an error like this:
PHP Reference
Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'Exception'
PHP Array with message 'Value must be 1 or below' in C:\webfolder\test.php:6
PHP Calendar Stack trace: #0 C:\webfolder\test.php(12):
PHP Date checkNum(28) #1 {main} thrown in C:\webfolder\test.php on line 6
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem Try, throw and catch
PHP Filter
PHP FTP To avoid the error from the example above, we need to create the proper code to handle an exception.
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml Proper exception code should include:
PHP Mail
PHP Math 1. Try - A function using an exception should be in a "try" block. If the exception does not trigger,
PHP Misc the code will continue as normal. However if the exception triggers, an exception is "thrown"
PHP MySQL 2. Throw - This is how you trigger an exception. Each "throw" must have at least one "catch"
PHP SimpleXML 3. Catch - A "catch" block retrieves an exception and creates an object containing the exception
PHP String information
PHP XML
Lets try to trigger an exception with valid code:
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz <?php

//create function with an exception
PHP Quiz function checkNum($number)
PHP Certificate {
if($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
{
{
//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)
{
}
//check for "example" in mail address
if(strpos($email, "example") !== FALSE)
{
throw new Exception("$email is an example e-mail");
}
}
{
}
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:
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 the exception thrown were of the class customException and there were 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 re-throw the exception with a user
friendly message:

<?php
{
{
//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 new Exception($email);
}
}
catch(Exception $e)
{
//re-throw exception
}
}
{
//display custom message
}
?>
Example explained:
The code above tests if the email-address contains the string "example" in it, if it does, the exception
is re-thrown:
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');
?>
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 Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Filter
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables PHP filters are used to validate and filter data coming from insecure sources, like user
PHP String
input.
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays What is a PHP Filter?
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops A PHP filter is used to validate and filter data coming from insecure sources.
PHP Functions
PHP Forms To test, validate and filter user input or custom data is an important part of any web application.
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST The PHP filter extension is designed to make data filtering easier and quicker.
PHP Advanced
PHP Date
Why use a Filter?
PHP Include Almost all web applications depend on external input. Usually this comes from a user or another
PHP File application (like a web service). By using filters you can be sure your application gets the correct input
PHP File Upload type.
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions You should always filter all external data!
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail Input filtering is one of the most important application security issues.
PHP Error
PHP Exception What is external data?
PHP Filter
Input data from a form
PHP Database Cookies
Web services data
MySQL Introduction Server variables
MySQL Connect Database query results
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
Functions and Filters
MySQL Order By
To filter a variable, use one of the following filter functions:
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete filter_var() - Filters a single variable with a specified filter
PHP ODBC filter_var_array() - Filter several variables with the same or different filters
filter_input - Get one input variable and filter it
PHP XML filter_input_array - Get several input variables and filter them with the same or different filters
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM In the example below, we validate an integer using the filter_var() function:
XML SimpleXML
<?php
PHP and AJAX $int = 123;
AJAX Intro if(!filter_var($int, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT))
AJAX PHP {
AJAX Database echo("Integer is not valid");
AJAX XML }
AJAX Live Search else
AJAX RSS Reader {
echo("Integer is valid");
AJAX Poll }
?>
PHP Reference
PHP Array The code above uses the "FILTER_VALIDATE_INT" filter to filter the variable. Since the integer is valid,
PHP Calendar the output of the code above will be: "Integer is valid".
PHP Date
PHP Directory If we try with a variable that is not an integer (like "123abc"), the output will be: "Integer is not valid".
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem For a complete list of functions and filters, visit our PHP Filter Reference.
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP Validating and Sanitizing
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail There are two kinds of filters:
PHP Math
PHP Misc Validating filters:
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML Are used to validate user input
PHP String Strict format rules (like URL or E-Mail validating)
PHP XML Returns the expected type on success or FALSE on failure
PHP Zip
Sanitizing filters:
PHP Quiz
Are used to allow or disallow specified characters in a string
PHP Quiz No data format rules
PHP Certificate 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.W3ååSchøøools.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

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP MySQL Introduction
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables MySQL is the most popular open-source database system.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch What is MySQL?
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops MySQL is a database.
PHP For Loops
The data in MySQL is stored in database objects called tables.
PHP Functions
PHP Forms A table is a collection of related data entries and it consists of columns and rows.
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST Databases are useful when storing information categorically. A company may have a database with the
following tables: "Employees", "Products", "Customers" and "Orders".
PHP Advanced
PHP Date
PHP Include Database Tables
PHP File
PHP File Upload A database most often contains one or more tables. Each table is identified by a name (e.g.
PHP Cookies "Customers" or "Orders"). Tables contain records (rows) with data.
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail Below is an example of a table called "Persons":
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error LastName FirstName Address City
PHP Exception
Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
PHP Filter
Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
PHP Database Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect The table above contains three records (one for each person) and four columns (LastName, FirstName,
MySQL Create Address, and City).
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
Queries
MySQL Update A query is a question or a request.
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC With MySQL, we can query a database for specific information and have a recordset returned.
PHP XML Look at the following query:

XML Expat Parser
XML DOM SELECT LastName FROM Persons
XML SimpleXML
PHP and AJAX The query above selects all the data in the "LastName" column from the "Persons" table, and will
return a recordset like this:
AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP LastName
AJAX Database
AJAX XML Hansen
AJAX Live Search Svendson
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll Pettersen
PHP Reference
PHP
PHP
Array
Calendar
Download MySQL Database
PHP Date If you don't have a PHP server with a MySQL Database, you can download MySQL for free here:
PHP Directory http://www.mysql.com/downloads/
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter
PHP FTP Facts About MySQL Database
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml One great thing about MySQL is that it can be scaled down to support embedded database
PHP Mail applications. Perhaps it is because of this reputation that many people believe that MySQL can only
PHP Math handle small to medium-sized systems.
PHP Misc
The truth is that MySQL is the de-facto standard database for web sites that support huge volumes of
PHP MySQL
both data and end users (like Friendster, Yahoo, Google).
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String Look at http://www.mysql.com/customers/ for an overview of companies using MySQL.
PHP XML
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz « Previous Next Chapter »

PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP MySQL Connect to a Database
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The free MySQL database is very often used with PHP.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch Create a Connection to a MySQL Database
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops Before you can access data in a database, you must create a connection to the database.
PHP For Loops
In PHP, this is done with the mysql_connect() function.
PHP Functions
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET Syntax
PHP $_POST
mysql_connect(servername,username,password);
PHP Advanced
PHP Date
PHP Include Parameter Description
PHP File
servername Optional. Specifies the server to connect to. Default value is "localhost:3306"
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies username Optional. Specifies the username to log in with. Default value is the name of the
PHP Sessions user that owns the server process
PHP E-mail
password Optional. Specifies the password to log in with. Default is ""
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
PHP Exception Note: There are more available parameters, but the ones listed above are the most important. Visit
PHP Filter our full PHP MySQL Reference for more details.
PHP Database Example

MySQL Introduction In the following example we store the connection in a variable ($con) for later use in the script. The
MySQL Connect "die" part will be executed if the connection fails:
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select <?php
MySQL Where $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
MySQL Order By if (!$con)
{
MySQL Update die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
MySQL Delete }
PHP ODBC
// some code
PHP XML ?>
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML
Closing a Connection
PHP and AJAX
The connection will be closed automatically when the script ends. To close the connection before, use
AJAX Intro the mysql_close() function:
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database
AJAX XML <?php
AJAX Live Search $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
AJAX RSS Reader
if (!$con)
{
AJAX Poll die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
PHP Reference
// some code
PHP Array
PHP Calendar mysql_close($con);
PHP Date ?>
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem « Previous Next Chapter »
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP MySQL Create Database and Tables
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables A database holds one or multiple tables.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch Create a Database
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a database in MySQL.
PHP For Loops
PHP Functions Syntax
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST CREATE DATABASE database_name
PHP Advanced To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.
PHP Date
PHP Include To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is
PHP File used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies Example
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail The following example creates a database called "my_db":
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
<?php
PHP Exception $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
PHP Filter if (!$con)
{
PHP Database die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect if (mysql_query("CREATE DATABASE my_db",$con))
MySQL Create {
MySQL Insert echo "Database created";
MySQL Select
}
else
MySQL Where {
MySQL Order By echo "Error creating database: " . mysql_error();
MySQL Update }
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC mysql_close($con);
?>
PHP XML
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML
Create a Table
The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a table in MySQL.
PHP and AJAX
AJAX Intro Syntax
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database
AJAX XML CREATE TABLE table_name
AJAX Live Search (
AJAX RSS Reader column_name1 data_type,
AJAX Poll
column_name2 data_type,
column_name3 data_type,
....
PHP Reference )
PHP Array
PHP Calendar To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.
PHP Date
PHP Directory We must add the CREATE TABLE statement to the mysql_query() function to execute the command.
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem Example
PHP Filter
PHP FTP The following example creates a table named "Persons", with three columns. The column names will be
PHP HTTP "FirstName", "LastName" and "Age":
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math <?php
PHP Misc $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
PHP MySQL
if (!$con)
{
PHP SimpleXML die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
PHP String }
PHP XML
PHP Zip // Create database
if (mysql_query("CREATE DATABASE my_db",$con))
{
PHP Quiz echo "Database created";
PHP Quiz }
PHP Certificate 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);

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP MySQL Insert Into
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The INSERT INTO statement is used to insert new records in a table.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch Insert Data Into a Database Table
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The INSERT INTO statement is used to add new records to a database table.
PHP For Loops
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two forms.
PHP $_POST
The first form doesn't specify the column names where the data will be inserted, only their values:
PHP Advanced
PHP Date INSERT INTO table_name
PHP Include VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
PHP File
PHP File Upload The second form specifies both the column names and the values to be inserted:
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, column3,...)
PHP Secure E-mail VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
PHP Error
PHP Exception To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.
PHP Filter
To get PHP to execute the statements above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is
PHP Database used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect Example
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert In the previous chapter we created a table named "Persons", with three columns; "Firstname",
MySQL Select "Lastname" and "Age". We will use the same table in this example. The following example adds two
MySQL Where new records to the "Persons" table:
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete
<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
PHP ODBC if (!$con)
{
PHP XML die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);
XML SimpleXML
mysql_query("INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName, Age)
VALUES ('Peter', 'Griffin',35)");
PHP and AJAX
AJAX Intro mysql_query("INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName, Age)
AJAX PHP VALUES ('Glenn', 'Quagmire',33)");
AJAX Database mysql_close($con);
AJAX XML ?>
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
PHP Reference Insert Data From a Form Into a Database

PHP Array Now we will create an HTML form that can be used to add new records to the "Persons" table.
PHP Calendar
PHP Date Here is the HTML form:
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem <html>
PHP Filter
<body>
PHP FTP <form action="insert.php" method="post">
PHP HTTP Firstname: <input type="text" name="firstname" />
PHP Libxml Lastname: <input type="text" name="lastname" />
PHP Mail Age: <input type="text" name="age" />
PHP Math <input type="submit" />
PHP Misc
</form>
PHP MySQL </body>
PHP SimpleXML </html>
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip When a user clicks the submit button in the HTML form in the example above, the form data is sent to
"insert.php".
PHP Quiz The "insert.php" file connects to a database, and retrieves the values from the form with the PHP
PHP Quiz $_POST variables.
PHP Certificate
Then, the mysql_query() function executes the INSERT INTO statement, and a new record will be
added to the "Persons" table.
Here is the "insert.php" page:
<?php
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
$sql="INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName, Age)
VALUES
('$_POST[firstname]','$_POST[lastname]','$_POST[age]')";
if (!mysql_query($sql,$con))
{
die('Error: ' . mysql_error());
}
echo "1 record added";
mysql_close($con);
?>

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP MySQL Select
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch Select Data From a Database Table
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database.
PHP For Loops
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
PHP Advanced
To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.
PHP Date
PHP Include To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is
PHP File used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions
Example
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail The following example selects all the data stored in the "Persons" table (The * character selects all the
PHP Error data in the table):
PHP Exception
PHP Filter <?php
PHP Database if (!$con)
{
MySQL Introduction die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
MySQL Connect }
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);
MySQL Select $result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Persons");
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
MySQL Update {
MySQL Delete echo $row['FirstName'] . " " . $row['LastName'];
PHP ODBC echo "<br />";
}
PHP XML mysql_close($con);
XML Expat Parser ?>
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML The example above stores the data returned by the mysql_query() function in the $result variable.
PHP and AJAX Next, we use the mysql_fetch_array() function to return the first row from the recordset as an array.
AJAX Intro Each call to mysql_fetch_array() returns the next row in the recordset. The while loop loops through all
AJAX PHP the records in the recordset. To print the value of each row, we use the PHP $row variable
AJAX Database ($row['FirstName'] and $row['LastName']).
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll Peter Griffin
Glenn Quagmire
PHP Reference
PHP Array
PHP Calendar
PHP Date Display the Result in an HTML Table
PHP Directory
PHP Error The following example selects the same data as the example above, but will display the data in an
PHP Filesystem HTML table:
PHP Filter
PHP FTP <?php
PHP HTTP $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
PHP Libxml if (!$con)
PHP Mail {
PHP Math die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
PHP Misc }
PHP MySQL mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String $result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Persons");
PHP XML
PHP Zip echo "<table border='1'>
<tr>
PHP Quiz <th>Firstname</th>
<th>Lastname</th>
PHP Quiz </tr>";
PHP Certificate
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
echo "<tr>";
echo "<td>" . $row['FirstName'] . "</td>";
echo "<td>" . $row['LastName'] . "</td>";
echo "</tr>";
}
echo "</table>";
mysql_close($con);
?>
Firstname Lastname
Glenn Quagmire
Peter Griffin

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP MySQL The Where Clause
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The WHERE clause is used to filter records.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch The WHERE clause
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The WHERE clause is used to extract only those records that fulfill a specified criterion.
PHP For Loops
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name operator value
PHP Advanced
PHP Date To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.
PHP Include
PHP File To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is
PHP File Upload used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions Example
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail
The following example selects all rows from the "Persons" table where "FirstName='Peter'":
PHP Error
PHP Exception
PHP Filter <?php
PHP Database if (!$con)
{
MySQL Introduction die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
MySQL Connect }
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select $result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Persons
MySQL Where WHERE FirstName='Peter'");
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
MySQL Delete {
PHP ODBC
echo $row['FirstName'] . " " . $row['LastName'];
echo "<br />";
}
PHP XML ?>
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM The output of the code above will be:
XML SimpleXML
PHP and AJAX Peter Griffin

AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
PHP Reference
PHP Array
PHP Calendar
PHP Date
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP MySQL Order By Keyword
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the data in a recordset.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch The ORDER BY Keyword
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the data in a recordset.
PHP For Loops
The ORDER BY keyword sort the records in ascending order by default.
PHP Functions
PHP Forms If you want to sort the records in a descending order, you can use the DESC keyword.
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST
Syntax
PHP Advanced
PHP Date SELECT column_name(s)
PHP Include FROM table_name
PHP File
ORDER BY column_name(s) ASC|DESC
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail Example
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error The following example selects all the data stored in the "Persons" table, and sorts the result by the
PHP Exception "Age" column:
PHP Filter
PHP Database <?php

MySQL Introduction if (!$con)
MySQL Connect {
MySQL Create die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
MySQL Insert }
MySQL Select mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By $result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Persons ORDER BY age");
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
PHP ODBC {
echo $row['FirstName'];
echo " " . $row['LastName'];
PHP XML echo " " . $row['Age'];
XML Expat Parser echo "<br />";
}
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML mysql_close($con);
?>
PHP and AJAX
AJAX Intro The output of the code above will be:
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database
AJAX XML Glenn Quagmire 33
AJAX Live Search
Peter Griffin 35
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
PHP Reference Order by Two Columns

PHP Array
It is also possible to order by more than one column. When ordering by more than one column, the
PHP Calendar
second column is only used if the values in the first column are equal:
PHP Date
PHP Directory
PHP Error SELECT column_name(s)
PHP Filesystem FROM table_name
PHP Filter ORDER BY column1, column2
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml « Previous Next Chapter »
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL W3Schools' Online Certification
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String The perfect solution for professionals who need to balance work,
PHP XML family, and career building.
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP MySQL Update
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The UPDATE statement is used to modify data in a table.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch Update Data In a Database
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The UPDATE statement is used to update existing records in a table.
PHP For Loops
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST UPDATE table_name
SET column1=value, column2=value2,...
WHERE some_column=some_value
PHP Advanced
PHP Date
Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the UPDATE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or
PHP Include
records that should be updated. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be updated!
PHP File
PHP File Upload To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is
PHP E-mail used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error Example
PHP Exception
PHP Filter
Earlier in the tutorial we created a table named "Persons". Here is how it looks:
PHP Database
FirstName LastName Age
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect Peter Griffin 35
MySQL Create Glenn Quagmire 33
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select The following example updates some data in the "Persons" table:
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update <?php
MySQL Delete $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
PHP ODBC
if (!$con)
{
PHP XML }
XML Expat Parser mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML mysql_query("UPDATE Persons SET Age=36
WHERE FirstName='Peter' AND LastName='Griffin'");
PHP and AJAX mysql_close($con);
AJAX Intro ?>
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database
After the update, the "Persons" table will look like this:
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader FirstName LastName Age
AJAX Poll Peter Griffin 36
PHP Reference Glenn Quagmire 33
PHP Array
PHP Calendar « Previous Next Chapter »
PHP Date
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP MySQL Delete
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The DELETE statement is used to delete records in a table.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch Delete Data In a Database
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The DELETE FROM statement is used to delete records from a database table.
PHP For Loops
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE some_column = some_value
PHP Advanced
PHP Date Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the DELETE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or
PHP Include records that should be deleted. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be deleted!
PHP File
To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This function is
PHP Sessions used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
Example
PHP Exception
PHP Filter Look at the following "Persons" table:
PHP Database FirstName LastName Age

MySQL Introduction Peter Griffin 35
MySQL Connect Glenn Quagmire 33
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert The following example deletes all the records in the "Persons" table where LastName='Griffin':
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By <?php
MySQL Update $con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
MySQL Delete if (!$con)
PHP ODBC
{
}
PHP XML
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM mysql_query("DELETE FROM Persons WHERE LastName='Griffin'");
XML SimpleXML
mysql_close($con);
PHP and AJAX ?>
AJAX Intro
AJAX PHP After the deletion, the table will look like this:
AJAX Database
AJAX XML FirstName LastName Age
AJAX Live Search
Glenn Quagmire 33
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
PHP Reference
PHP Array
PHP
PHP
Calendar
Date
PHP Directory The perfect solution for professionals who need to balance work,
PHP Error family, and career building.
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter More than 10 000 certificates already issued!
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math The HTML Certificate documents your knowledge of HTML.
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL The CSS Certificate documents your knowledge of advanced CSS.
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML The jQuery Certificate documents your knowledge of jQuery.
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz The ASP Certificate documents your knowledge of ASP, SQL, and ADO.
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Database ODBC
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables ODBC is an Application Programming Interface (API) that allows you to connect to a
PHP String
data source (e.g. an MS Access database).
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays Create an ODBC Connection
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops With an ODBC connection, you can connect to any database, on any computer in your network, as long
PHP Functions as an ODBC connection is available.
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET Here is how to create an ODBC connection to a MS Access Database:
PHP $_POST
1. Open the Administrative Tools icon in your Control Panel.
2. Double-click on the Data Sources (ODBC) icon inside.
PHP Advanced
3. Choose the System DSN tab.
PHP Date 4. Click on Add in the System DSN tab.
PHP Include 5. Select the Microsoft Access Driver. Click Finish.
PHP File 6. In the next screen, click Select to locate the database.
PHP File Upload 7. Give the database a Data Source Name (DSN).
PHP Cookies 8. Click OK.
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail Note that this configuration has to be done on the computer where your web site is located. If you are
PHP Secure E-mail running Internet Information Server (IIS) on your own computer, the instructions above will work, but
PHP Error if your web site is located on a remote server, you have to have physical access to that server, or ask
PHP Exception your web host to to set up a DSN for you to use.
PHP Filter
PHP Database Connecting to an ODBC

MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect The odbc_connect() function is used to connect to an ODBC data source. The function takes four
MySQL Create parameters: the data source name, username, password, and an optional cursor type.
MySQL Insert
The odbc_exec() function is used to execute an SQL statement.
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By Example
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete The following example creates a connection to a DSN called northwind, with no username and no
PHP ODBC password. It then creates an SQL and executes it:
PHP XML $conn=odbc_connect('northwind','','');

XML Expat Parser $sql="SELECT * FROM customers";
XML DOM
$rs=odbc_exec($conn,$sql);
XML SimpleXML
PHP and AJAX

AJAX Intro Retrieving Records
AJAX PHP
The odbc_fetch_row() function is used to return records from the result-set. This function returns true
AJAX Database
if it is able to return rows, otherwise false.
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search The function takes two parameters: the ODBC result identifier and an optional row number:
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
odbc_fetch_row($rs)
PHP Reference
PHP Array
PHP Calendar
PHP Date Retrieving Fields from a Record
PHP Directory
PHP Error The odbc_result() function is used to read fields from a record. This function takes two parameters: the
PHP Filesystem ODBC result identifier and a field number or name.
PHP Filter
PHP FTP The code line below returns the value of the first field from the record:
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml $compname=odbc_result($rs,1);
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP Misc The code line below returns the value of a field called "CompanyName":
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
$compname=odbc_result($rs,"CompanyName");
PHP XML
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz Closing an ODBC Connection

PHP Quiz
The odbc_close() function is used to close an ODBC connection.
PHP Certificate
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>


PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP XML Expat Parser
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The built-in Expat parser makes it possible to process XML documents in PHP.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch What is XML?
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops XML is used to describe data and to focus on what data is. An XML file describes the structure of the
PHP For Loops data.
PHP Functions
In XML, no tags are predefined. You must define your own tags.
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET If you want to learn more about XML, please visit our XML tutorial.
PHP $_POST
PHP Advanced
What is Expat?
PHP Date
PHP Include To read and update - create and manipulate - an XML document, you will need an XML parser.
PHP File
PHP File Upload There are two basic types of XML parsers:
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions Tree-based parser: This parser transforms an XML document into a tree structure. It analyzes
PHP E-mail the whole document, and provides access to the tree elements. e.g. the Document Object Model
PHP Secure E-mail (DOM)
PHP Error Event-based parser: Views an XML document as a series of events. When a specific event
PHP Exception occurs, it calls a function to handle it
PHP Filter
The Expat parser is an event-based parser.
PHP Database Event-based parsers focus on the content of the XML documents, not their structure. Because of this,
MySQL Introduction event-based parsers can access data faster than tree-based parsers.
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create Look at the following XML fraction:
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select
<from>Jani</from>
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update An event-based parser reports the XML above as a series of three events:
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC Start element: from
Start CDATA section, value: Jani
PHP XML Close element: from
XML Expat Parser The XML example above contains well-formed XML. However, the example is not valid XML, because
XML DOM there is no Document Type Definition (DTD) associated with it.
XML SimpleXML
However, this makes no difference when using the Expat parser. Expat is a non-validating parser, and
PHP and AJAX ignores any DTDs.
AJAX Intro
As an event-based, non-validating XML parser, Expat is fast and small, and a perfect match for PHP
AJAX PHP
web applications.
AJAX Database
AJAX XML Note: XML documents must be well-formed or Expat will generate an error.
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
Installation
PHP Reference The XML Expat parser functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these
PHP Array functions.
PHP Calendar
PHP Date
PHP Directory An XML File
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem The XML file below will be used in our example:
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
PHP Libxml <note>
PHP Mail
<to>Tove</to>
<from>Jani</from>
PHP Math <heading>Reminder</heading>
PHP Misc <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
PHP MySQL </note>
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip
Initializing the XML Parser
PHP Quiz We want to initialize the XML parser in PHP, define some handlers for different XML events, and then
PHP Quiz parse the XML file.
PHP Certificate
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);
?>
-- 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.



PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP XML DOM
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables The built-in DOM parser makes it possible to process XML documents in PHP.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch What is DOM?
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The W3C DOM provides a standard set of objects for HTML and XML documents, and a standard
PHP For Loops interface for accessing and manipulating them.
PHP Functions
PHP Forms The W3C DOM is separated into different parts (Core, XML, and HTML) and different levels (DOM Level
PHP $_GET 1/2/3):
PHP $_POST
* Core DOM - defines a standard set of objects for any structured document
PHP Advanced * XML DOM - defines a standard set of objects for XML documents
* HTML DOM - defines a standard set of objects for HTML documents
PHP Date
PHP Include If you want to learn more about the XML DOM, please visit our XML DOM tutorial.
PHP File
PHP File Upload
PHP
PHP
Cookies
Sessions
XML Parsing
PHP E-mail To read and update - create and manipulate - an XML document, you will need an XML parser.
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error There are two basic types of XML parsers:
PHP Exception
PHP Filter 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
PHP Database Event-based parser: Views an XML document as a series of events. When a specific event
MySQL Introduction occurs, it calls a function to handle it
MySQL Connect
The DOM parser is an tree-based parser.
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert Look at the following XML document fraction:
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
MySQL Update <from>Jani</from>
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC The XML DOM sees the XML above as a tree structure:
PHP XML Level 1: XML Document

XML Expat Parser Level 2: Root element: <from>
XML DOM Level 3: Text element: "Jani"
XML SimpleXML
PHP and AJAX Installation

AJAX Intro
The DOM XML parser functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these
AJAX PHP
functions.
AJAX Database
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search
AJAX RSS Reader An XML File
AJAX Poll
The XML file below will be used in our example:
PHP Reference
PHP Array <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
PHP Calendar
<note>
<to>Tove</to>
PHP Date <from>Jani</from>
PHP Directory <heading>Reminder</heading>
PHP Error <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
PHP Filesystem </note>
PHP Filter
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP
PHP
Libxml
Mail
Load and Output XML
PHP Math We want to initialize the XML parser, load the xml, and output it:
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL
Example
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML <?php
PHP Zip $xmlDoc = new DOMDocument();
$xmlDoc->load("note.xml");
PHP Quiz
print $xmlDoc->saveXML();
PHP Quiz ?>
PHP Certificate
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 />";
}
?>
#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.

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP SimpleXML
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables SimpleXML handles the most common XML tasks and leaves the rest for other
PHP String
extensions.
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays What is SimpleXML?
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops SimpleXML is new in PHP 5. It is an easy way of getting an element's attributes and text, if you know
PHP Functions the XML document's layout.
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET Compared to DOM or the Expat parser, SimpleXML just takes a few lines of code to read text data from
PHP $_POST an element.
SimpleXML converts the XML document into an object, like this:

PHP Advanced
PHP Date Elements - Are converted to single attributes of the SimpleXMLElement object. When there's
PHP Include more than one element on one level, they're placed inside an array
PHP File Attributes - Are accessed using associative arrays, where an index corresponds to the attribute
PHP File Upload name
PHP Cookies Element Data - Text data from elements are converted to strings. If an element has more than
PHP Sessions one text node, they will be arranged in the order they are found
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail SimpleXML is fast and easy to use when performing basic tasks like:
PHP Error
PHP Exception Reading XML files
PHP Filter Extracting data from XML strings
Editing text nodes or attributes
PHP Database However, when dealing with advanced XML, like namespaces, you are better off using the Expat parser
MySQL Introduction or the XML DOM.
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert Installation
MySQL Select
MySQL Where As of PHP 5.0, the SimpleXML functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use
MySQL Order By these functions.
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC
Using SimpleXML
PHP XML Below is an XML file:
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<note>
<to>Tove</to>
PHP and AJAX <from>Jani</from>
<heading>Reminder</heading>
AJAX Intro <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
AJAX PHP </note>
AJAX Database
AJAX XML
AJAX Live Search We want to output the element names and data from the XML file above.
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll Here's what to do:
1. Load the XML file

PHP Reference 2. Get the name of the first element
PHP Array 3. Create a loop that will trigger on each child node, using the children() function
PHP Calendar 4. Output the element name and data for each child node
PHP Date
PHP Directory Example
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem <?php
PHP Filter $xml = simplexml_load_file("test.xml");
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP echo $xml->getName() . "<br />";
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail foreach($xml->children() as $child)
PHP Math
{
echo $child->getName() . ": " . $child . "<br />";
PHP Misc }
PHP MySQL ?>
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String
PHP XML The output of the code above will be:
PHP Zip
note
PHP Quiz to: Tove
from: Jani
PHP Quiz heading: Reminder
PHP Certificate body: Don't forget me this weekend!
More PHP SimpleXML

For more information about the PHP SimpleXML functions, visit our PHP SimpleXML Reference.


PHP Basic
PHP HOME
AJAX Introduction
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables AJAX is about updating parts of a web page, without reloading the whole page.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch What is AJAX?
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops AJAX = Asynchronous JavaScript and XML.
PHP For Loops
AJAX is a technique for creating fast and dynamic web pages.
PHP Functions
PHP Forms AJAX allows web pages to be updated asynchronously by exchanging small amounts of data with the
PHP $_GET server behind the scenes. This means that it is possible to update parts of a web page, without
PHP $_POST reloading the whole page.
PHP Advanced Classic web pages, (which do not use AJAX) must reload the entire page if the content should change.
PHP Date
PHP Include Examples of applications using AJAX: Google Maps, Gmail, Youtube, and Facebook tabs.
PHP File
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies How AJAX Works
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
PHP Exception
PHP Filter
PHP Database
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update
MySQL Delete
PHP ODBC
PHP XML
XML Expat Parser
XML DOM
XML SimpleXML
PHP and AJAX

AJAX Intro AJAX is Based on Internet Standards
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database AJAX is based on internet standards, and uses a combination of:
AJAX XML
XMLHttpRequest object (to exchange data asynchronously with a server)
AJAX Live Search
JavaScript/DOM (to display/interact with the information)
AJAX RSS Reader
CSS (to style the data)
AJAX Poll
XML (often used as the format for transferring data)
PHP Reference
AJAX applications are browser- and platform-independent!
PHP Array
PHP Calendar
PHP
PHP
Date
Directory
Google Suggest
PHP Error AJAX was made popular in 2005 by Google, with Google Suggest.
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter Google Suggest is using AJAX to create a very dynamic web interface: When you start typing in
PHP FTP Google's search box, a JavaScript sends the letters off to a server and the server returns a list of
PHP HTTP suggestions.
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP
PHP
Math
Misc
Start Using AJAX Today
PHP MySQL
In our PHP tutorial, we will demonstrate how AJAX can update parts of a web page, without reloading
PHP SimpleXML
the whole page. The server script will be written in PHP.
PHP String
PHP XML If you want to learn more about AJAX, visit our AJAX tutorial.
PHP Zip
PHP Quiz « Previous Next Chapter »

PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP - AJAX and PHP
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables AJAX is used to create more interactive applications.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch AJAX PHP Example
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The following example will demonstrate how a web page can communicate with a web server while a
PHP For Loops user type characters in an input field:
PHP Functions
PHP Forms Example
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST
Start typing a name in the input field below:
PHP Advanced
PHP Date First name:
PHP Include
PHP File Suggestions:
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error
PHP Exception Example Explained - The HTML Page
PHP Filter
When a user types a character in the input field above, the function "showHint()" is executed. The
PHP Database function is triggered by the "onkeyup" event:
MySQL Introduction
MySQL Connect <html>
MySQL Create <head>
MySQL Insert <script type="text/javascript">
MySQL Select
function showHint(str)
{
MySQL Where if (str.length==0)
MySQL Order By {
MySQL Update document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML="";
MySQL Delete return;
PHP ODBC }
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
PHP XML xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
XML Expat Parser }
else
XML DOM {// code for IE6, IE5
XML SimpleXML xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}
PHP and AJAX xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
{
AJAX Intro if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200)
AJAX PHP {
AJAX Database document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
AJAX XML }
AJAX Live Search
}
xmlhttp.open("GET","gethint.php?q="+str,true);
AJAX RSS Reader xmlhttp.send();
AJAX Poll }
</script>
PHP Reference </head>
<body>
PHP Array
PHP Calendar <p><b>Start typing a name in the input field below:</b></p>
PHP Date <form>
PHP Directory First name: <input type="text" onkeyup="showHint(this.value)" size="20" />
</form>
PHP Error <p>Suggestions: <span id="txtHint"></span></p>
PHP Filesystem
PHP Filter </body>
PHP FTP </html>
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
Source code explanation:
PHP Mail
PHP Math If the input field is empty (str.length==0), the function clears the content of the txtHint placeholder
PHP Misc and exits the function.
PHP MySQL
PHP SimpleXML If the input field is not empty, the showHint() function executes the following:
PHP String
PHP XML Create an XMLHttpRequest object
PHP Zip Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready
Send the request off to a file on the server
PHP Quiz Notice that a parameter (q) is added to the URL (with the content of the input field)
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate
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

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP - AJAX and MySQL
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables AJAX can be used for interactive communication with a database.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch AJAX Database Example
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The following example will demonstrate how a web page can fetch information from a database with
PHP For Loops AJAX:
PHP Functions
PHP Forms Example
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST
Selecta person:
Select a person:
PHP Advanced
PHP Date Person info will be listed here...
PHP Include
PHP File
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail Example Explained - The MySQL Database
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error The database table we use in the example above looks like this:
PHP Exception
PHP Filter id FirstName LastName Age Hometown Job
PHP Database 1 Peter Griffin 41 Quahog Brewery

MySQL Introduction 2 Lois Griffin 40 Newport Piano Teacher
MySQL Connect 3 Joseph Swanson 39 Quahog Police Officer
MySQL Create
MySQL Insert 4 Glenn Quagmire 41 Quahog Pilot
MySQL Select
MySQL Where
MySQL Order By
MySQL Update
Example Explained - The HTML Page
MySQL Delete When a user selects a user in the dropdown list above, a function called "showUser()" is executed. The
PHP ODBC function is triggered by the "onchange" event:
PHP XML
<html>
XML Expat Parser <head>
XML DOM <script type="text/javascript">
XML SimpleXML function showUser(str)
{
PHP and AJAX if (str=="")
{
AJAX Intro document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML="";
AJAX PHP return;
AJAX Database }
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
AJAX XML {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
AJAX Live Search xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
AJAX RSS Reader }
AJAX Poll else
{// code for IE6, IE5
xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
PHP Reference }
PHP Array xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
PHP Calendar {
PHP Date
if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200)
{
PHP Directory document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
PHP Error }
PHP Filesystem }
PHP Filter xmlhttp.open("GET","getuser.php?q="+str,true);
PHP FTP xmlhttp.send();
PHP HTTP
}
</script>
PHP Libxml </head>
PHP Mail <body>
PHP Math
PHP Misc <form>
PHP MySQL <select name="users" onchange="showUser(this.value)">
PHP SimpleXML
<option value="">Select a person:</option>
<option value="1">Peter Griffin</option>
PHP String <option value="2">Lois Griffin</option>
PHP XML <option value="3">Glenn Quagmire</option>
PHP Zip <option value="4">Joseph Swanson</option>
</select>
PHP Quiz </form>
<br />
PHP Quiz <div id="txtHint"><b>Person info will be listed here.</b></div>
PHP Certificate
</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)
{
}
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

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Example - AJAX and XML
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables AJAX can be used for interactive communication with an XML file.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch AJAX XML Example
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The following example will demonstrate how a web page can fetch information from an XML file with
PHP For Loops AJAX:
PHP Functions
PHP Forms Example
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST
Selecta CD:
Select a CD:
PHP Advanced
PHP Date CD info will be listed here...
PHP Include
PHP File
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail Example Explained - The HTML Page
PHP Secure E-mail
PHP Error When a user selects a CD in the dropdown list above, a function called "showCD()" is executed. The
PHP Exception function is triggered by the "onchange" event:
PHP Filter
PHP Database <html>

<head>
MySQL Introduction <script type="text/javascript">
MySQL Connect function showCD(str)
MySQL Create {
MySQL Insert
if (str=="")
{
MySQL Select document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML="";
MySQL Where return;
MySQL Order By }
MySQL Update if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
MySQL Delete {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
PHP ODBC
xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
}
else
PHP XML {// code for IE6, IE5
XML Expat Parser }
XML DOM xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
XML SimpleXML {
PHP and AJAX {
document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
AJAX Intro }
AJAX PHP }
AJAX Database xmlhttp.open("GET","getcd.php?q="+str,true);
AJAX XML
xmlhttp.send();
}
AJAX Live Search </script>
AJAX RSS Reader </head>
AJAX Poll <body>
PHP Reference <form>

Select a CD:
PHP Array <select name="cds" onchange="showCD(this.value)">
PHP Calendar <option value="">Select a CD:</option>
PHP Date <option value="Bob Dylan">Bob Dylan</option>
<option value="Bonnie Tyler">Bonnie Tyler</option>
PHP Directory <option value="Dolly Parton">Dolly Parton</option>
PHP Error </select>
PHP Filesystem </form>
PHP Filter <div id="txtHint"><b>CD info will be listed here...</b></div>
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP </body>
</html>
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail
PHP Math The showCD() function does the following:
PHP Misc
PHP MySQL Check if a CD is selected
PHP SimpleXML Create an XMLHttpRequest object
PHP String Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready
PHP XML Send the request off to a file on the server
PHP Zip Notice that a parameter (q) is added to the URL (with the content of the dropdown list)
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz The PHP File
PHP Certificate
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->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)

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Example - AJAX Live Search
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables AJAX can be used to create more user-friendly and interactive searches.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch AJAX Live Search
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The following example will demonstrate a live search, where you get search results while you type.
PHP For Loops
Live search has many benefits compared to traditional searching:
PHP Functions
PHP Forms Results are shown as you type
PHP $_GET Results narrow as you continue typing
PHP $_POST If results become too narrow, remove characters to see a broader result
PHP Advanced Search for a W3Schools page in the input field below:
PHP Date
PHP Include
PHP File
PHP File Upload The results in the example above are found in an XML file (links.xml). To make this example small and
PHP Cookies simple, only six results are available.
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail
PHP
PHP
Secure E-mail
Error
PHP Exception When a user types a character in the input field above, the function "showResult()" is executed. The
PHP Filter function is triggered by the "onkeyup" event:
PHP Database
<html>
MySQL Introduction <head>
MySQL Connect <script type="text/javascript">
MySQL Create function showResult(str)
MySQL Insert {
MySQL Select if (str.length==0)
MySQL Where {
document.getElementById("livesearch").innerHTML="";
MySQL Order By document.getElementById("livesearch").style.border="0px";
MySQL Update return;
MySQL Delete }
PHP ODBC if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
PHP XML }
XML Expat Parser else
XML DOM {// code for IE6, IE5
XML SimpleXML
}
xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
PHP and AJAX {
AJAX Intro {
AJAX PHP document.getElementById("livesearch").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
AJAX Database document.getElementById("livesearch").style.border="1px solid #A5ACB2";
AJAX XML }
AJAX Live Search }
AJAX RSS Reader xmlhttp.open("GET","livesearch.php?q="+str,true);
xmlhttp.send();
AJAX Poll }
</script>
PHP Reference </head>
<body>
PHP Array
PHP Calendar <form>
PHP Date <input type="text" size="30" onkeyup="showResult(this.value)" />
PHP Directory <div id="livesearch"></div>
PHP Error </form>
PHP Filesystem </body>
PHP Filter </html>
PHP FTP
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml Source code explanation:
PHP Mail
PHP Math If the input field is empty (str.length==0), the function clears the content of the livesearch placeholder
PHP Misc and exits the function.
PHP MySQL
If the input field is not empty, the showResult() function executes the following:
PHP SimpleXML
PHP String Create an XMLHttpRequest object
PHP XML Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready
PHP Zip 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)
PHP Quiz
PHP Quiz
PHP Certificate 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');
$q=$_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"



PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Example - AJAX RSS Reader
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables An RSS Reader is used to read RSS Feeds.
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch AJAX RSS Reader
PHP Arrays
PHP While Loops The following example will demonstrate an RSS reader, where the RSS-feed is loaded into a webpage
PHP For Loops without reloading:
PHP Functions
PHP Forms Select
Select an an RSS-feed:
RSS-feed:
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST
RSS-feed will be listed here...
PHP Advanced
PHP Date Example Explained - The HTML Page
PHP Include
PHP File When a user selects an RSS-feed in the dropdown list above, a function called "showResult()" is
PHP File Upload executed. The function is triggered by the "onchange" event:
PHP Cookies
PHP Sessions
PHP E-mail <html>
PHP Secure E-mail <head>
PHP Error
<script type="text/javascript">
function showRSS(str)
PHP Exception {
PHP Filter if (str.length==0)
{
PHP Database document.getElementById("rssOutput").innerHTML="";
return;
MySQL Connect if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
MySQL Create {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
MySQL Insert xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
}
MySQL Select else
MySQL Where {// code for IE6, IE5
MySQL Order By xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
MySQL Update }
MySQL Delete xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
PHP ODBC {
{
PHP XML document.getElementById("rssOutput").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
XML Expat Parser
}
}
XML DOM xmlhttp.open("GET","getrss.php?q="+str,true);
XML SimpleXML xmlhttp.send();
}
PHP and AJAX </script>
</head>
AJAX Intro <body>
AJAX PHP
AJAX Database <form>
AJAX XML <select onchange="showRSS(this.value)">
<option value="">Select an RSS-feed:</option>
AJAX Live Search <option value="Google">Google News</option>
AJAX RSS Reader <option value="MSNBC">MSNBC News</option>
AJAX Poll </select>
</form>
PHP Reference <br />
<div id="rssOutput">RSS-feed will be listed here...</div>
PHP Array </body>
PHP Calendar </html>
PHP Date
PHP Directory The showResult() function does the following:
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem Check if an RSS-feed is selected
PHP Filter Create an XMLHttpRequest object
PHP FTP Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready
PHP HTTP Send the request off to a file on the server
PHP Libxml Notice that a parameter (q) is added to the URL (with the content of the dropdown list)
PHP Mail
PHP Math
PHP
PHP
Misc
MySQL
The PHP File
PHP SimpleXML
The page on the server called by the JavaScript above is a PHP file called "getrss.php":
PHP String
PHP XML
PHP Zip <?php
PHP Quiz $q=$_GET["q"];
PHP Quiz //find out which feed was selected
PHP Certificate 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");
}
$xmlDoc->load($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')
$channel_desc = $channel->getElementsByTagName('description')
//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')
$item_link=$x->item($i)->getElementsByTagName('link')
$item_desc=$x->item($i)->getElementsByTagName('description')
echo ("<p><a href='" . $item_link
. "'>" . $item_title . "</a>");
echo ("<br />");
echo ($item_desc . "</p>");
}
?>
When a request for 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 elements

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Example - AJAX Poll
PHP Intro
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables
PHP String AJAX Poll
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else The following example will demonstrate a poll where the result is shown without reloading.
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays Do you like PHP and AJAX so far?
PHP While Loops
PHP For Loops Yes:
PHP Functions
No:
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST
PHP Advanced
When a user choose an option above, a function called "getVote()" is executed. The function is
PHP Date triggered by the "onclick" event:
PHP Include
PHP File
PHP File Upload <html>
PHP Cookies <head>
PHP Sessions <script type="text/javascript">
function getVote(int)
PHP E-mail {
PHP Secure E-mail if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
PHP Error {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
PHP Exception xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
PHP Filter }
else
{// code for IE6, IE5
PHP Database xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
MySQL Connect
xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
{
MySQL Create if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200)
MySQL Insert {
MySQL Select document.getElementById("poll").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
MySQL Where }
MySQL Order By }
MySQL Update
xmlhttp.open("GET","poll_vote.php?vote="+int,true);
xmlhttp.send();
MySQL Delete }
PHP ODBC </script>
</head>
PHP XML <body>
XML Expat Parser <div id="poll">
XML DOM <h3>Do you like PHP and AJAX so far?</h3>
XML SimpleXML <form>
Yes:
<input type="radio" name="vote" value="0" onclick="getVote(this.value)" />
PHP and AJAX <br />No:
AJAX Intro <input type="radio" name="vote" value="1" onclick="getVote(this.value)" />
AJAX PHP
</form>
</div>
AJAX Database
AJAX XML </body>
AJAX Live Search </html>
AJAX RSS Reader
AJAX Poll
The getVote() function does the following:
PHP Reference Create an XMLHttpRequest object
PHP Array Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready
PHP Calendar Send the request off to a file on the server
PHP Date Notice that a parameter (vote) is added to the URL (with the value of the yes or no option)
PHP Directory
PHP Error
PHP Filesystem The PHP File
PHP Filter
PHP FTP The page on the server called by the JavaScript above is a PHP file called "poll_vote.php":
PHP HTTP
PHP Libxml
PHP Mail <?php
PHP Math
$vote = $_REQUEST['vote'];
PHP Misc //get content of textfile
PHP MySQL $filename = "poll_result.txt";
PHP SimpleXML $content = file($filename);
PHP String
PHP XML //put content in array
PHP Zip
$array = explode("||", $content[0]);
$yes = $array[0];
$no = $array[1];
PHP Quiz
if ($vote == 0)
PHP Quiz {
PHP Certificate $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. Get the content of the "poll_result.txt" file

2. Put the content of the file in variables and add one to the selected variable
3. Write the result to the "poll_result.txt" file
4. 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).

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PHP Introduction (www.w3schools.com)

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PHP XML PHP + MySQL

PHP and AJAX Why PHP?

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PHP Advanced Download PHP

PHP Database « Previous Next Chapter »

PHP and AJAX

PHP Quiz Get Your Certificate »

PHP and AJAX <?php

Local variables are deleted as soon as the function is completed.

The script above will output 15.

The example above can be rewritten as this:

Note: The variable is still local to the function.

Parameters are declared in a parameter list as part of the function declaration:

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Let's see if we can find the string "world" in our string:

The output of the code above will be:

Complete PHP String Reference

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PHP XML x /= y x =x /y Division

PHP and AJAX Incrementing/Decrementing Operators

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

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There are two methods to create a numeric array.

PHP Reference Example

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In this example we use an array to assign ages to the different persons:

$ages = array("Peter"=>32, "Quagmire"=>30, "Joe"=>34);

The ID keys can be used in a script:

The code above will output:

Peter is 32 years old.

In this example we create a multidimensional array, with automatically assigned ID keys:

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Lets try displaying a single value from the array above:

echo "Is " . $families['Griffin'][2] .

The code above will output:

Is Megan a part of the Griffin family?

Complete PHP Array Reference

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