PHP Cookies
A cookie is a small file. In which the data is stored on the client browser. Cookies are embedded with requests whenever a client requests a web browser from a web browser. Cookies are commonly used to identify the user.
Cookies are ordinarily set in an HTTP header. PHP supports HTTP cookies.
Creating Cookies in PHP
In PHP, setCookie() function is used to set/create/sent a cookie.
Syntax:
setcookie( name, value, expire, path, domain, security, httponly );
Note: Name and value parameters are the most needed parameters to create a cookie and other parameters are optional.
Parameters: There are six parameters in the setCookie() function to create a cookie.
- Name: This refers to the name of the cookie.
- Value: This represents the value of a cookie.
- Expire: This is used to set the cookie expiration timestamp after which the cookie cannot be accessed.
- Path: This indicates where to set the cookie.
- Domain: This indicates the domain for which the cookie is available.
- Security: It is used to indicate that a cookie should be sent only when a secure HTTPS connection exists.
- Httponly: If set to TRUE the cookie will only be accessible via the HTTP protocol (the cookie will not be accessible by scripting languages). This setting can help reduce identity theft through XSS attacks. Default is FALSE
Example: The following program is displayed below to understand the setCookie() function:
Example 1:
<?php
setCookie( "My_Cookie", "John" ); // Create a cookie without optional parameters.
?>
Example 2:
<?php
setCookie( "My_Cookie", "John", time()+3600*24*2 ); // Create a cookie with optional parameter for 2 day.
?>
Getting Cookie Values in PHP
In PHP, The global variable $_COOKIE is used to get the value of a cookie.
Before reaching the value of a cookie, it is necessary to check whether the cookie is set or not. The isset() function is used in PHP to check this situation.
Example:
The following program is shown below to check if the cookie is set or not and to get the values of the cookie:
<?php
$cookie_name = "My_Cookie";
$cookie_value = "John";
setCookie( $cookie_name, $cookie_value, time()+3600*24*2 ); // Create a cookie with optional parameter for 2 day.
/*check the whether condition the cookie is set or not and getting the value of a cookie.*/
if (isset( $_COOKIE[$cookie_name] ) ) {
echo " The cookie is: " . $cookie_name ."<br>";
echo "The cookie value is: " . $_COOKIE[$cookie_name];
} else {
echo "The cookie is not set.";
}
?>
Deleting Cookies in PHP
In PHP, The setCookie () function can be used to remove cookies that require the expiration date in the time parameter to be set in the past.
Example:
The following program is shown below to delete the cookie:
<?php
$cookie_name = "My_Cookie";
setCookie( $cookie_name, " ", time()-60 ); // To delete a cookie.
?>
Note: If you do not set the time parameter then the cookie is automatically deleted at the end of the session.
Example:
The following example to understand PHP cookies with HTML Form.
<?php
if(isset($_POST["submit"])){
setCookie( "name", $_POST["name"], time()+3600*24*2 );
}
?>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title></title>
</head>
<body>
<p>Enter The Username.</p>
<form method="POST">
<input type="text" name="name">
<input type="submit" name="submit">
</form>
</body>
</html>
<?php
print_r($_COOKIE);
?>