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Cookies in php

Cookies

  • A cookie is often used to identify a user. 
  • A cookie is a small file that the server embeds on the user's computer.
  •  Each time the same computer requests a page with a browser, it will send the cookie too. With PHP, you can both create and retrieve cookie values.

Create Cookies With PHP

A cookie is created with the setcookie() function.

Syntax

setcookie(name, value, expire, path, domain, secure, httponly);
Only the name parameter is required. All other parameters are optional.

PHP Create/Retrieve a Cookie

The following example creates a cookie named "user" with the value "John Doe". The cookie will expire after 30 days (86400 * 30).
We then retrieve the value of the cookie "user" (using the global variable $_COOKIE). We also use the isset() function to find out if the cookie is set:

Example

<?php
$cookie_name = "user";
$cookie_value = "John Doe";
setcookie($cookie_name, $cookie_value, time() + (86400 * 30), "/"); // 86400 = 1 day?>

<html>
<body>

<?php
if(!isset($_COOKIE[$cookie_name])) {
    echo "Cookie named '" . $cookie_name . "' is not set!";
else {
    echo "Cookie '" . $cookie_name . "' is set!<br>";
    echo "Value is: " . $_COOKIE[$cookie_name];
}
?>


</body>
</html>

Note: The setcookie() function must appear BEFORE the <html> tag.


Modify a Cookie Value

To modify a cookie, just set (again) the cookie using the setcookie() function:

Example

<?php
$cookie_name = "user";
$cookie_value = "Alex Porter";
setcookie($cookie_name, $cookie_value, time() + (86400 * 30), "/");
?>

<html>
<body>

<?php
if(!isset($_COOKIE[$cookie_name])) {
    echo "Cookie named '" . $cookie_name . "' is not set!";
else {
    echo "Cookie '" . $cookie_name . "' is set!<br>";
    echo "Value is: " . $_COOKIE[$cookie_name];
}
?>


</body>
</html>

Delete a Cookie

To delete a cookie, use the setcookie() function with an expiration date in the past:

Example

<?php
// set the expiration date to one hour agosetcookie("user""", time() - 3600);
?>

<html>
<body>

<?php
echo "Cookie 'user' is deleted.";
?>


</body>
</html>

Check if Cookies are Enabled

The following example creates a small script that checks whether cookies are enabled. First, try to create a test cookie with the setcookie() function, then count the $_COOKIE array variable:

Example

<?php
setcookie("test_cookie""test", time() + 3600'/');
?>

<html>
<body>

<?php
if(count($_COOKIE) > 0) {
    echo "Cookies are enabled.";
else {
    echo "Cookies are disabled.";
}
?>


</body>
</html>