filter_input
(PHP 5 >= 5.2.0, PHP 7, PHP 8)
filter_input — Gets a specific external variable by name and optionally filters it
Description
int
$type,string
$var_name,int
$filter = FILTER_DEFAULT,array|int
$options = 0): mixed
Parameters
-
type -
One of
INPUT_GET,INPUT_POST,INPUT_COOKIE,INPUT_SERVER, orINPUT_ENV. -
var_name -
Name of a variable to get.
-
filter -
The ID of the filter to apply. The Types of filters manual page lists the available filters.
If omitted,
FILTER_DEFAULTwill be used, which is equivalent toFILTER_UNSAFE_RAW. This will result in no filtering taking place by default. -
options -
Associative array of options or bitwise disjunction of flags. If filter accepts options, flags can be provided in "flags" field of array.
Return Values
Value of the requested variable on success, false if the filter fails,
or null if the var_name variable is not set.
If the flag FILTER_NULL_ON_FAILURE is used, it
returns false if the variable is not set and null if the filter fails.
Examples
Example #1 A filter_input() example
<?php
$search_html = filter_input(INPUT_GET, 'search', FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS);
$search_url = filter_input(INPUT_GET, 'search', FILTER_SANITIZE_ENCODED);
echo "You have searched for $search_html.\n";
echo "<a href='?search=$search_url'>Search again.</a>";
?>
The above example will output something similar to:
You have searched for Me & son. <a href='?search=Me%20%26%20son'>Search again.</a>
See Also
- filter_var() - Filters a variable with a specified filter
- filter_input_array() - Gets external variables and optionally filters them
- filter_var_array() - Gets multiple variables and optionally filters them
- Types of filters
