PHP setcookie() Function

|  | Search W3Schools : |

HOME | HTML | CSS | XML | JAVASCRIPT | ASP | PHP | SQL | MORE... |  | References | Examples | Forum | About

ADVERTISEMENTS XML Certification Download XML editor Custom Programming |  |

Table of contents

PHP Basic
PHP HOME
PHP Intro
PHP Install
PHP Syntax
PHP Variables
PHP String
PHP Operators
PHP If...Else
PHP Switch
PHP Arrays
PHP Looping
PHP Functions
PHP Forms
PHP $_GET
PHP $_POST
PHP Advanced
PHP Date
PHP Include
PHP File
PHP File Upload
PHP Cookies
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 Introduction
XMLHttpRequest
AJAX Suggest
AJAX XML
AJAX Database
AJAX responseXML
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 Exam

Selected Reading

Web Statistics
Web Glossary
Web Hosting
Web Quality
W3Schools Tutorials
W3Schools Forum
Helping W3Schools

# PHP setcookie() Function

Complete PHP HTTP Reference

## Definition and Usage

The setcookie() function sends an HTTP cookie to a client.

A cookie is a variable, sent by the server to the browser. A cookie is typically a small text 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.

The name of the cookie is automatically assigned to a variable of the same name. For example, if a cookie was sent with the name "user", a variable is automatically created called $user, containing the cookie value.

A cookie must be assigned before any other output is sent to the client.

This function returns TRUE on success or FALSE on failure.

## Syntax

    setcookie(name,value,expire,path,domain,secure)

Parameter | Description
--- | ---
name | Required. Specifies the name of the cookie
value | Required. Specifies the value of the cookie
expire | Optional. Specifies when the cookie expires. time()+3600*24*30 will set the cookie to expire in 30 days. If this parameter is not set, the cookie will expire at the end of the session (when the browser closes).
path | Optional. Specifies the server path of the cookie If set to "/", the cookie will be available within the entire domain. If set to "/test/", the cookie will only be available within the test directory and all sub-directories of test. The default value is the current directory that the cookie is being set in.
domain | Optional. Specifies the domain name of the cookie. To make the cookie available on all subdomains of example.com then you'd set it to ".example.com". Setting it to www.example.com will make the cookie only available in the www subdomain
secure | Optional. Specifies whether or not the cookie should only be transmitted over a secure HTTPS connection. TRUE indicates that the cookie will only be set if a secure connection exists. Default is FALSE.

## Tips and Notes

Tip: The value of a cookie named "user" can be accessed by $HTTP_COOKIE_VARS["user"] or by $_COOKIE["user"].

Note: The value of the cookie will automatically be URL encoded when you send the cookie (and automatically decoded when received). If you don't want this, you can use setrawcookie() instead.

## Example 1

Set and send cookie examples:

    <?php
    $value = "my cookie value";

    // send a simple cookie
    setcookie("TestCookie",$value);
    ?>

    <html>
    <body>

    ...
    ...

    <?php
    $value = "my cookie value";

    // send a cookie that expires in 24 hours
    setcookie("TestCookie",$value, time()+3600*24);
    ?>

    <html>
    <body>

    ...
    ...

## Example 2

Different ways of retrieving the value of the cookie (after the cookie has been set):

    <html>
    <body>

    <?php
    // Print individual cookies
    echo $_COOKIE["TestCookie"];
    echo "<br />";
    echo $HTTP_COOKIE_VARS["TestCookie"];
    echo "<br />";

    // Print all cookies
    print_r($_COOKIE);
    ?>

    </body>
    </html>

The output of the code above will be:

    my cookie value
    my cookie value
    Array ([TestCookie] => my cookie value)

## Example 3

Delete a cookie by setting the expiration date to a date/time in the past:

    <?php
    // Set the expiration date to one hour ago
    setcookie ("TestCookie", "", time() - 3600);
    ?>

    <html>
    <body>

    ...
    ...

## Example 4

Create an array cookie:

    <?php
    setcookie("cookie[three]","cookiethree");
    setcookie("cookie[two]","cookietwo");
    setcookie("cookie[one]","cookieone");

    // print cookies (after reloading page)
    if (isset($_COOKIE["cookie"]))
      {
      foreach ($_COOKIE["cookie"] as $name => $value)
        {
        echo "$name : $value <br />";
        }
      }
    ?>

    <html>
    <body>

    ...
    ...

The output of the code above will be:

    three : cookiethree
    two : cookietwo
    one : cookieone

Complete PHP HTTP Reference

## Altova® XMLSpy® - The world's best-selling XML editor!

Whether you're new to XML or already an advanced user, the user-friendly views and powerful entry helpers, wizards, and debuggers in XMLSpy are designed to meet your XML and Web services development needs from start to finish.

- XML editor
- Graphical XML Schema / DTD editors
- XSLT 1.0/2.0 editor, debugger, profiler
- XQuery editor, debugger, profiler
- Support for Office Open XML (OOXML)
- Graphical WSDL editor & SOAP debugger
- Java, C#, C++ code generation
- And much more!

Download a fully functional free 30-day trial today!

WEB HOSTING
ASP.NET Shopping Cart
$15 Domain Name Registration Save $20 / year!
Buy UK Domain Names Register Domain Names
Cheap Domain Names Cheap Web Hosting
Best Web Hosting
PHP MySQL Hosting
Top 10 Web Hosting
UK Reseller Hosting
Web Hosting
FREE Web Hosting

WEB BUILDING
Website Templates Flash Templates Website Builder Internet Business Opportunity
Custom Programming
FREE Trial or Demo Web Content Manager Forms,Web Alerts,RSS
Download XML editor
FREE Flash Website
FREE Web Templates

EDUCATION
US Web Design Schools
HTML Certification
JavaScript Certification
XML Certification
PHP Certification
ASP Certification

HOME or Top of Page |  | Printer Friendly
W3Schools is for training only. We do not warrant the correctness of its content. The risk from using it lies entirely with the user. While using this site, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use and privacy policy. Copyright 1999-2009 by Refsnes Data. All Rights Reserved.