PHP: $_COOKIE - Manual (original) (raw)
(PHP 4 >= 4.1.0, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)
$_COOKIE — HTTP Cookies
Description
An associative array of variables passed to the current script via HTTP Cookies.
Examples
Example #1 $_COOKIE example
<?php
echo 'Hello ' . htmlspecialchars($_COOKIE["name"]) . '!';
?>Assuming the "name" cookie has been set earlier
The above example will output something similar to:
Notes
Note: This is a 'superglobal', or automatic global, variable. This simply means that it is available in all scopes throughout a script. There is no need to doglobal $variable; to access it within functions or methods.
Found A Problem?
10 years ago
To clarify the previously posted note:
Dots (.) and spaces ( ) in cookie names are being replaced with underscores (_).k dot andris at gmail dot com ¶
11 years ago
beware, dots (.) in cookie names are replaces by underscores (_)3 years ago
The values of <span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><msub><mrow></mrow><mi>C</mi></msub><mi>O</mi><mi>O</mi><mi>K</mi><mi>I</mi><mi>E</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>g</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>d</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>c</mi><mi>w</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>h</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>h</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>v</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>u</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>s</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>n</mi></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">_COOKIE in general are not identic with the values in </annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.8889em;vertical-align:-0.1944em;"></span><span class="mord"><span></span><span class="msupsub"><span class="vlist-t vlist-t2"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.3283em;"><span style="top:-2.55em;margin-right:0.05em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:2.7em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size6 size3 mtight"><span class="mord mathnormal mtight" style="margin-right:0.07153em;">C</span></span></span></span><span class="vlist-s"></span></span><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.15em;"><span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.02778em;">OO</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.07153em;">K</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.07847em;">I</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.05764em;">E</span><span class="mord mathnormal">in</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.03588em;">g</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mord mathnormal">n</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.02778em;">er</span><span class="mord mathnormal">a</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.01968em;">l</span><span class="mord mathnormal">a</span><span class="mord mathnormal">re</span><span class="mord mathnormal">n</span><span class="mord mathnormal">o</span><span class="mord mathnormal">t</span><span class="mord mathnormal">i</span><span class="mord mathnormal">d</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mord mathnormal">n</span><span class="mord mathnormal">t</span><span class="mord mathnormal">i</span><span class="mord mathnormal">c</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.02691em;">w</span><span class="mord mathnormal">i</span><span class="mord mathnormal">t</span><span class="mord mathnormal">h</span><span class="mord mathnormal">t</span><span class="mord mathnormal">h</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.03588em;">v</span><span class="mord mathnormal">a</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.01968em;">l</span><span class="mord mathnormal">u</span><span class="mord mathnormal">es</span><span class="mord mathnormal">in</span></span></span></span>_SERVER["HTTP_COOKIE"]!
In phpinfo() $_SERVER["HTTP_COOKIE"] shows the actual value stored in the cookie by the browser in 7bit.
In $_COOKIE is this value after a 7bit to 8bit conversion.
When all characters in <span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><msub><mrow></mrow><mi>S</mi></msub><mi>E</mi><mi>R</mi><mi>V</mi><mi>E</mi><mi>R</mi><mo stretchy="false">[</mo><mi mathvariant="normal">"</mi><mi>H</mi><mi>T</mi><mi>T</mi><msub><mi>P</mi><mi>C</mi></msub><mi>O</mi><mi>O</mi><mi>K</mi><mi>I</mi><mi>E</mi><mi mathvariant="normal">"</mi><mo stretchy="false">]</mo><mi>a</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>A</mi><mi>S</mi><mi>C</mi><mi>I</mi><mi>I</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>7</mn><mi>b</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>t</mi><mo separator="true">,</mo></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">_SERVER["HTTP_COOKIE"] are in ASCII = 7bit, </annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1em;vertical-align:-0.25em;"></span><span class="mord"><span></span><span class="msupsub"><span class="vlist-t vlist-t2"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.3283em;"><span style="top:-2.55em;margin-right:0.05em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:2.7em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size6 size3 mtight"><span class="mord mathnormal mtight" style="margin-right:0.05764em;">S</span></span></span></span><span class="vlist-s"></span></span><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.15em;"><span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.00773em;">ER</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.22222em;">V</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.00773em;">ER</span><span class="mopen">[</span><span class="mord">"</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.08125em;">H</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.13889em;">TT</span><span class="mord"><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.13889em;">P</span><span class="msupsub"><span class="vlist-t vlist-t2"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.3283em;"><span style="top:-2.55em;margin-left:-0.1389em;margin-right:0.05em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:2.7em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size6 size3 mtight"><span class="mord mathnormal mtight" style="margin-right:0.07153em;">C</span></span></span></span><span class="vlist-s"></span></span><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.15em;"><span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.02778em;">OO</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.07153em;">K</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.07847em;">I</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.05764em;">E</span><span class="mord">"</span><span class="mclose">]</span><span class="mord mathnormal">a</span><span class="mord mathnormal">re</span><span class="mord mathnormal">in</span><span class="mord mathnormal">A</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.07153em;">SC</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.07847em;">II</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2778em;"></span><span class="mrel">=</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2778em;"></span></span><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.8889em;vertical-align:-0.1944em;"></span><span class="mord">7</span><span class="mord mathnormal">bi</span><span class="mord mathnormal">t</span><span class="mpunct">,</span></span></span></span>_COOKIE is displayed in phpinfo(). When one single character is not in ASCII, phpinfo() shows no value!
Although in <span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><msub><mrow></mrow><mi>C</mi></msub><mi>O</mi><mi>O</mi><mi>K</mi><mi>I</mi><mi>E</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>s</mi><mi>s</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>h</mi><mi>e</mi><mn>8</mn><mi>b</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>c</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>v</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>s</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>f</mi></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">_COOKIE is still the 8bit conversion of </annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.8889em;vertical-align:-0.1944em;"></span><span class="mord"><span></span><span class="msupsub"><span class="vlist-t vlist-t2"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.3283em;"><span style="top:-2.55em;margin-right:0.05em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:2.7em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size6 size3 mtight"><span class="mord mathnormal mtight" style="margin-right:0.07153em;">C</span></span></span></span><span class="vlist-s"></span></span><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.15em;"><span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.02778em;">OO</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.07153em;">K</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.07847em;">I</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.05764em;">E</span><span class="mord mathnormal">i</span><span class="mord mathnormal">ss</span><span class="mord mathnormal">t</span><span class="mord mathnormal">i</span><span class="mord mathnormal">llt</span><span class="mord mathnormal">h</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mord">8</span><span class="mord mathnormal">bi</span><span class="mord mathnormal">t</span><span class="mord mathnormal">co</span><span class="mord mathnormal">n</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.03588em;">v</span><span class="mord mathnormal">ers</span><span class="mord mathnormal">i</span><span class="mord mathnormal">o</span><span class="mord mathnormal">n</span><span class="mord mathnormal">o</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.10764em;">f</span></span></span></span>_SERVER["HTTP_COOKIE"]!
The reason: the 8bit conversion alone is not enough to say what characters are meant.
For that the used character-set is necessary.
phpinfo() does not know the character-set and better says nothing.
When using $_COOKIE in a php-generated web page the environment has the info of used character-set and so the meant characters can be displayed.
Three illustrating examples
===========================
A HTML-form is used to get the content which shall be stored in a cookie named "test".
Input string in field "test": door
$_SERVER["HTTP_COOKIE"]: test=door
$_COOKIE["test"]
displayed in phpinfo(): door
displayed in any html page: door
Input string in field "test" (ISO-8859-1 used in form): Tür
$_SERVER["HTTP_COOKIE"]: test=T%FCr
$_COOKIE["test"]
displayed in phpinfo(): ""
displayed in a ISO-8859-1-html-page: Tür
(displayed in a UTF-8-html-page: T�r)
Input string in field "test" (UTF-8 used in form): Tür
$_SERVER["HTTP_COOKIE"]: test=T%C3%BCr
$_COOKIE["test"]
displayed in phpinfo(): ""
displayed in a UTF-8-html-page: Tür
(displayed in a ISO-8859-1-html-page: Tür)user at NOSPAM dot example dot com ¶
3 years ago
PHP replaces dots (.) with underscores (_). To find all original cookie names (and value) you can use $_SERVER['HTTP_COOKIE'].
For example to retrieve a cookie set with <?php setcookie('testing.dots', 'value'); ?> you may use:
<?php
<span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>c</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>k</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>s</mi><mo>=</mo><mi>e</mi><mi>x</mi><mi>p</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>d</mi><mi>e</mi><msup><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mo mathvariant="normal" lspace="0em" rspace="0em">′</mo></msup><msup><mo separator="true">;</mo><mo mathvariant="normal" lspace="0em" rspace="0em">′</mo></msup><mo separator="true">,</mo></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">cookies = explode('; ', </annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.6944em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">coo</span><span class="mord mathnormal">ki</span><span class="mord mathnormal">es</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2778em;"></span><span class="mrel">=</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2778em;"></span></span><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1.0019em;vertical-align:-0.25em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mord mathnormal">x</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.01968em;">pl</span><span class="mord mathnormal">o</span><span class="mord mathnormal">d</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mopen"><span class="mopen">(</span><span class="msupsub"><span class="vlist-t"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.7519em;"><span style="top:-3.063em;margin-right:0.05em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:2.7em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size6 size3 mtight"><span class="mord mtight"><span class="mord mtight">′</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="mpunct"><span class="mpunct">;</span><span class="msupsub"><span class="vlist-t"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.7519em;"><span style="top:-3.063em;margin-right:0.05em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:2.7em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size6 size3 mtight"><span class="mord mtight"><span class="mord mtight">′</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.1667em;"></span><span class="mpunct">,</span></span></span></span>_SERVER['HTTP_COOKIE']);
$allCookies = [];
foreach($cookies as $cookie) {
<span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>k</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>y</mi><mi>A</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>d</mi><mi>V</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>u</mi><mi>e</mi><mo>=</mo><mi>e</mi><mi>x</mi><mi>p</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>d</mi><mi>e</mi><msup><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mo mathvariant="normal" lspace="0em" rspace="0em">′</mo></msup><msup><mo>=</mo><mo mathvariant="normal" lspace="0em" rspace="0em">′</mo></msup><mo separator="true">,</mo></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">keyAndValue = explode('=', </annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.8889em;vertical-align:-0.1944em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.03148em;">k</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.03588em;">ey</span><span class="mord mathnormal">A</span><span class="mord mathnormal">n</span><span class="mord mathnormal">d</span><span class="mord mathnormal">Va</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.01968em;">l</span><span class="mord mathnormal">u</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2778em;"></span><span class="mrel">=</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2778em;"></span></span><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1.0019em;vertical-align:-0.25em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mord mathnormal">x</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.01968em;">pl</span><span class="mord mathnormal">o</span><span class="mord mathnormal">d</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mopen"><span class="mopen">(</span><span class="msupsub"><span class="vlist-t"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.7519em;"><span style="top:-3.063em;margin-right:0.05em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:2.7em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size6 size3 mtight"><span class="mord mtight"><span class="mord mtight">′</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="mrel"><span class="mrel">=</span><span class="msupsub"><span class="vlist-t"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.7519em;"><span style="top:-3.063em;margin-right:0.05em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:2.7em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size6 size3 mtight"><span class="mord mtight"><span class="mord mtight">′</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.3em;vertical-align:-0.1944em;"></span><span class="mpunct">,</span></span></span></span>cookie);
<span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>a</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>C</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>k</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>s</mi><mo stretchy="false">[</mo></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">allCookies[</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1em;vertical-align:-0.25em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">a</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.07153em;">llC</span><span class="mord mathnormal">oo</span><span class="mord mathnormal">ki</span><span class="mord mathnormal">es</span><span class="mopen">[</span></span></span></span>keyAndValue[0]] = $keyAndValue[1];
}
var_dump($allCookies);
/*
array(1) {
["testing.dots"]=>
string(5) "value"
}
*/
echo $allCookies['testing.dots'];
?>