PHP set cookie, read them and work with them

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PHP set cookie here in the Tutorial and more. An HTTP Cookie (Magic Cookie) is a small or short data packet that is exchanged between the website (domain) and the client (surfer). A cookie is sent from the server to the browser and placed at the client's computer. Or the cookie is generated directly with JavaScript and placed by the browser at the client. As long as the cookie is on the client's computer, it will send the data packet to the server with each new request of the website (domain). So this user can be identified and is no longer unknown to us, because we can create a profile the more often he visits the site.



Examples of data packets

The first question after you have probably figured out how cookies work, of course you want to know what to save now. So here are a few examples:

  • Take a HTTP_USER_AGENT and get what we think is useful if the user agent exists.
  • We could take the language with HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE
  • We could encrypt the IP address and save it if it exists.
  • We can collect everything for data, which pages visited, how long which page, length of stay ...
$_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"]$_SERVER["HTTP_LANGUAGE"]

Here you will find even more server variables $_SERVER

You can use cookies for some, e.g. like a login system (this will also be set automatically at the session) or an online shop (for shopping cart).



PHP set cookie and fill and place packet

We build a function that simplifies and checks the creation of a cookie. In the first solution all variables are listed individually but it is enough if only the $ args variable is sent in.

In order to access the cookies later with JavaScript, we have to pay attention to three things. That's one that we put httponly on false and that we with json_encode as well as the name do not deal with any special characters.

Here is a function to place a cookie, this function can be anywhere in your script, however, calling this function must happen before something is output. So that means nothing else can be sent to the client (browser) before, neither with echo nor pure HTML.


// PHP CODE
     0  /**  1   * PHP set cookie  2   * @param array $agrs  3   */  4  function setMyCookie(array $agrs = array()) {  5      // Check if $args and header not sent  6      if ($agrs && !headers_sent($filename, $linenum)) {  7          /**  8           * Set cookie  9           * @see http://php.net/manual/de/function.setcookie.php  10           */  11          setcookie(  12                  $agrs['name'], // The name of the cookie  13                  $agrs['value'], // The value of the cookie, here you can use serialize  14                  $agrs['expire'], // The time when the cookie becomes invalid  15                  $agrs['path'], // The path on the server for which the cookie will be available  16                  $agrs['domain'], // The domain to which the cookie is available  17                  $agrs['secure'], // Specifies that the client's cookie should only be transferred over a secure HTTPS connection  18                  $agrs['httponly'] // If set to TRUE, the cookie is only accessible via HTTP protocol  19          );  20      }  21      //.. is header sent or no args then do this  22      else {  23          // Check if header variables  24          if (isset($filename) && isset($linenum)) {  25              // trigger_error("Cookie" . $agrs['name'] . " could not be set on $filename line $linenum.", E_USER_ERROR);  26          }  27          return false;  28      }  29  } 

    So könnte dann Dein array aussehen was Du reinschicken wirst, siehe oben, dort haben wir alles beschriftet mit Kommentaren.


    // PHP CODE
       0  $agrs = array(  1     "name" => 'Visitor',  2     "value" => json_encode(array("totalvisits" => 0, "sites" => array())), // Dynamische variablen, die bei jedem Aufruf oder in bestimmten Zeit abständen aktualisiert werden können  3     "expire" => (time() + 2592000),  4     "path" => "/",  5     "domain" => "localhost",  6     "secure" => false,  7     "httponly" => false // Wenn nicht false dann können wir mit JavaScript nicht drauf zugreifen  8  );  9    10  // Aufruf unserer Funktion  11  setMyCookie($agrs); 

      We fill in everything we need and send it in to save this data which is in value. With expire we set the expiration time. At path we allow with the slash that this cookie on the whole web page access, however we could limit the access on certain sides. Domain is credible self-explanatory :) like this, secure is for HTTPS for secure connections and httponly for HTTP access only.


      Reading the packet

      Of course, we also want to read and evaluate our cookies. And there is also a PHP solution, you can address a cookie directly or all at once.


      // PHP CODE
         0  /**  1   * This function gets the cookie  2   * @param type $name  3   * @return type  4   */  5  function getMyCookie($name = ") {  6    7      if (isset($_COOKIE[$name])) {  8          return unserialize($_COOKIE[$name]);  9      }  10  } 

        // PHP CODE
           0  /**  1   * This function gets the cookie   2   * @param type $args   3   * @return type   4   */  5  function getMyCookie($args = array()) {  6      return (isset($args["name"]) && isset($_COOKIE[$args["name"]]) ? json_decode($_COOKIE[$args["name"]]) : $_COOKIE);  7  }  8    9  // Alle Cookies  10  echo '<pre>';  11  var_dump(getMyCookie());  12  echo '</pre>';  13    14  // A specific cookie that we have set up with the name visitor  15  echo '<pre>';  16  var_dump(getMyCookie(array("name" => 'Visitor')));  17  echo '</pre>'; 

          // OUTPUT CODE
          // A specific cookie that we have set up with the name visitor
          object(stdClass)#1 (2) {
            ["totalvisits"] => int(0)
            ["sites"] => string(0)
          }

          // OUTPUT CODE
          // After calling again in combination with hasMyCookie () and update Cookie ()
          object(stdClass)#1 (2) {
            ["totalvisits"] => int(2)
            ["sites"]=>
            object(stdClass)#3 (2) {
              ["second"]=>
              object(stdClass)#2 (2) {
                ["url"] => string(36) "Sites/NetBeans/PHP-Cookie/second.php"
                ["hits"] => int(1)
              }
              ["index"]=>
              object(stdClass)#4 (2) {
                ["url"] => string(35) "Sites/NetBeans/PHP-Cookie/index.php"
                ["hits"] => int(1)
              }
            }
          }

          // OUTPUT CODE
          // In JavaScript
          {totalvisits: 2, 
              sites: 
                  index: hits: 1 url: "Sites/NetBeans/PHP-Cookie/index.php" 
                  second: hits: 1 url: "Sites/NetBeans/PHP-Cookie/second.php"
          }


          Updating the packet

          We also want to keep the information in our cookie up to date and follow up profilers as well as possible in the same way as the user and record each of his steps.


          // PHP CODE
             0  /**  1   * This function update the cookie by name  2   * @param type $name   3   * @return type   4   */  5  function updateMyCookie($name = '') {  6    7      $cookie = getMyCookie(array('name' => $name));  8      $uribase = trim(basename(str_replace(array('-', '.php'), '', $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"])), '/');  9    10      if (is_object($cookie->sites->$uribase)) {  11          $cookie->sites->$uribase->url = $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"];  12          $cookie->sites->$uribase->hits = ($cookie->sites->$uribase->hits + 1);  13      }  14    15      $args = array();  16      $agrs['name'] = $name;  17      $agrs['value'] = json_encode(array("totalvisits" => ($cookie->totalvisits + 1), "sites" => $cookie->sites));  18      $agrs['expire'] = (time() + (365 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000));  19      $agrs['path'] = "/";  20      $agrs['domain'] = "localhost";  21      $agrs['secure'] = false;  22      $agrs['httponly'] = false;  23    24      setMyCookie($agrs);  25  }  26    27  updateMyCookie("Visitor"); 


            Check if cookie exists

            After we set our cookie with setMyCookie we update our cookie with each call, but no more setMyCookie can be called. Therefore, we help ourselves with this function in which we check whether our cookie has already been set.


            // PHP CODE
               0  /**  1   * This function gets the cookie   2   * @param type $name   3   * @return type   4   */  5  function hasMyCookie($name = '') {  6      return (isset($_COOKIE[$name]) ? true : false);  7  }  8    9  // Of course, if there is a cookie, you can use it dynamically now, for example by Put a hash provided IP address here so you have a relative unique user that you can associate with other data.  10  if (hasMyCookie("Visitor")) {  11      updateMyCookie("Visitor");  12  } else {  13      $args = array();  14      $args['name'] = 'Visitor';  15      $args['value'] = json_encode(array("totalvisits" => 0, "sites" => ''));  16      $args['expire'] = (time() + 2592000);  17      $args['path'] = "/";  18      $args['domain'] = "localhost";  19      $args['secure'] = false;  20      $args['httponly'] = false;  21      setMyCookie($args);  22  } 


              Remove cookie again

              Of course you can also delete the cookie or all cookies. We can do this as follows.


              // PHP CODE
                 0  /**  1   * This function delete the cookie by name  2   * @param type $name  3   */  4  function deleteMyCookie($name = '') {  5    6      if ($name) {  7          unset($_COOKIE[$name]);  8          setcookie($name, null, -1, '/');  9      } else {  10          if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_COOKIE'])) {  11              $cookies = explode(';', $_SERVER['HTTP_COOKIE']);  12              foreach ($cookies as $cookie) {  13                  $parts = explode('=', $cookie);  14                  $remove = trim($parts[0]);  15                  if (unserialize($_COOKIE[$remove]) != false) {  16                      unset($_COOKIE[$remove]);  17                  }  18              }  19          }  20      }  21  }  22    23  // Call our function, otherwise nothing will happen if we do not call :)  24  deleteMyCookie("Visitor"); 

                If we send a name with this then only this cookie will be removed, but we will call the function without a string so all cookies are removed which have a serialize string, so we do not touch other cookies.



                A disadvantage or not?

                The disadvantage, because we work on the server side, we can only track and record user interactions when refreshing the page. But that's why there is JavaScript and so we can read the same cookie and thus hold even more without having to reload the page each time. Even up to the mouse movement and which positions the user resides can be determined and much more. Here you can read this cookie we placed above JavaScript  JavaScript - set and use cookies



                Here is the whole code but in a class compiled and ready for use, you can change the name of the class and also rename the functions. Store your functions in classes and also separately in files so that you do not lose the overview as your project grows.


                // PHP CODE
                   0  /**  1   * Description of Cookie  2   *  3   * @author      Samet Tarim  4   * @copyright   (c) 2018, Samet Tarim  5   * @package     MelAbu  6   * @subpackage  MB Tornado Ai  7   * @since       1.0  8   * @link        http://tnado.com/  9   */  10  class MyCookie {  11    12      /**  13       * This function set the cookie   14       * @param array $agrs   15       */  16      public function setMyCookie(array $agrs = array()) {  17          $filename = '';  18          $linenum = '';  19          // Check if $args and header not sent   20          if ($agrs && !headers_sent($filename, $linenum)) {  21              // @see http://php.net/manual/de/function.setcookie.php   22              setcookie($agrs);  23          }  24          //.. is header sent or no args then do this   25          else {  26              // Check if header variables   27              if (isset($filename) && isset($linenum)) {  28                  // Send error to admin or write in log file  29                  echo 'can not send cookie';  30  //            trigger_error("Cookie could not be set on $filename line $linenum while header sent", E_USER_ERROR);  31              }  32          }  33      }  34    35      /**  36       * This function check if cookie exists  37       * @param type $name   38       * @return type   39       */  40      public function hasMyCookie($name = '') {  41          return (isset($_COOKIE[$name]) ? true : false);  42      }  43    44      /**  45       * This function gets the cookie   46       * @param type $args   47       * @return type   48       */  49      public function getMyCookie($args = array()) {  50    51          return (isset($args["name"]) && isset($_COOKIE[$args["name"]]) ? json_decode($_COOKIE[$args["name"]]) : $_COOKIE);  52      }  53    54      /**  55       * This function update the cookie by name  56       * @param type $name   57       * @return type   58       */  59      public function updateMyCookie($name = '') {  60    61          $cookie = $this->getMyCookie(array('name' => $name));  62          $uribase = trim(basename(str_replace(array('-', '.php'), '', $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"])), '/');  63    64          if (is_object($cookie->sites->$uribase)) {  65              $cookie->sites->$uribase->url = $_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"];  66              $cookie->sites->$uribase->hits = ($cookie->sites->$uribase->hits + 1);  67          }  68    69          $args = array();  70          $agrs['name'] = $name;  71          $agrs['value'] = json_encode(array("totalvisits" => ($cookie->totalvisits + 1), "sites" => $cookie->sites));  72          $agrs['expire'] = (time() + (365 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000));  73          $agrs['path'] = "/";  74          $agrs['domain'] = "localhost";  75          $agrs['secure'] = false;  76          $agrs['httponly'] = false;  77    78          $this->setMyCookie($agrs);  79      }  80    81      /**  82       * This function delete the cookie by name  83       * @param type $name  84       */  85      public function deleteMyCookie($name = '') {  86    87          if ($name) {  88              unset($_COOKIE[$name]);  89              setcookie($name, null, -1, '/');  90          } else {  91              if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_COOKIE'])) {  92                  $cookies = explode(';', $_SERVER['HTTP_COOKIE']);  93                  foreach ($cookies as $cookie) {  94                      $parts = explode('=', $cookie);  95                      $remove = trim($parts[0]);  96                      if (unserialize($_COOKIE[$remove]) != false) {  97                          unset($_COOKIE[$remove]);  98                      }  99                  }  100              }  101          }  102      }  103    104  } 

                  So you use it as an object and it is much clearer;) You can of course set attributes with setter and getter and so create the arrays or send in outsourced etc ...


                  // HTML CODE
                     0  <?php  1  require_once './php/cookie.php';  2  $COOKIE = new MyCookie();  3    4  // Delete the cookie  5  // $COOKIE->deleteMyCookie("Visitor");  6     7  if ($COOKIE->hasMyCookie("Visitor")) {  8      $COOKIE->updateMyCookie("Visitor");  9  } else {  10      $args = array();  11      $args['name'] = 'Visitor';  12      $args['value'] = json_encode(array("totalvisits" => 0, "sites" => ''));  13      $args['expire'] = (time() + (365 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000));  14      $args['path'] = "/";  15      $args['domain'] = "localhost";  16      $args['secure'] = false;  17      $args['httponly'] = false;  18      $COOKIE->setMyCookie($args);  19  }  20  ?>  21  <!DOCTYPE html>  22  <html>  23      <head>  24          <meta charset="UTF-8">  25          <title>Cookies</title>  26          <link href="css/style.css" rel="stylesheet">  27          <script type="text/javascript" src="js/script.js"></script>  28      </head>  29      <body>  30          <div class="wrap">  31              <ul>  32                  <li><a href="index.php">Home</a></li>  33                  <li><a href="second.php">Second</a></li>  34              </ul>  35              <?php  36              // All cookies if this cookie does not exist or if function is called without parameter  37              // A specific cookie that we have set up with the name visitor  38              echo '<pre>';  39              var_dump($COOKIE->getMyCookie(array("name" => 'Visitor')));  40              echo '</pre>';  41              ?>  42          </div>  43      </body>  44  </html> 


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