Most commonly used PHP functions

Last updated October 14, 2009. www.rioleo.org

Function name What it does Example

if ($a > $b) {
echo "a is bigger than b";
} elseif ($a == $b) {
if, elseif, else Creates a conditional clause. echo "a is equal to b";
} else {
echo "a is smaller than b";
}
Performs a clause as long as the
conditional is satisfied. Remember to $i = 1;
while ($i <= 10) {
while ensure that the “while” condition is
echo $i++; // Increments i
broken at some point or else you will }
have an infinite loop.
echo Prints text. echo “Hello World”;
Puts another file into the specified
Include include “file.php”;
location.
Same as include, but breaks if the file
require require “file.php”;
cannot be evaluated or found.
Checks to see if a variable exists or
isset isset($a);
not. Returns TRUE or FALSE.
Makes a connection to a MySQL
database. Returns true if connected.
mysql_connect $link = mysql_connect(‘localhost’, ‘mysql_user’, ‘mysql_password’);
Use in conjunction with
mysql_close($link);
mysql_close Closes a database connection. mysql_close($link);
mysql_select_db Selects the database to connect to. mysql_select_db($db_database,$link));
Runs a SQL query. Returns true or a
mysql_query resource if successful, false if $result = mysql_query(‘SELECT * WHERE 1=1’);
otherwise.
Gets a single row or rows of data from
mysql_fetch_array $row = mysql_fetch_array($result)
a SQL query resource.
get Gets a URL variable. $name = $_GET[“name”];
post Gets a form variable $name = $_POST[“name”];
$filename = “myfile.txt”;
Opens a file for reading (“r” ) or (“w”)
$ini_handle = fopen($filename, “r”);
fopen writing. Use in conjunction with $ini_contents = fread($ini_handle, filesize($filename));
fclose. fclose($ini_handle);
 Reads the contents of a file. Requires a
fread limit of the number of bytes to read, $ini_contents = fread($ini_handle, filesize($filename));
which can be set to the size of the file.
Writes a string to a file. Use in $fp = fopen(‘data.txt’, ‘w’);
fwrite($fp, ‘1’);
fwrite conjunction with fopen and fread. fwrite($fp, ‘23’);
Adds anything to the end of the file. fclose($fp);
$array = array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
Creates a list of items that can be
arrays $arr = array(“foo” => “bar”, 12 => true);
ordered.
$array = array(‘lastname’, ‘email’, ‘phone');
Finds the number of elements in an
count $result = count($array);
array
Creates an md5 encrypted
hexadecimal number, useful for
md5 $val = md5($password);
storing passwords. (md5 cannot be
decrypted, only compared)
Splits an array of strings into a string $array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');
Implode
with an optional delimiter. $comma_separated = implode(",", $array);
$pizza = "piece1 piece2 piece3 piece4 piece5 piece6";
Splits a string into an array of strings $pieces = explode(" ", $pizza);
explode // $pieces[0] is now “piece1” and
using a delimiter as a way to divide it.
// $pieces[1] is now “piece2”, etc.
$name = "Me"; // Sender’s name
$email = "[email protected]"; // Sender’s e-mail adress
$recipient = "[email protected]"; // Recipient
Sends an email. The header must $mail_body = "The text for the mail"; // Mail body
mail
contain a “From” $subject = "Subject of the email"; // Subject
$header = "From: ". $name . " <" . $email . ">\r\n";

mail($recipient, $subject, $mail_body, $header);

Stores a variable that can be referred $name = $_SESSION['username']; // Saves the variable into the session as
session to multiple times across different username
pages. // Any other page that refers to $_SESSION['favcolor']; will have $name in it.
session_start Creates or resumes a user session. session_start();
session_destroy Destroys a session. session_destroy();