$_REQUEST

    (PHP 4 >= 4.1.0, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

    $_REQUEST — HTTP Request variables

    Description

    An associative array that by default contains the contents of $_GET, $_POST and $_COOKIE.

    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 do global $variable; to access it within functions or methods.

    Note:

    When running on the command line , this will not include the argv and argc entries; these are present in the $_SERVER array.

    Note:

    The variables in $_REQUEST are provided to the script via the GET, POST, and COOKIE input mechanisms and therefore could be modified by the remote user and cannot be trusted. The presence and order of variables listed in this array is defined according to the PHP request_order, and variables_order configuration directives.

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    User Contributed Notes 5 notes

    up
    190
    strata_ranger at hotmail dot com
    15 years ago
    Don't forget, because $_REQUEST is a different variable than $_GET and $_POST, it is treated as such in PHP -- modifying $_GET or $_POST elements at runtime will not affect the ellements in $_REQUEST, nor vice versa.

    e.g:

    <?php

    $_GET    ['foo'] = 'a';
    $_POST['bar'] = 'b';
    var_dump($_GET); // Element 'foo' is string(1) "a"
    var_dump($_POST); // Element 'bar' is string(1) "b"
    var_dump($_REQUEST); // Does not contain elements 'foo' or 'bar'

    ?>

    If you want to evaluate $_GET and $_POST variables by a single token without including $_COOKIE in the mix, use $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] to identify the method used and set up a switch block accordingly, e.g:

    <?php

    switch($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'])
    {
    case     'GET': $the_request = &$_GET; break;
    case     'POST': $the_request = &$_POST; break;
    .
    .     // Etc.
    .
    default:
    }
    ?>
    up
    19
    mike o.
    14 years ago
    The default php.ini on your system as of in PHP 5.3.0 may exclude cookies from $_REQUEST. The request_order ini directive specifies what goes in the $_REQUEST array; if that does not exist, then the variables_order directive does. Your distribution's php.ini may exclude cookies by default, so beware.
    up
    4
    codeblog.pro
    3 years ago
    In PHP version 7.0 with the default settings.+, $_REQUEST array does not contain cookies.
    up
    2
    Luke Madhanga
    8 years ago
    To access $_POST, $_GET, etc, use the function filter_input(TYPE, varname, filter) to ensure that your data is clean.

    Also, I was brought up to believe that modifying superglobals is a BAD idea. I stand by this belief and would recommend you do too
    up
    -52
    Filomena
    3 years ago
    Warning:

    The way $_REQUEST is populated by default can lead to strange bugs because of the unfortunate default setting of the configuration directive 'variables_order'.

    Example: In an e-shop you want to display prices based on user preference. User can either switch the currency or the previous selection is used. By defaut, the following code WILL NOT WORK as expected:

    <?php
    if ($_REQUEST['currency']) # change currency on user request
    {
    $currency = $_REQUEST['currency']; # use it
    setcookie('currency', $_REQUEST['currency'], 0, 'eshop.php'); # store it
    }
    else     # use default currency
    {
    $currency = 'USD';
    }

    # display shop contents with user selected currency
    echo 'All prices are shown in ', $currency;

    # let the user switch currency
    echo '<a href="eshop.php?currency=USD">Switch to USD</a>';
    echo     '<a href="eshop.php?currency=EUR">Switch to EUR</a>';
    ?>

    Regardless of the user choice, the cookie value is used, so unless you change the default 'request_order' or 'variables_order' the $_REQUEST[something] variable is stuck with the cookie value forever regardless of the user 'REQUEST'.

    Fix 1:

    <?php
    ini_set    ('request_order', 'CGP'); # use previous value (stored in cookie) or new value upon user request
    .
    .
    .
    ?>

    Fix 2:
    Be very careful and patient and go with $_GET, $_POST and $_COOKIE instead of the convenient $_REQUEST. Good luck.
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