$PHP_SELF - function

[johnsponheimer]

<?php echo $PHP_SELF; ?>

What specifically does this do?
(you guys have real world experience and I would like your explanation or interpretation of it in laymans terms...)

With something like...
<form action="<?php_echo$PHP_SELF;?>" method="post">
<select name="pagename">
<option value="http://www.blah.com/index.php">Page 1</option>
<option value="http://www.blah.com/index2.php">Page 2/option>
</select>
<input type="submit" name="button" value="Go">
</form>

What function does the <?php echo $PHP_SELF; ?> part do?

[bladx]

$PHP_SELF (now really it is $_SERVER[PHP_SELF] ... simply finds out whatever page you are located on NOW, and puts it into your form action, so that when you submit this form, it stays on the current page for you.

[mrmufin]

$PHP_SELF is a global PHP variable which contains the name of the script, relative to the http directory in which it's stored.

If I create a page named 'jake.php' and store it at the top of my ~/htdocs path, than $PHP_SELF is '/jake.php'.

If I create a page named 'jake.php' and store it in a directory called "stuff" in my ~/htdocs path, then $PHP_SELF is '/stuff/jake.php'.

Use it in a form, as the examples in your other related post shows, then view the document source in your browser. You should see the form action reflect reflect the relative name of the PHP script.

[MrAlaska]

I have kind of wondered about this function myself. If the page in question includes 'GET' requests in the URL, they will also be included in PHP_SELF so that is something that needs to be taken into consideration some times.

I have built self posting forms by having action="" or even leaving the action attribute out of the form tag entirely, but it is nothing I have seen documented so perhaps somebody can tell me why or if it is not a good practice.

I have found the PHP_SELF handy when using the header() functions, though, like when wanting to plant and verify a cookie on the same page. You can use the PHP_SELF in header() inside a conditional statement to redirect back to itself after the cookie has been planted.

[dannys]

Originally posted by MrAlaska
I have kind of wondered about this function myself. If the page in question includes 'GET' requests in the URL, they will also be included in PHP_SELF so that is something that needs to be taken into consideration some times.

Dunno what version of php you're using but that certainly doesn't happen here - $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] (which, FYI, is a variable not a function) returns the current scriptname + it's path relative the document root. Nothing after (and including) the ? is included.

[MrAlaska]

Originally posted by dannys
$_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] (which, FYI, is a variable not a function)

Damn, so that would explain why PHP_SELF() throws an undefined function error? 😃

Originally posted by dannys $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ... returns the current scriptname + it's path relative the document root. Nothing after (and including) the ? is included.

I stand corrected. I was unable to replicate the error, so I dug back through two month old backups to find the page that led me to that conclusion. It was an erroneous hypothesis based on an old typo. The action I took solved the immediate problem at the time, but not for the reasons I thought.

That's why I toss stupid comments out, so people will correct me and share their knowledge and we are all enriched in the process. I should do it more often! 🙂

[XpeteX]

Basically mate,

$php_self returns the main page name.

For example, lets say you are running a query,

index.php?name=pete

$php_self will return 'index.php'

it just returns the pages url.

Simple as.

Cheers 😉
hoped this helped

catch me on [e-mail] if you want any more help.

Have a sweeeeet say dude.