PHP: php:// - Manual

<!DOCTYPE html> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <title>PHP: php:// - Manual </title> <link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" sizes="any" href="https://www.php.net/favicon.svg?v=2"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="196x196" href="https://www.php.net/favicon-196x196.png?v=2"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="https://www.php.net/favicon-32x32.png?v=2"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="https://www.php.net/favicon-16x16.png?v=2"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://www.php.net/favicon.ico?v=2"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="http://php.net/phpnetimprovedsearch.src" title="Add PHP.net search"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://www.php.net/releases/feed.php" title="PHP Release feed"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" 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id="wrappers.php" class="refentry"> <div class="refnamediv"> <h1 class="refname">php://</h1> <p class="refpurpose"><span class="refname">php://</span> — <span class="dc-title">Accessing various I/O streams</span></p> </div> <div class="refsect1 description" id="refsect1-wrappers.php-description"> <h3 class="title">Description</h3> <p class="para"> PHP provides a number of miscellaneous I/O streams that allow access to PHP's own input and output streams, the standard input, output and error file descriptors, in-memory and disk-backed temporary file streams, and filters that can manipulate other file resources as they are read from and written to. </p> <div class="refsect2 unknown-1" id="wrappers.php.std"> <h4 class="title">php://stdin, php://stdout and php://stderr</h4> <p class="simpara"> <var class="filename">php://stdin</var>, <var class="filename">php://stdout</var> and <var class="filename">php://stderr</var> allow direct access to the corresponding input or output stream of the PHP process. The stream references a duplicate file descriptor, so if you open <var class="filename">php://stdin</var> and later close it, you close only your copy of the descriptor-the actual stream referenced by <strong><code><a href="reserved.constants.php#constant.stdin">STDIN</a></code></strong> is unaffected. It is recommended that you simply use the constants <strong><code><a href="reserved.constants.php#constant.stdin">STDIN</a></code></strong>, <strong><code><a href="reserved.constants.php#constant.stdout">STDOUT</a></code></strong> and <strong><code><a href="reserved.constants.php#constant.stderr">STDERR</a></code></strong> instead of manually opening streams using these wrappers. </p> <p class="simpara"> <var class="filename">php://stdin</var> is read-only, whereas <var class="filename">php://stdout</var> and <var class="filename">php://stderr</var> are write-only. </p> </div> <div class="refsect2 unknown-4" id="wrappers.php.input"> <h4 class="title">php://input</h4> <p class="simpara"> <var class="filename">php://input</var> is a read-only stream that allows you to read raw data from the request body. <var class="filename">php://input</var> is not available in POST requests with <code class="literal">enctype="multipart/form-data"</code> if <a href="ini.core.php#ini.enable-post-data-reading" class="link">enable_post_data_reading</a> option is enabled. </p> </div> <div class="refsect2 unknown-7" id="wrappers.php.output"> <h4 class="title">php://output</h4> <p class="para"> <var class="filename">php://output</var> is a write-only stream that allows you to write to the output buffer mechanism in the same way as <span class="function"><a href="function.print.php" class="function">print</a></span> and <span class="function"><a href="function.echo.php" class="function">echo</a></span>. </p> </div> <div class="refsect2 unknown-10" id="wrappers.php.fd"> <h4 class="title">php://fd</h4> <p class="simpara"> <var class="filename">php://fd</var> allows direct access to the given file descriptor. For example, <var class="filename">php://fd/3</var> refers to file descriptor 3. </p> </div> <div class="refsect2 unknown-13" id="wrappers.php.memory"> <h4 class="title">php://memory and php://temp</h4> <p class="simpara"> <var class="filename">php://memory</var> and <var class="filename">php://temp</var> are read-write streams that allow temporary data to be stored in a file-like wrapper. One difference between the two is that <var class="filename">php://memory</var> will always store its data in memory, whereas <var class="filename">php://temp</var> will use a temporary file once the amount of data stored hits a predefined limit (the default is 2 MB). The location of this temporary file is determined in the same way as the <span class="function"><a href="function.sys-get-temp-dir.php" class="function">sys_get_temp_dir()</a></span> function. </p> <p class="simpara"> The memory limit of <var class="filename">php://temp</var> can be controlled by appending <code class="literal">/maxmemory:NN</code>, where <code class="literal">NN</code> is the maximum amount of data to keep in memory before using a temporary file, in bytes. </p> <div class="caution"><strong class="caution">Caution</strong> <p class="simpara"> Some PHP extensions may require a standard IO stream, and may attempt to cast a given stream to a standard IO stream. This cast can fail for memory streams as it requires the C <span class="function"><strong>fopencookie()</strong></span> function to be available. This C function is <em>not</em> available on Windows. </p> </div> </div> <div class="refsect2 unknown-16" id="wrappers.php.filter"> <h4 class="title">php://filter</h4> <p class="simpara"> <var class="filename">php://filter</var> is a kind of meta-wrapper designed to permit the application of <a href="filters.php" class="link">filters</a> to a stream at the time of opening. This is useful with all-in-one file functions such as <span class="function"><a href="function.readfile.php" class="function">readfile()</a></span>, <span class="function"><a href="function.file.php" class="function">file()</a></span>, and <span class="function"><a href="function.file-get-contents.php" class="function">file_get_contents()</a></span> where there is otherwise no opportunity to apply a filter to the stream prior the contents being read. </p> <p class="para"> The <var class="filename">php://filter</var> target takes the following parameters as part of its path. Multiple filter chains can be specified on one path. Please refer to the examples for specifics on using these parameters. </p> <p class="para"> <table class="doctable table"> <caption><strong>php://filter parameters</strong></caption> <thead> <tr> <th>Name</th> <th>Description</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody class="tbody"> <tr> <td> <code class="literal">resource=<stream to be filtered></code> </td> <td> This parameter is required. It specifies the stream that you would like to filter. </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <code class="literal">read=<filter list to apply to read chain></code> </td> <td> This parameter is optional. One or more filter names can be provided here, separated by the pipe character (<code class="literal">|</code>). </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <code class="literal">write=<filter list to apply to write chain></code> </td> <td> This parameter is optional. One or more filter names can be provided here, separated by the pipe character (<code class="literal">|</code>). </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <code class="literal"><filter list to apply to both chains></code> </td> <td> Any filter lists which are not prefixed by <code class="literal">read=</code> or <code class="literal">write=</code> will be applied to both the read and write chains as appropriate. </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </p> </div> </div> <div class="refsect1 options" id="refsect1-wrappers.php-options"> <h3 class="title">Options</h3> <p class="para"> <table class="doctable table"> <caption><strong> Wrapper Summary (for <code class="literal">php://filter</code>, refer to the summary of the wrapper being filtered) </strong></caption> <thead> <tr> <th>Attribute</th> <th>Supported</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody class="tbody"> <tr> <td>Restricted by <a href="filesystem.configuration.php#ini.allow-url-fopen" class="link">allow_url_fopen</a></td> <td>No</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Restricted by <a href="filesystem.configuration.php#ini.allow-url-include" class="link">allow_url_include</a></td> <td> <code class="literal">php://input</code>, <code class="literal">php://stdin</code>, <code class="literal">php://memory</code> and <code class="literal">php://temp</code> only. </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Allows Reading</td> <td> <code class="literal">php://stdin</code>, <code class="literal">php://input</code>, <code class="literal">php://fd</code>, <code class="literal">php://memory</code> and <code class="literal">php://temp</code> only. </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Allows Writing</td> <td> <code class="literal">php://stdout</code>, <code class="literal">php://stderr</code>, <code class="literal">php://output</code>, <code class="literal">php://fd</code>, <code class="literal">php://memory</code> and <code class="literal">php://temp</code> only. </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Allows Appending</td> <td> <code class="literal">php://stdout</code>, <code class="literal">php://stderr</code>, <code class="literal">php://output</code>, <code class="literal">php://fd</code>, <code class="literal">php://memory</code> and <code class="literal">php://temp</code> only. (Equivalent to writing) </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Allows Simultaneous Reading and Writing</td> <td> <code class="literal">php://fd</code>, <code class="literal">php://memory</code> and <code class="literal">php://temp</code> only. </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Supports <span class="function"><a href="function.stat.php" class="function">stat()</a></span></td> <td> No. However, <code class="literal">php://memory</code> and <code class="literal">php://temp</code> support <span class="function"><a href="function.fstat.php" class="function">fstat()</a></span>. </td> </tr> <tr> <td>Supports <span class="function"><a href="function.unlink.php" class="function">unlink()</a></span></td> <td>No</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Supports <span class="function"><a href="function.rename.php" class="function">rename()</a></span></td> <td>No</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Supports <span class="function"><a href="function.mkdir.php" class="function">mkdir()</a></span></td> <td>No</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Supports <span class="function"><a href="function.rmdir.php" class="function">rmdir()</a></span></td> <td>No</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Supports <span class="function"><a href="function.stream-select.php" class="function">stream_select()</a></span></td> <td> <code class="literal">php://stdin</code>, <code class="literal">php://stdout</code>, <code class="literal">php://stderr</code>, <code class="literal">php://fd</code> and <code class="literal">php://temp</code> only. </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </p> </div> <div class="refsect1 examples" id="refsect1-wrappers.php-examples"> <h3 class="title">Examples</h3> <div class="example" id="example-497"> <p><strong>Example #1 php://temp/maxmemory</strong></p> <div class="example-contents"><p> This optional parameter allows setting the memory limit before <var class="filename">php://temp</var> starts using a temporary file. </p></div> <div class="example-contents"> <div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">// Set the limit to 5 MB.<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$fiveMBs </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">5 </span><span style="color: #007700">* </span><span style="color: #0000BB">1024 </span><span style="color: #007700">* </span><span style="color: #0000BB">1024</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$fp </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">fopen</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"php://temp/maxmemory:</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$fiveMBs</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #DD0000">'r+'</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">fputs</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$fp</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #DD0000">"hello\n"</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">// Read what we have written.<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">rewind</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$fp</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br />echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">stream_get_contents</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$fp</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span></span></code></div> </div> </div> <div class="example" id="example-498"> <p><strong>Example #2 php://filter/resource=<stream to be filtered></strong></p> <div class="example-contents"><p> This parameter must be located at the end of your <var class="filename">php://filter</var> specification and should point to the stream which you want filtered. </p></div> <div class="example-contents"> <div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">/* This is equivalent to simply:<br /> readfile("http://www.example.com");<br /> since no filters are actually specified */<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">readfile</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"php://filter/resource=http://www.example.com"</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span></span></code></div> </div> </div> <div class="example" id="example-499"> <p><strong>Example #3 php://filter/read=<filter list to apply to read chain></strong></p> <div class="example-contents"><p> This parameter takes one or more filternames separated by the pipe character <code class="literal">|</code>. </p></div> <div class="example-contents"> <div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">/* This will output the contents of<br /> www.example.com entirely in uppercase */<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">readfile</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"php://filter/read=string.toupper/resource=http://www.example.com"</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">/* This will do the same as above<br /> but will also ROT13 encode it */<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">readfile</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"php://filter/read=string.toupper|string.rot13/resource=http://www.example.com"</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span></span></code></div> </div> </div> <div class="example" id="example-500"> <p><strong>Example #4 php://filter/write=<filter list to apply to write chain></strong></p> <div class="example-contents"><p> This parameter takes one or more filternames separated by the pipe character <code class="literal">|</code>. </p></div> <div class="example-contents"> <div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">/* This will filter the string "Hello World"<br /> through the rot13 filter, then write to<br /> example.txt in the current directory */<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">file_put_contents</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"php://filter/write=string.rot13/resource=example.txt"</span><span style="color: #007700">,</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Hello World"</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span></span></code></div> </div> </div> <div class="example" id="example-501"> <p><strong>Example #5 php://memory and php://temp are not reusable</strong></p> <div class="example-contents"><p> <var class="filename">php://memory</var> and <var class="filename">php://temp</var> are not reusable, i.e. after the streams have been closed there is no way to refer to them again. </p></div> <div class="example-contents"> <div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br />file_put_contents</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'php://memory'</span><span style="color: #007700">, </span><span style="color: #DD0000">'PHP'</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br />echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">file_get_contents</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'php://memory'</span><span style="color: #007700">); </span><span style="color: #FF8000">// prints nothing</span></span></code></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="contribute"> <h3 class="title">Found A Problem?</h3> <div> </div> <div class="edit-bug"> <a href="https://github.com/php/doc-base/blob/master/README.md" title="This will take you to our contribution guidelines on GitHub" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Learn How To Improve This Page</a> • <a 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