PHP: Getting Help

<!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: Getting Help</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" href="https://www.php.net/feed.atom" title="PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.php.net/support.php"> <link rel="shorturl" href="https://www.php.net/support"> <link rel="alternate" href="https://www.php.net/support" hreflang="x-default"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/cached.php?t=1707321815&f=/fonts/Fira/fira.css" media="screen"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/cached.php?t=1707321815&f=/fonts/Font-Awesome/css/fontello.css" media="screen"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/cached.php?t=1738926002&f=/styles/theme-base.css" media="screen"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/cached.php?t=1730558402&f=/styles/theme-medium.css" media="screen"> <base href="https://www.php.net/support.php"> <meta name="Description" content="PHP is a popular general-purpose scripting language that powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world." /> <meta name="twitter:card" 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</svg> Search docs </button>  <a id="navbar__search-link" href="/lookup-form.php" aria-label="Search docs" class="navbar__icon-item navbar__search-link" > <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true" width="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" > <circle cx="11" cy="11" r="8"></circle> <line x1="21" y1="21" x2="16.65" y2="16.65"></line> </svg> </a> <a id="navbar__menu-link" href="/menu.php" aria-label="Menu" class="navbar__icon-item navbar_icon-item--visually-aligned navbar_menu-link" > <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true" width="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="currentColor" > <path d="M3,6H21V8H3V6M3,11H21V13H3V11M3,16H21V18H3V16Z" /> </svg> </a>  <button id="navbar__search-button-mobile" aria-label="Search docs" class="navbar__icon-item navbar__search-button-mobile" hidden > <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true" width="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" > <circle cx="11" cy="11" r="8"></circle> <line x1="21" y1="21" x2="16.65" y2="16.65"></line> </svg> </button> <button id="navbar__menu-button" aria-label="Menu" class="navbar__icon-item navbar_icon-item--visually-aligned" hidden > <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true" width="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="currentColor" > <path d="M3,6H21V8H3V6M3,11H21V13H3V11M3,16H21V18H3V16Z" /> </svg> </button> </div> <div id="navbar__backdrop" class="navbar__backdrop" ></div> </div> <div id="flash-message"></div> </nav> <nav id="trick"><div><dl> <dt><a href='/manual/en/getting-started.php'>Getting Started</a></dt> <dd><a href='/manual/en/introduction.php'>Introduction</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/tutorial.php'>A simple tutorial</a></dd> <dt><a href='/manual/en/langref.php'>Language Reference</a></dt> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.basic-syntax.php'>Basic syntax</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.types.php'>Types</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.variables.php'>Variables</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.constants.php'>Constants</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.expressions.php'>Expressions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.operators.php'>Operators</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.control-structures.php'>Control Structures</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.functions.php'>Functions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.oop5.php'>Classes and Objects</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.namespaces.php'>Namespaces</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.enumerations.php'>Enumerations</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.errors.php'>Errors</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.exceptions.php'>Exceptions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.fibers.php'>Fibers</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.generators.php'>Generators</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.attributes.php'>Attributes</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/language.references.php'>References Explained</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/reserved.variables.php'>Predefined Variables</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/reserved.exceptions.php'>Predefined Exceptions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/reserved.interfaces.php'>Predefined Interfaces and Classes</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/reserved.attributes.php'>Predefined Attributes</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/context.php'>Context options and parameters</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/wrappers.php'>Supported Protocols and Wrappers</a></dd> </dl> <dl> <dt><a href='/manual/en/security.php'>Security</a></dt> <dd><a href='/manual/en/security.intro.php'>Introduction</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/security.general.php'>General considerations</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/security.cgi-bin.php'>Installed as CGI binary</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/security.apache.php'>Installed as an Apache module</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/security.sessions.php'>Session Security</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/security.filesystem.php'>Filesystem Security</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/security.database.php'>Database Security</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/security.errors.php'>Error Reporting</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/security.variables.php'>User Submitted Data</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/security.hiding.php'>Hiding PHP</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/security.current.php'>Keeping Current</a></dd> <dt><a href='/manual/en/features.php'>Features</a></dt> <dd><a href='/manual/en/features.http-auth.php'>HTTP authentication with PHP</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/features.cookies.php'>Cookies</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/features.sessions.php'>Sessions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/features.file-upload.php'>Handling file uploads</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/features.remote-files.php'>Using remote files</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/features.connection-handling.php'>Connection handling</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/features.persistent-connections.php'>Persistent Database Connections</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/features.commandline.php'>Command line usage</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/features.gc.php'>Garbage Collection</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/features.dtrace.php'>DTrace Dynamic Tracing</a></dd> </dl> <dl> <dt><a href='/manual/en/funcref.php'>Function Reference</a></dt> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.basic.php.php'>Affecting PHP's Behaviour</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.utilspec.audio.php'>Audio Formats Manipulation</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.remote.auth.php'>Authentication Services</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.utilspec.cmdline.php'>Command Line Specific Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.compression.php'>Compression and Archive Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.crypto.php'>Cryptography Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.database.php'>Database Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.calendar.php'>Date and Time Related Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.fileprocess.file.php'>File System Related Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.international.php'>Human Language and Character Encoding Support</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.utilspec.image.php'>Image Processing and Generation</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.remote.mail.php'>Mail Related Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.math.php'>Mathematical Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.utilspec.nontext.php'>Non-Text MIME Output</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.fileprocess.process.php'>Process Control Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.basic.other.php'>Other Basic Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.remote.other.php'>Other Services</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.search.php'>Search Engine Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.utilspec.server.php'>Server Specific Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.basic.session.php'>Session Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.basic.text.php'>Text Processing</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.basic.vartype.php'>Variable and Type Related Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.webservice.php'>Web Services</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.utilspec.windows.php'>Windows Only Extensions</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.xml.php'>XML Manipulation</a></dd> <dd><a href='/manual/en/refs.ui.php'>GUI Extensions</a></dd> </dl> <dl> <dt>Keyboard Shortcuts</dt><dt>?</dt> <dd>This help</dd> <dt>j</dt> <dd>Next menu item</dd> <dt>k</dt> <dd>Previous menu item</dd> <dt>g p</dt> <dd>Previous man page</dd> <dt>g n</dt> <dd>Next man page</dd> <dt>G</dt> <dd>Scroll to bottom</dd> <dt>g g</dt> <dd>Scroll to top</dd> <dt>g h</dt> <dd>Goto homepage</dd> <dt>g s</dt> <dd>Goto search<br>(current page)</dd> <dt>/</dt> <dd>Focus search box</dd> </dl></div></nav> <div id="goto"> <div class="search"> <div class="text"></div> <div class="results"><ul></ul></div> </div> </div> <div id="layout" class="clearfix"> <section id="layout-content"> <h2 id="documentation">Documentation</h2> <p> A good place to start is by skimming through the ever-growing list of <a href="/FAQ.php">frequently asked questions (with answers, of course)</a>. Then have a look at the rest of the online manual and other resources in the <a href="/docs.php">documentation</a> section. </p> <h2 id="mailing-lists">Mailing Lists</h2> <p> There are a number of mailing lists devoted to talking about PHP and related projects. <a href="mailing-lists.php">This list</a> describes them all, has links to searchable archives for all of the lists, and explains how to subscribe to the lists. </p> <h2 id="newsgroups">Newsgroups</h2> <p> The PHP language newsgroup is comp.lang.php, available on any news server around the globe. In addition to this many of our mailing lists are also reflected onto the news server at <a href="news://news.php.net">news://news.php.net/</a>. The server also has a read only web interface at <a href="https://news-web.php.net/">https://news-web.php.net/</a>. </p> <p> Mailing list messages are transfered to newsgroup posts and newsgroup posts are sent to the mailing lists. Please note that these newsgroups are only available on this server. </p> <h2 id="user-groups">User Groups</h2> <p> Chances are that there is a User Group in your neighborhood, which are generally a great resource both for beginners and experienced PHP users. Check out the User Group listing on <a href="http://php.ug/">PHP.ug</a> to see if there is one close by. </p> <h2 id="events-training">Events & Training</h2> <p> A list of upcoming events (such as user group meetings and PHP training sessions) is included in the right-hand column of the front page, and on the <a href="/cal.php">event calendar page</a>. If you want to list an upcoming event, just fill out the form <a href="/submit-event.php">on this page</a>. </p> <h2 id="irc">Internet Relay Chat</h2> <p> Otherwise known as IRC. Here you can usually find experienced PHP people sitting around doing nothing on various channels with php in their names. Note that there is no official IRC channel. Check <a href="https://libera.chat/">Libera.Chat</a> or any other major network (<a href="http://www.efnet.org/">EFNet</a>, <a href="http://www.quakenet.org">QuakeNet</a>, <a href="http://www.ircnet.com/">IRCNet</a>, <a href="http://www.dal.net/">DALNet</a> and <a href="http://oftc.net">OFTC</a>). </p> <h2 id="webmasters">PHP.net webmasters</h2> <p> If you have a problem or suggestion <em>in connection with the PHP.net website or mirror sites</em>, <a href="/contact.php">please contact the webmasters</a>. If you have problems setting up PHP or using some functionality, please ask your question on a support channel detailed above, the webmasters will not answer any such questions. </p> </section> <aside class="tips"> <div class="inner"> <div class="panel" style="position:fixed"> <div class="headline">Table of Contents</div> <div class="body"> <ul> <li><a href="#documentation">Documentation</a></li> <li><a href="#mailing-lists">Mailing Lists</a></li> <li><a href="#newsgroups">Newsgroups</a></li> <li><a href="#user-groups">User Groups</a></li> <li><a href="#events-training">Events & Training</a></li> <li><a href="#irc">IRC</a></li>  </ul> </div> </div> </div> </aside> </div> <footer> <div class="container footer-content"> <div class="row-fluid"> <ul class="footmenu"> <li><a href="/copyright.php">Copyright © 2001-2025 The PHP Group</a></li> <li><a href="/my.php">My PHP.net</a></li> <li><a href="/contact.php">Contact</a></li> <li><a href="/sites.php">Other PHP.net sites</a></li> <li><a href="/privacy.php">Privacy policy</a></li> <li><a href="https://github.com/php/web-php/blob/master/support.php">View Source</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </footer> <script src="/cached.php?t=1731172202&f=/js/ext/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script> <script src="/cached.php?t=1723177202&f=/js/ext/FuzzySearch.min.js"></script> <script src="/cached.php?t=1707321815&f=/js/ext/mousetrap.min.js"></script> <script src="/cached.php?t=1707321815&f=/js/ext/jquery.scrollTo.min.js"></script> <script src="/cached.php?t=1738028401&f=/js/search.js"></script> <script src="/cached.php?t=1738742401&f=/js/common.js"></script> <script type="module" src="/cached.php?t=1741309802&f=/js/interactive-examples.js"></script> <a id="toTop" href="javascript:;"><span id="toTopHover"></span><img width="40" height="40" alt="To Top" src="/images/to-top@2x.png"></a> <div id="search-modal__backdrop" class="search-modal__backdrop"> <div role="dialog" aria-label="Search modal" id="search-modal" class="search-modal" > <div class="search-modal__header"> <div class="search-modal__form"> <div class="search-modal__input-icon">  <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true" width="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" > <circle cx="11" cy="11" r="8"></circle> <line x1="21" y1="21" x2="16.65" y2="16.65"></line> </svg> </div> <input type="search" id="search-modal__input" class="search-modal__input" placeholder="Search docs" aria-label="Search docs" /> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="search-modal__close">  <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true" width="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" > <path d="M19,6.41L17.59,5L12,10.59L6.41,5L5,6.41L10.59,12L5,17.59L6.41,19L12,13.41L17.59,19L19,17.59L13.41,12L19,6.41Z"/> </svg> </button> </div> <div role="listbox" aria-label="Search results" id="search-modal__results" class="search-modal__results" ></div> <div class="search-modal__helper-text"> <div> <kbd>↑</kbd> and <kbd>↓</kbd> to navigate • <kbd>Enter</kbd> to select • <kbd>Esc</kbd> to close </div> <div> Press <kbd>Enter</kbd> without selection to search using Google </div> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>

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PHP: Getting Help