$input->post() method

Retrieve a named POST variable value, or all POST variables

Always sanitize (and validate where appropriate) any values from user input.

The following optional features are available in ProcessWire version 3.0.125 and newer:

  • Provide a sanitization method as the 2nd argument to include sanitization.
  • Provide an array of valid values as the 2nd argument to limit input to those values.
  • Provide a callback function that receives the value and returns a validated value.
  • Provide a fallback value as the 3rd argument to use if value not present or invalid.
  • Append “[]” to the 1st argument to always force return value to be an array, i.e “colors[]”.

Note that the $valid and $fallback arguments are only applicable if a $key argument is provided.

Example

// Retrieve a "comments" POST variable, sanitize and output it
$comments = $input->post('comments');
$comments = $sanitizer->textarea($comments); // sanitize input as multi-line text with no HTML
echo $sanitizer->entities($comments); // sanitize for output

// You can also combine $input and one $sanitizer call like this,
// replacing "text" with name of any $sanitizer method:
$comments = $input->post->textarea('comments');

// like the previous example, but specify sanitizer method as second argument (3.0.125+):
$comments = $input->post('comments', 'textarea');

// if you want more than one sanitizer, specify multiple in a CSV string (3.0.125+):
$comments = $input->post('comments', 'textarea,entities');

// you can provide a whitelist array of allowed values instead of a sanitizer method (3.0.125+):
$color = $input->post('color', [ 'red', 'blue', 'green' ]);

// an optional 3rd argument lets you specify a fallback value to use if valid value not present or
// empty in input, and it will return this value rather than null/empty (3.0.125+):
$qty = $input->post('qty', 'int', 1); // return 1 if no qty provided
$color = $input->post('color', [ 'red', 'blue', 'green' ], 'red'); // return red if no color selected

// you may optionally provide a callback function to sanitize/validate with (3.0.125+):
$isActive = $input->post('active', function($val) { return $val ? true : false; }); 

Usage

// basic usage
$mixed = $input->post();

// usage with all arguments
$mixed = $input->post(string $key = '', $valid = null, $fallback = null);

Arguments

NameType(s)Description
key (optional)string

Name of POST variable you want to retrieve.

  • If populated, returns the value corresponding to the key or NULL if it doesn't exist.
  • If blank, returns reference to the WireDataInput containing all POST vars.
valid (optional)array, string, int, callable, null

Omit for no validation/sanitization, or provide one of the following:

  • String name of Sanitizer method to to sanitize value with before returning it.
  • CSV string of multiple sanitizer names to process the value, in order.
  • Array of allowed values (aka whitelist), where input value must be one of these, otherwise null (or fallback value) will returned. Values in the array may be any string or integer.
  • Callback function to sanitize and validate the value.
  • Integer if a specific number is the only allowed value other than fallback value (i.e. like a checkbox toggle).
fallback (optional)

Return value

null mixed WireInputData

Returns one of the following:

  • If given no $key argument, returns WireInputData with all unsanitized POST vars.
  • If given no $valid argument, returns unsanitized value or NULL if not present.
  • If given a Sanitizer name for $valid argument, returns value sanitized with that Sanitizer method (3.0.125+).
  • If given an array of allowed values for $valid argument, returns value from that array if it was in the input, or null if not (3.0.125+).
  • If given a callable function for $valid argument, returns the value returned by that function (3.0.125+).
  • If given a $fallback argument, returns that value when it would otherwise return null (3.0.125+).

Exceptions

Method can throw exceptions on error:

  • WireException - if given unknown Sanitizer method for $valid argument


$input methods and properties

API reference based on ProcessWire core version 3.0.236

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