PHP setrawcookie() function (with example)

I recently stumbled upon the `setrawcookie()` function while working on a PHP project, and I must say it provided a handy solution for my specific use case. Allow me to share my personal experience to shed some light on its practicality.

What makes the `setrawcookie()` function unique is its ability to store unencoded data in cookies without any automatic encoding process. This means that any special characters or binary data you pass as the cookie value will be preserved exactly as you provide them, without modifications.

In my project, I had a requirement to store Base64-encoded data in a cookie. Initially, I used the traditional `setcookie()` function, but it encoded the cookie value, resulting in unnecessary decoding steps on the client-side. It was becoming cumbersome to encode and decode the data constantly.

After some research, I learned about `setrawcookie()`, which allowed me to bypass the automatic encoding. I simply passed the raw Base64-encoded value as the cookie value, and it saved the data as it was, saving me from the hassle of manual decoding.

Here's a concise example to demonstrate the usage:

php
$base64Data = base64_encode("Hello, world!"); // Base64-encoded string

setrawcookie("base64_cookie", $base64Data, time() + 3600);



// Retrieving the base64 cookie

if (isset($_COOKIE['base64_cookie'])) {

    $rawBase64Data = $_COOKIE['base64_cookie'];

    $decodedData = base64_decode($rawBase64Data);

    echo "Decoded Cookie Value: " . $decodedData;

    // Output: Decoded Cookie Value: Hello, world!

}

I have used the `setrawcookie()` function in one of my projects, so I can share my personal experience with it.

The `setrawcookie()` function in PHP is used to set a cookie with raw, unencoded data. Unlike the `setcookie()` function, `setrawcookie()` does not automatically encode special characters in the cookie value. This means that if you have special characters within your cookie value, they will be stored as is, without any encoding.

One of the situations where `setrawcookie()` can be useful is when you have specific requirements for storing unencoded data in a cookie. For example, if you need to store binary data or data with special characters that you want to preserve exactly as is, `setrawcookie()` can come in handy.

Here's a simple example to illustrate the usage of `setrawcookie()`:

php
$cookieValue = "Hello!%20I%20am%20a%20cookie"; // URL-encoded string

setrawcookie("my_cookie", $cookieValue, time() + 3600); // Set the raw cookie



// Retrieving the raw cookie

if (isset($_COOKIE['my_cookie'])) {

    $rawCookieValue = $_COOKIE['my_cookie'];

    echo "Raw Cookie Value: " . $rawCookieValue;

    // Output: Raw Cookie Value: Hello!%20I%20am%20a%20cookie

}

I have encountered a scenario where I found the `setrawcookie()` function quite useful in my PHP project. Allow me to share my personal experience with it.

The `setrawcookie()` function in PHP can be utilized to set a cookie containing raw, unencoded data. Unlike the `setcookie()` function, `setrawcookie()` does not encode special characters in the cookie value automatically. This distinctive feature allows you to store the data as is, without any modifications or encoding.

In one particular project, I needed to store some binary data in a cookie. Using `setrawcookie()` helped me achieve this effortlessly. By passing the raw binary data as the cookie value, I was able to preserve the integrity of the data without any issues. This was crucial for my application's functionality, as decoding the data every time it was accessed would have added unnecessary overhead.

Here's a brief snippet illustrating a similar use case for `setrawcookie()`:

php
$binaryData = pack("C*", 72, 101, 108, 108, 111); // Binary representation of "Hello"

setrawcookie("binary_cookie", $binaryData, time() + 3600);



// Retrieving and working with the binary cookie

if (isset($_COOKIE['binary_cookie'])) {

    $rawBinaryData = $_COOKIE['binary_cookie'];

    $decodedData = unpack("C*", $rawBinaryData);

    $decodedString = '';

    

    foreach ($decodedData as $byte) {

        $decodedString .= chr($byte);

    }



    echo "Decoded Cookie Data: " . $decodedString;

    // Output: Decoded Cookie Data: Hello

}

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