addslashes

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)

addslashesQuote string with slashes

Description

addslashes ( string $string ) : string

Returns a string with backslashes added before characters that need to be escaped. These characters are:

  • single quote (')
  • double quote (")
  • backslash (\)
  • NUL (the NUL byte)

A use case of addslashes() is escaping the aforementioned characters in a string that is to be evaluated by PHP:

<?php
$str = "O'Reilly?";
eval("echo '" . addslashes($str) . "';");
?>

Prior to PHP 5.4.0, the PHP directive magic_quotes_gpc was on by default and it essentially ran addslashes() on all GET, POST and COOKIE data. addslashes() must not be used on strings that have already been escaped with magic_quotes_gpc, as the strings will be double escaped. get_magic_quotes_gpc() can be used to check if magic_quotes_gpc is on.

The addslashes() is sometimes incorrectly used to try to prevent SQL Injection. Instead, database-specific escaping functions and/or prepared statements should be used.

Parameters

string

The string to be escaped.

Return Values

Returns the escaped string.

Examples

Example #1 An addslashes() example

<?php
$str = "Is your name O'Reilly?";

// Outputs: Is your name O\'Reilly?
echo addslashes($str);
?>

See Also

© 1997–2020 The PHP Documentation Group
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License v3.0 or later.
https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.addslashes.php