what exactly is $_REQUEST[$K] in PHP?

Question

$_REQUEST[$k] = isset($_GET[$k]) ? $_GET[$k] : $_POST[$k];

or

$_REQUEST[$k] = isset($_POST[$k]) ? $_POST[$k] : $_GET[$k];

Which is the case,reason?

*(suggested reading)* [What's wrong with using $_REQUEST?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2142497/whats-wrong-with-using-request) and [Does $_REQUEST have security problem?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1149118/does-request-have-security-problem) — Gordon, Sep 07 '10 at 08:31

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 07 '10 at 08:27

$_REQUEST is the union of $_GET, $_POST, and $_COOKIE where variables_order and since PHP 5.3 request_order defines the order.

The default order is GET, POST, and then cookie. That means POST parameters overwrite existing GET parameters and cookies overwrite existing POST and GET parameters.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 07 '10 at 08:32

1

ini directive "variables_order" is believed* to affect $_REQUEST, see http://php.net/manual/en/ini.core.php

*"believed" because i never used either that or $_REQUEST itself.

answered Sep 07 '10 at 08:32

user187291

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You are correct, it does work like that in practice; however I agree that $_REQUEST itself is a code smell. – Piskvor left the building Sep 07 '10 at 08:35

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 07 '10 at 08:26

0

$_REQUEST is simply the array that PHP puts all of the GET and POST and COOKIE parameters into, with precedence in that order in the case of conflicts.

http://php.net/manual/en/reserved.variables.request.php

answered Sep 07 '10 at 08:26

pauljwilliams

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what exactly is $_REQUEST[$K] in PHP?

3 Answers3