PHP | Storing boolean value in cookie

Question

I have an issue. When I want to set Cookie with boolean(just false value) it doesn't store.

setcookie('myCookie',false);

even when I add expire time

setcookie('myCookie',false,time()+3600);

Notice: Undefined index: myCookie in C:\xampp\htdocs\Web\php\php_global_user.php on line 4

possible duplicate of [PHP: Notice: Undefined variable and Notice: Undefined index](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4261133/php-notice-undefined-variable-and-notice-undefined-index) — Funk Forty Niner, Apr 12 '16 at 15:30
`on line 4` so where's the rest of your code? Plus, cookies only take effect on the 2nd page load. — Funk Forty Niner, Apr 12 '16 at 15:39

score 10 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 12 '16 at 15:34

10

Cookies are plain text. When you cast a PHP boolean to text you only get sensible values with true because that's how PHP is designed:

var_dump((string)true, (string)false);

string(1) "1"
string(0) ""

Just use text from the beginning:

setcookie('myCookie', '0');

... or:

setcookie('myCookie', $value ? '1' : '0');

answered Apr 12 '16 at 15:34

Álvaro González

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This is a very appropriate use of the ternary operator. – Craig Jacobs May 09 '19 at 21:06

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited May 10 '19 at 07:06

3

Use 0 and 1 instead and change it back to boolean again then, when you load the cookie:

// set value to example variable
$setVar = true;

// setting the cookie
setcookie('myCookie', $setVar ? '1' : '0');

// reading the cookie
$readVar = isset($_COOKIE['myCookie']) && $_COOKIE['myCookie'] === '1';

edited May 10 '19 at 07:06

Álvaro González

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answered Apr 12 '16 at 15:42

Andreas

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PHP | Storing boolean value in cookie

2 Answers2