PHP - DEFINE array with string on end

Question

I'm creating an array for user levels and want to make them secure by adding a secret 10 digit string to the end of each of the user levels in the array UserLevels. I'm using the code below but I can't seem to add a string to an array when using the PHP term define.

My code is below:

//Change the 10 digits of the $secret definition to a randomised string
$secret = '0000000000';

define('UserLevels', array(
    'Owner'.$secret,
    'Admin'.$secret,
    'Staff'.$secret
));

I was going to make it hash / check the user levels to make them more secure then use something to check the hash later in each page.

Check [this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/44965614/4265352) on a similar question posted today. — axiac, Jul 07 '17 at 18:15

Ryan Tuosto · Answer 1 · 2017-07-07T18:20:09.527

2

Check your PHP version.

The syntax you're using for defining an array constant should only work in PHP 7.

// Works as of PHP 5.6.0
const ANIMALS = array('dog', 'cat', 'bird');
echo ANIMALS[1]; // outputs "cat"

http://php.net/manual/en/language.constants.syntax.php

You can serialize the array to store the constant as a string then use unserialize to return it to an array when you need to access the values.

<?php

//Change the 10 digits of the $secret definition to a randomised string
$secret = '0000000000';

$user_levels = array(
    'Owner'.$secret,
    'Admin'.$secret,
    'Staff'.$secret
);

define('UserLevels', serialize($user_levels));
var_dump(UserLevels);
var_dump(unserialize(UserLevels));

https://eval.in/829457

edited Jul 07 '17 at 18:20

answered Jul 07 '17 at 18:10

Ryan Tuosto

1,941
15
23

You beat me too it. – Difster Jul 07 '17 at 18:11
@Ryan Tuosto Oh okay. Do you know a work around then, using lower PHP versions ? – Benza Jul 07 '17 at 18:13
@BenWilson see updated answer – Ryan Tuosto Jul 07 '17 at 18:24
@RyanTuosto Oh nice! Do you know how I could call a certain user level using this ? – Benza Jul 07 '17 at 18:42
$user_levels = unserialize(UserLevels); $owner = $user_levels[0]; You might want to make it an associative array to begin with though so you could call something like $user_levels['owner'] instead. – Ryan Tuosto Jul 07 '17 at 18:43

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 07 '17 at 18:12

0

If you dont use PHP 7

define('ARRAY_EXAMPLE', serialize(array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)));

unserialize(ARRAY_EXAMPLE);

answered Jul 07 '17 at 18:12

Rafael Gadotti Bachovas

413
4
13

Thank you but can you explain what this actually is doing. – Benza Jul 07 '17 at 18:14
1

It's turning the array into a string that can be parsed back into an array later: https://eval.in/829456 – Ryan Tuosto Jul 07 '17 at 18:19
@BenWilson Look Ryan examples – Rafael Gadotti Bachovas Jul 07 '17 at 18:25

PHP - DEFINE array with string on end

2 Answers2