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PHP filter_var() Function

❮ PHP Filter Reference

Example

Check if the variable $email is a valid email address:

<?php
$email = "john.doe@example.com";

if (filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
  echo("$email is a valid email address");
} else {
  echo("$email is not a valid email address");
}
?>
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Definition and Usage

The filter_var() function filters a variable with the specified filter.


Syntax

filter_var(var, filtername, options)
Parameter Description
var Required. The variable to filter
filtername Optional. Specifies the ID or name of the filter to use. Default is FILTER_DEFAULT, which results in no filtering
options Optional. Specifies one or more flags/options to use. Check each filter for possible options and flags


Technical Details

Return Value: Returns the filtered data on success, or FALSE on failure
PHP Version: 5.2.0+

More Examples

The example below both sanitizes and validates an email address:

Example 1

First remove all illegal characters from the $email variable, then check if it is a valid email address:

<?php
$email = "john.doe@example.com";

// Remove all illegal characters from email
$email = filter_var($email, FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL);

// Validate e-mail
if (filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
    echo("$email is a valid email address");
} else {
    echo("$email is not a valid email address");
}
?>
Run example »

❮ PHP Filter Reference