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<h1>Cookie Helper</h1>

<p>The Cookie Helper file contains functions that assist in working with cookies.</p>


<h2>Loading this Helper</h2>

<p>This helper is loaded using the following code:</p>
<code>$this->load->helper('cookie');</code>

<p>The following functions are available:</p>

<h2>set_cookie()</h2>

<p>Sets a cookie containing the values you specify.  There are two ways to pass information this function so that a cookie can be set:
Array Method, and Discreet Parameters:</p>

<h4>Array Method</h4>

<p>Using this method, an associative array is passed to the first parameter:</p>

<code>$cookie = array(<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'name'&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;=> 'The Cookie Name',<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'value'&nbsp;&nbsp;=> 'The Value',<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'expire' => '86500',<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'domain' => '.some-domain.com',<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'path'&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;=> '/',<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'prefix' => 'myprefix_',<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;);<br />
<br />
set_cookie($cookie);
</code>

<p><strong>Notes:</strong></p>

<p>Only the name and value are required.</p>

<p>The expiration is set in <strong>seconds</strong>, which will be added to the current time.  Do not include the time, but rather only the
number of seconds from <em>now</em> that you wish the cookie to be valid.  If the expiration is set to
zero the cookie will only last as long as the browser is open.</p>
<p>To delete a cookie set it with the expiration blank.</p>
<p>For site-wide cookies regardless of how your site is requested, add your URL to the <strong>domain</strong> starting with a period, like this:  .your-domain.com</p>
<p>The path is usually not needed since the function sets a root path.</p>
<p>The prefix is only needed if you need to avoid name collisions with other identically named cookies for your server.</p>

<h4>Discreet Parameters</h4>

<p>If you prefer, you can set the cookie by passing data using individual parameters:</p>

<code>set_cookie($name, $value, $expire, $domain, $path, $prefix);</code>

<h2>get_cookie()</h2>

<p>Lets you fetch a cookie.  The first parameter will contain the name of the cookie you are looking for:</p>

<code>get_cookie('some_cookie');</code>

<p>The function returns FALSE (boolean) if the item you are attempting to retrieve does not exist.</p>

<p>The second optional parameter lets you run the data through the XSS filter.  It's enabled by setting the second parameter to boolean TRUE;</p>

<code>get_cookie('some_cookie', TRUE);</code>



<h2>delete_cookie()</h2>

<p>Lets you delete a cookie.  Unless you've set a custom path or other values, only the name of the cookie is needed:</p>

<code>delete_cookie("name");</code>

<p>This function is otherwise identical to <dfn>set_cookie()</dfn>, except that it does not have the value and expiration parameters.  You can submit an array
of values in the first parameter or you can set discreet parameters.</p>

<code>delete_cookie($name, $domain, $path, $prefix)</code>


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