PHP filter-VALIDATE_URL Filter

Example

Check if the variable $url is a valid URL:

<?php
$url = "http://tutorials";

if (!filter-var($url, filter-VALIDATE_URL) === false) {
echo("$url is a valid URL");
} else {
echo("$url is not a valid URL");
}
?>

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Definition and Usage

The filter-VALIDATE_URL filter validates a URL.

Possible flags:

filter-FLAG_SCHEME_REQUIRED - URL must be RFC compliant (like http://example)
filter-FLAG_HOST_REQUIRED - URL must include host name (like http://www.example.com)
filter-FLAG_PATH_REQUIRED - URL must have a path after the domain name (like www.example.com/example1/)
filter-FLAG_QUERY_REQUIRED - URL must have a query string (like "example.php?name=Peter&age=37")

More Examples

The example below both sanitizes and validates an URL:

Example 1

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

<?php
$url = "http://tutorials";

// Remove all illegal characters from a url
$url = filter-var($url, filter-SANITIZE_URL);

// Validate url
if (!filter-var($url, filter-VALIDATE_URL) === false) {
echo("$url is a valid URL");
} else {
echo("$url is not a valid URL");
}
?>

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Example 2

Here, the URL is required to have a query string to be valid:

<?php
$url = "http://tutorials";

if (!filter-var($url, filter-VALIDATE_URL, filter-FLAG_QUERY_REQUIRED) === false) {
echo("$url is a valid URL");
} else {
echo("$url is not a valid URL");
}
?>

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PHP Filter Reference