PHP wrapper functions

Functions that are wrappers or custom implementations of PHP functions.

Certain PHP functions should not be used in Drupal. Instead, Drupal's replacement functions should be used.

For example, for improved or more secure UTF8-handling, or RFC-compliant handling of URLs in Drupal.

For ease of use and memorizing, all these wrapper functions use the same name as the original PHP function, but prefixed with "drupal_". Beware, however, that not all wrapper functions support the same arguments as the original functions.

You should always use these wrapper functions in your code.

Wrong:

$my_substring = substr($original_string, 0, 5);

Correct:

$my_substring = drupal_substr($original_string, 0, 5);

File

drupal/core/includes/common.inc, line 22
Common functions that many Drupal modules will need to reference.

Functions

Namesort descending Location Description
drupal_basename drupal/core/includes/file.inc Gets the filename from a given path.
drupal_chmod drupal/core/includes/file.inc Sets the permissions on a file or directory.
drupal_dirname drupal/core/includes/file.inc Gets the name of the directory from a given path.
drupal_http_build_query drupal/core/includes/common.inc Parses an array into a valid, rawurlencoded query string.
drupal_json_decode drupal/core/includes/common.inc Converts an HTML-safe JSON string into its PHP equivalent.
drupal_json_encode drupal/core/includes/common.inc Converts a PHP variable into its JavaScript equivalent.
drupal_mkdir drupal/core/includes/file.inc Creates a directory using Drupal's default mode.
drupal_move_uploaded_file drupal/core/includes/file.inc Moves an uploaded file to a new location.
drupal_parse_url drupal/core/includes/common.inc Parses a system URL string into an associative array suitable for url().
drupal_realpath drupal/core/includes/file.inc Returns the absolute local filesystem path of a stream URI.
drupal_register_shutdown_function drupal/core/includes/bootstrap.inc Registers a function for execution on shutdown.
drupal_rmdir drupal/core/includes/file.inc Removes a directory.
drupal_session_regenerate drupal/core/includes/session.inc Called when an anonymous user becomes authenticated or vice-versa.
drupal_session_start drupal/core/includes/session.inc Forcefully starts a session, preserving already set session data.
drupal_set_time_limit drupal/core/includes/common.inc Attempts to set the PHP maximum execution time.
drupal_strlen drupal/core/includes/unicode.inc Count the amount of characters in a UTF-8 string. This is less than or equal to the byte count.
drupal_strtolower drupal/core/includes/unicode.inc Lowercase a UTF-8 string.
drupal_strtoupper drupal/core/includes/unicode.inc Uppercase a UTF-8 string.
drupal_substr drupal/core/includes/unicode.inc Cut off a piece of a string based on character indices and counts. Follows the same behavior as PHP's own substr() function.
drupal_tempnam drupal/core/includes/file.inc Creates a file with a unique filename in the specified directory.
drupal_ucfirst drupal/core/includes/unicode.inc Capitalize the first letter of a UTF-8 string.
drupal_unlink drupal/core/includes/file.inc Deletes a file.
drupal_xml_parser_create drupal/core/includes/unicode.inc Prepare a new XML parser.
php_eval drupal/core/modules/php/php.module Evaluates a string of PHP code.