Pass Data from One PHP Page to Another using header()

Question

I want to send data from one PHP file to another PHP file in a subfolder where the first PHP file is present. I have a folder named folder1 which has contains a PHP file named file1.php and I want to call another file named file2.php in a subfolder of folder1 named folder2. I am using the header() function like this in file1.php:

$host  = $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'];
$uri   = rtrim(dirname($_SERVER['PHP_SELF']), '/\\');
$extra = 'folder1/folder2/file2.php';
header("location:http://$host$uri/$extra?sms=".$msg."&num=".$msg_num);

Data is not passing. Is there any solution using header()? I can't use cURL because of some restrictions.

Solution 1

The following code works:

file1.php:

<?php

header( 'Location: inner/file2.php?x=1&y=2&z=3' );

?>

inner/file2.php:

<?php

print '<pre>';

var_dump( $_GET );

print '</pre>';

?>

The result of visiting http://localhost/testing/file1.php is a redirect to http://localhost/testing/inner/file2.php?x=1&y=2&z=3 which displays:

array(3) {
  ["x"]=>
  string(1) "1"
  ["y"]=>
  string(1) "2"
  ["z"]=>
  string(1) "3"
}

I would suggest copying over these test files and proving to yourself that the basic concept of redirecting with passed values is working. Then, build up the rest of your code around a known-good kernel. Good luck!

Solution 2

Without an example of the variables you want to send, it's kind of hard to tell what the problem might be, but a possible problem could be the characters in the variables.

To make sure there are no invalid characters, you can use urlencode(), perhaps in combination with htmlentities(), see the manual:

header("location:http://$host$uri/$extra?sms=".urlencode($msg)."&num=".urlencode($msg_num));