How to Use CURL Options in PHP

Submitted by NanoDano on Mon, 07/27/2015 - 19:38

cURL is a great library for transferring data over a number of network protocols. Unfortunately, it can be a little overwhelming to use for the first time in PHP and there are lots of options available. Here is an easy reference for using cURL in PHP.

<?php
$curlHandle = curl_init("http://www.example.com/");
$filePointer = fopen("output.txt", "w");

// Set options before executing
curl_setopt($curlHandle, CURLOPT_FILE, $filePointer); // Output to file instead of STDOUT
curl_setopt($curlHandle, CURLOPT_HEADER, 1); // Include headers
curl_setopt($curlHandle, CURLOPT_VERBOSE, 1); // Output extra details

// Execute and clean up
curl_exec($curlHandle);
curl_close($curlHandle);
fclose($filePointer);

// Other available options
/*
CURLOPT_VERBOSE // 1 if you want Curl to give detailed reports about everything that is happening.
CURLOPT_URL // String containing the URL you want Curl to fetch.
CURLOPT_USERAGENT // A string containing the "user-agent" header to be used in a HTTP request.
CURLOPT_TIMEOUT // A number equal to the maximum time in seconds that Curl functions can take.
CURLOPT_NOBODY // 1 to tell Curl not to include the body part in the output. For HTTP(S) servers, this is equivalent to a HEAD request - only the headers will be returned.
CURLOPT_POST // 1 if you want Curl to do a regular HTTP POST.
CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS // A string containing the data to post in the HTTP "POST" operation.
CURLOPT_COOKIE
CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE
CURLOPT_USERPWD // A string formatted in the username:password manner, for Curl to give to the remote server if requested.
CURLOPT_RESUME_FROM // A number equal to the offset, in bytes, that you want your transfer to start from.
CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION // 1 to follow Location: headers
CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS // limits FollowLocations
CURLOPT_REFERER // A string containing the "referer" header to be used in an HTTP request. This is only necessary if the remote server relies on this value.
CURLOPT_FAILONERROR // 1 for silent fail
CURLOPT_FTPAPPEND // append not overwrite
CURLOPT_FTPLISTONLY // 1 to list just the names of an FTP directory as opposed to more detailed information.
CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER //An array of HTTP header fields to be set.
CURLOPT_INFILE // String containing the filename where the input of your transfer comes from.
CURLOPT_INFILESIZE //The size of the file being uploaded to a remote site.
CURLOPT_CRLF // convert unix to CRLF new lines
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER // 1 if you want Curl to return the transfer data instead of printing it out directly.
CURLOPT_STDERR // A string containing the filename to write errors to instead of normal output.
CURLOPT_UPLOAD // 1 if you want PHP to prepare for a file upload.
CURLOPT_WRITEHEADER // containing the filename to write the header part of the output into.
*/