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PHP quotemeta() Function

Complete PHP String Reference

Example

Add backslashes in front of the predefined characters:

<?php
$str = "Hello world. (can you hear me?)";
echo quotemeta($str);
?>

Run example »

Definition and Usage

The quotemeta() function adds backslashes in front of some predefined characters in a string.

The predefined characters are:

period (.)
backslash (\)
plus sign (+)
asterisk (*)
question mark (?)
brackets ([])
caret (^)
dollar sign ($)
parenthesis (())

Tip: This function can be used to escape characters with special meanings, such as ( ), [ ], and * in SQL.

Note: This function is binary-safe.

Syntax

quotemeta(string)

Parameter	Description
string	Required. Specifies the string to check

Technical Details

Return Value:	Returns the string with meta characters quoted
PHP Version:	4+

More Examples

Example 1

Add backslashes in front of many predefined characters:

<?php
$str1 = "1 + 1 = 2";
$str2 = "1 * 1 = 1";
$str3 = "Could you borrow me 5$?";
$str4 = "Are you not entertained? (I am..)";
$str5 = "The caret [ ^ ] Looks like a hat!";

echo quotemeta($str1)." ";
echo quotemeta($str2)." ";
echo quotemeta($str3)." ";
echo quotemeta($str4)." ";
echo quotemeta($str5)." ";
?>

Run example »

Complete PHP String Reference