Cookies#

Note that cookies can have security implications - before setting your own cookies, make sure to read through the secure coding documentation.

Accessing and manipulating cookies#

Cookies are a mechanism for storing data in the remote browser and thus tracking or identifying return users.

Silverstripe CMS uses cookies for remembering users preferences. Application code can modify a users cookies through the Cookie class. This class mostly follows the PHP API.

Set#

Sets the value of cookie with configuration.

use SilverStripe\Control\Cookie;

Cookie::set($name, $value, $expiry = 90, $path = null, $domain = null, $secure = false, $httpOnly = false);

// Cookie::set('MyApplicationPreference', 'Yes');

Get#

Returns the value of cookie.

Cookie::get($name);

// Cookie::get('MyApplicationPreference');
// returns 'Yes'

Force_expiry#

Clears a given cookie.

Cookie::force_expiry($name, $path = null, $domain = null);

// Cookie::force_expiry('MyApplicationPreference')

Samesite attribute#

The samesite attribute is set on all cookies with a default value of Lax. You can change the default value by setting the default_samesite value on the Cookie class:

SilverStripe\Control\Cookie:
  default_samesite: 'Strict'

Cookie_Backend#

The Cookie class manipulates and sets cookies using a Cookie_Backend. The backend is in charge of the logic that fetches, sets and expires cookies. By default we use a CookieJar backend which uses PHP's setcookie function.

The CookieJar keeps track of cookies that have been set by the current process as well as those that were received from the browser.

use SilverStripe\Control\Cookie;
use SilverStripe\Control\CookieJar;
use SilverStripe\Core\Injector\Injector;

$myCookies = [
    'cookie1' => 'value1',
];

$newBackend = new CookieJar($myCookies);

Injector::inst()->registerService($newBackend, 'Cookie_Backend');

Cookie::get('cookie1');

Resetting the cookie_backend state#

Assuming that your application hasn't messed around with the $_COOKIE superglobal, you can reset the state of your Cookie_Backend by simply unregistering the CookieJar service with Injector. Next time you access Cookie it'll create a new service for you using the $_COOKIE superglobal.

Injector::inst()->unregisterNamedObject('Cookie_Backend');

// will return $_COOKIE['cookiename'] if set
Cookie::get('cookiename');

Alternatively, if you know that the superglobal has been changed (or you aren't sure it hasn't) you can attempt to use the current CookieJar service to tell you what it was like when it was registered.

//store the cookies that were loaded into the `CookieJar`
$recievedCookie = Cookie::get_inst()->getAll(false);

//set a new `CookieJar`
Injector::inst()->registerService(new CookieJar($recievedCookie), 'CookieJar');

Using your own cookie_backend#

If you need to implement your own Cookie_Backend you can use the injector system to force a different class to be used.

---
Name: mycookie
After: '#cookie'
---
SilverStripe\Core\Injector\Injector:
  Cookie_Backend:
    class: MyCookieJar

To be a valid backend your class must implement the Cookie_Backend interface.

Advanced usage#

Sent vs received cookies#

Sometimes it's useful to be able to tell if a cookie was set by the process (thus will be sent to the browser) or if it came from the browser as part of the request.

Using the Cookie_Backend we can do this like such:

Cookie::set('CookieName', 'CookieVal');

//gets the cookie as we set it
Cookie::get('CookieName');

//will return the cookie as it was when it was sent in the request
Cookie::get('CookieName', false);

Accessing all the cookies at once#

One can also access all of the cookies in one go using the Cookie_Backend

//returns all the cookies including ones set during the current process
Cookie::get_inst()->getAll();

//returns all the cookies in the request
Cookie::get_inst()->getAll(false);

API documentation#

• Cookie
• CookieJar
• Cookie_Backend