How To Check If A Request Is GET Or POST In PHP?

Implementing the Check

The $_SERVER superglobal in PHP is an array with information about headers, paths, and script locations. It gives access to server and execution environment details, including the request method.

To check if a request is GET or POST, you can use the 'REQUEST_METHOD' key in the $_SERVER array. Here's a code snippet that shows how to implement this check:

if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
    // Handle POST request
    echo "This is a POST request";
} elseif ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'GET') {
    // Handle GET request
    echo "This is a GET request";
} else {
    // Handle other request methods
    echo "This is neither a POST nor a GET request";
}

This method is reliable and simple. It directly accesses the request method information from the server, making it less likely to have errors compared to other approaches.

You can also use this method in a switch statement for handling multiple request types:

switch ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']) {
    case 'POST':
        // Handle POST request
        break;
    case 'GET':
        // Handle GET request
        break;
    default:
        // Handle other request methods
        break;
}

Using $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] is the best way to check the request type in PHP as it's accurate and fast.

Using the $_GET and $_POST Superglobals

While using $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] is the recommended approach, some developers use $_GET and $_POST superglobals to check the request type. This method checks if these arrays are empty or not.

Pros:

• Easy to understand and implement
• Useful for quick checks in small scripts

Cons:

• Less reliable than $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']
• May lead to false positives if the request has no data

Here's a code example:

if (!empty($_POST)) {
    // Handle POST request
    echo "This is likely a POST request";
} elseif (!empty($_GET)) {
    // Handle GET request
    echo "This is likely a GET request";
} else {
    // Handle other cases
    echo "This could be another type of request or an empty GET/POST";
}

if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST' && !empty($_POST)) {
    // Handle POST request
    echo "This is a POST request with data";
} elseif ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'GET' && !empty($_GET)) {
    // Handle GET request
    echo "This is a GET request with parameters";
} else {
    // Handle other cases
    echo "This is another type of request or has no data";
}

Using PHP's Input Stream

For advanced scenarios, especially when dealing with raw request data or non-standard content types, you can use PHP's input stream.

This method is useful when:

• Working with APIs that send data in formats other than form data
• Handling PUT or DELETE requests
• Processing raw request bodies

Here's how you can use the input stream:

$method = $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'];
$input = file_get_contents('php://input');

if ($method === 'POST' || $method === 'PUT') {
    // Process the input data
    $data = json_decode($input, true);
    // Handle the request based on $data
} elseif ($method === 'GET') {
    // Handle GET request
} else {
    // Handle other request methods
}

This approach lets you access the raw request body, which helps when working with JSON or XML payloads in API requests.

$method = $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'];
$input = file_get_contents('php://input');

if ($method === 'POST' && strpos($_SERVER['CONTENT_TYPE'], 'application/xml') !== false) {
    // Process XML data
    $xml = simplexml_load_string($input);
    if ($xml !== false) {
        // XML is valid, process it
        $name = (string)$xml->name;
        $email = (string)$xml->email;
        echo "Received data: Name - $name, Email - $email";
    } else {
        // XML is not valid
        echo "Invalid XML data received";
    }
} else {
    echo "Not a POST request with XML content";
}