php-doc-en/reference/misc/functions/uniqid.xml

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<!-- $Revision: 1.9 $ -->
<!-- splitted from ./en/functions/misc.xml, last change in rev 1.2 -->
<refentry id="function.uniqid">
<refnamediv>
<refname>uniqid</refname>
<refpurpose>Generate a unique ID</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<methodsynopsis>
<type>string</type><methodname>uniqid</methodname>
<methodparam choice="opt"><type>string</type><parameter>prefix</parameter></methodparam>
<methodparam choice="opt"><type>bool</type><parameter>more_entropy</parameter></methodparam>
</methodsynopsis>
<simpara>
<function>uniqid</function> returns a prefixed unique identifier
based on the current time in microseconds. <parameter>prefix</parameter>
became optional in PHP 5 but can be useful, for instance, if you generate identifiers
simultaneously on several hosts that might happen to generate the
identifier at the same microsecond. Up until PHP 4.3.1,
<parameter>prefix</parameter> could only be a maximum of 114
characters long.
</simpara>
<simpara>
If the optional <parameter>more_entropy</parameter> parameter is
&true;, <function>uniqid</function> will add additional entropy (using
the combined linear congruential generator) at the end of the return
value, which should make the results more unique.
</simpara>
<simpara>
With an empty <parameter>prefix</parameter>, the returned string
will be 13 characters long. If <parameter>more_entropy</parameter> is
&true;, it will be 23 characters.
</simpara>
<note>
<simpara>
The <parameter>prefix</parameter> parameter is required before PHP 5.
</simpara>
</note>
<para>
If you need a unique identifier or token and you intend to give
out that token to the user via the network (i.e. session cookies),
it is recommended that you use something along these lines:
</para>
<para>
<informalexample>
<programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php
// no prefix
// works only in PHP 5 and later versions
$token = md5(uniqid());
// better, difficult to guess
$better_token = md5(uniqid(rand(), true));
?>
]]>
</programlisting>
</informalexample>
</para>
<simpara>
This will create a 32 character identifier (a 128 bit hex number)
that is extremely difficult to predict.
</simpara>
</refsect1>
</refentry>
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