The php Function Curl_Exec
PHP cURL is a library and command-line tool which allows you to transmit data utilizing URL syntax. This includes HTTP posts and gets, FTP uploads and downloads, cookies, SOAP requests and responses, and more.
The php function curl_exec is used to initialize a cURL session. It is important to note that this function must be called first before all other curl functions. Once the session is initiated, you can call the other curl functions as needed to get the desired results.
One popular use case for PHP cURL is to grab images from a website and save them on the server. This is often done by using the cURL POST method, but you can also use the GET method if your web host supports it.
Another important use of cURL is to scrape data from websites, including HTML. This is usually done by sending a GET request with the CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION option set to true. This will allow cURL to follow any redirects and return the final destination URL.
Lastly, you can use cURL to login to websites such as Amazon, which requires a username and password. To do this, you need to use the cURL post or POST request methods.
A new function in PHP 8.2 and higher, called curl_getinfo(), returns information about a specific cURL transfer. This function includes a value in its array called effective_method, which contains the name of the method used to make the request.