curl_init

(PHP 4 >= 4.0.2, PHP 5, PHP 7)

Initialize a cURL session

resource curl_init ([ string $url = NULL ] )

Initializes a new session and return a cURL handle for use with the curl_setopt(), curl_exec(), and curl_close() functions.

Parameters:

url

If provided, the CURLOPT_URL option will be set to its value. You can manually set this using the curl_setopt() function.

Note:

The file protocol is disabled by cURL if open_basedir is set.

Returns:

Returns a cURL handle on success, FALSE on errors.

Examples:

Initializing a new cURL session and fetching a web page

<?php
// create a new cURL resource
$ch = curl_init();

// set URL and other appropriate options
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "http://www.example.com/");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);

// grab URL and pass it to the browser
curl_exec($ch);

// close cURL resource, and free up system resources
curl_close($ch);
?>