function variable_set

7 bootstrap.inc variable_set($name, $value)
4.6 bootstrap.inc variable_set($name, $value)
4.7 bootstrap.inc variable_set($name, $value)
5 bootstrap.inc variable_set($name, $value)
6 bootstrap.inc variable_set($name, $value)
8 bootstrap.inc variable_set($name, $value)

Sets a persistent variable.

Case-sensitivity of the variable_* functions depends on the database collation used. To avoid problems, always use lower case for persistent variable names.

Parameters

$name: The name of the variable to set.

$value: The value to set. This can be any PHP data type; these functions take care of serialization as necessary.

See also

variable_del()

variable_get()

354 calls to variable_set()
AccessDeniedTestCase::testAccessDenied in modules/system/system.test
ActionLoopTestCase::testActionLoop in modules/simpletest/tests/actions.test
Set up a loop with 3 - 12 recursions, and see if it aborts properly.
AggregatorRenderingTestCase::testFeedPage in modules/aggregator/aggregator.test
Creates a feed and checks that feed's page.
aggregator_update_7001 in modules/aggregator/aggregator.install
Add aggregator teaser length to settings from old global default teaser length
AJAXFrameworkTestCase::testLazyLoadOverriddenCSS in modules/simpletest/tests/ajax.test
Tests that overridden CSS files are not added during lazy load.

... See full list

File

includes/bootstrap.inc, line 968
Functions that need to be loaded on every Drupal request.

Code

function variable_set($name, $value) {
  global $conf;

  db_merge('variable')->key(array('name' => $name))->fields(array('value' => serialize($value)))->execute();

  cache_clear_all('variables', 'cache_bootstrap');

  $conf[$name] = $value;
}

Comments

Posted by trungonly on
<?php
/*
* Implements hook_menu().
*/
function mymodule_menu() {
  $items = array();

 

$items['admin/mymodule/config-set-time'] = array(
    'page callback' => 'drupal_get_form',
    'page arguments' => array('_mymodule_set_time_form'),
    'access arguments' => array('administer node'),
    'type' => MENU_CALLBACK,
    'file' => 'mymodule.admin.inc',
  );

  return

$items;
}
?>

in mymodule.admin.inc:

<?php
function _mymodule_set_time_form(&$form_state) {
 
  $form = array();
 
  $form['time'] = array(
    '#type' => 'textfield',
    '#title' => t('Time in second'),
    '#default_value' => variable_get('mymodule_seconds_to_wait', 24 * 3600),    
    '#required' => TRUE,
  );
 
  $form['submit'] = array(
    '#type' => 'submit',
    '#value' => t('Submit'),
  );
 
}

function

_mymodule_set_time_form_submit(&$form_state) {
 
  if (intval($form_state['values']['time'])) {
    variable_set('mymodule_seconds_to_wait', intval($form_state['values']['time']));
   
    drupal_set_message(t('Your configuration has been saved.'));
  }
 
}
?>

Posted by drupaljoe on

Thanks. Very useful.

It would also be good to look at system_settings_form() for these types of forms.

Posted by csdco on

All data created by variable_set() is loaded from the database at bootstrap. Calling variable_get() doesn't perform the database request to get you the data, it simply declares the $conf global and returns the variable you've asked for. Therefore, don't carelessly use variable_set() to store lots of data that you will only use on individual pages or in custom methods. Use your own little table and storage functions for that.

Posted by jaypark on

haven't tested passing other functions as $value, but very surprised that $var++ isn't evaluated before being passed.

$var=0;
variable_set('var', $var++);   $var=$get_returned=variable_get('var','default_var_not_being_set');
//$var is 0

Posted by znerol on

The postfix-plusplus-operator increments your variable, after assignement. See the PHP Documentation for more information.

<?php
$var=0;
print($var++); // prints 0

$var=0;
print(++$var); // prints 1
?>

Posted by splatterb0y on

It would be cool to have support for passing arrays into this function to set more than one variable at a time in future drupal releases.

<?php
variable_set(array(
'mimemail_sitestyle' => 0,
'mimemail_linkonly' => 1,
));
?>

Posted by rintoug on

Can anybody elaborate this, Is this will work as a session, what is the actual mechanism behind this?

Posted by jwilson3 on

variable_get/set is deprecated from Drupal 8.

This handbook page explains how to upgrade to the new configurations system.