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+
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+<!--[if IE 8]><html class="no-js lt-ie9" lang="en" > <![endif]-->
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+  <title>Helper Functions &mdash; CodeIgniter 3.1.10 documentation</title>
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+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="hooks.html">Hooks - Extending the Framework Core</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="autoloader.html">Auto-loading Resources</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="common_functions.html">Common Functions</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="compatibility_functions.html">Compatibility Functions</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="routing.html">URI Routing</a></li>
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+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="environments.html">Handling Multiple Environments</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="alternative_php.html">Alternate PHP Syntax for View Files</a></li>
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+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/benchmark.html">Benchmarking Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/caching.html">Caching Driver</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/calendar.html">Calendaring Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/cart.html">Shopping Cart Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/config.html">Config Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/email.html">Email Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/encrypt.html">Encrypt Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/encryption.html">Encryption Library</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/file_uploading.html">File Uploading Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/form_validation.html">Form Validation</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/ftp.html">FTP Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/image_lib.html">Image Manipulation Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/input.html">Input Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/javascript.html">Javascript Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/language.html">Language Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/loader.html">Loader Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/migration.html">Migrations Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/output.html">Output Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/pagination.html">Pagination Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/parser.html">Template Parser Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/security.html">Security Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/sessions.html">Session Library</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/table.html">HTML Table Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/trackback.html">Trackback Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/typography.html">Typography Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/unit_testing.html">Unit Testing Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/uri.html">URI Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/user_agent.html">User Agent Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/xmlrpc.html">XML-RPC and XML-RPC Server Classes</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/zip.html">Zip Encoding Class</a></li>
+</ul>
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+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/index.html">Database Reference</a><ul>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/examples.html">Quick Start: Usage Examples</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/configuration.html">Database Configuration</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/connecting.html">Connecting to a Database</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/queries.html">Running Queries</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/results.html">Generating Query Results</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/helpers.html">Query Helper Functions</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/query_builder.html">Query Builder Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/transactions.html">Transactions</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/metadata.html">Getting MetaData</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/call_function.html">Custom Function Calls</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/caching.html">Query Caching</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/forge.html">Database Manipulation with Database Forge</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/utilities.html">Database Utilities Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/db_driver_reference.html">Database Driver Reference</a></li>
+</ul>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/index.html">Helpers</a><ul>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/array_helper.html">Array Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/captcha_helper.html">CAPTCHA Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/cookie_helper.html">Cookie Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/date_helper.html">Date Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/directory_helper.html">Directory Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/download_helper.html">Download Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/email_helper.html">Email Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/file_helper.html">File Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/form_helper.html">Form Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/html_helper.html">HTML Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/inflector_helper.html">Inflector Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/language_helper.html">Language Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/number_helper.html">Number Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/path_helper.html">Path Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/security_helper.html">Security Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/smiley_helper.html">Smiley Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/string_helper.html">String Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/text_helper.html">Text Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/typography_helper.html">Typography Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/url_helper.html">URL Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/xml_helper.html">XML Helper</a></li>
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+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../tutorial/static_pages.html">Static pages</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../tutorial/news_section.html">News section</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../tutorial/create_news_items.html">Create news items</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../tutorial/conclusion.html">Conclusion</a></li>
+</ul>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../contributing/index.html">Contributing to CodeIgniter</a><ul>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../documentation/index.html">Writing CodeIgniter Documentation</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../DCO.html">Developer’s Certificate of Origin 1.1</a></li>
+</ul>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul class="current">
+<li class="toctree-l1 current"><a class="reference internal" href="index.html">General Topics</a><ul class="current">
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="urls.html">CodeIgniter URLs</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="controllers.html">Controllers</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="reserved_names.html">Reserved Names</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="views.html">Views</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="models.html">Models</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2 current"><a class="current reference internal" href="#">Helpers</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="libraries.html">Using CodeIgniter Libraries</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="creating_libraries.html">Creating Libraries</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="drivers.html">Using CodeIgniter Drivers</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="creating_drivers.html">Creating Drivers</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="core_classes.html">Creating Core System Classes</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="ancillary_classes.html">Creating Ancillary Classes</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="hooks.html">Hooks - Extending the Framework Core</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="autoloader.html">Auto-loading Resources</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="common_functions.html">Common Functions</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="compatibility_functions.html">Compatibility Functions</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="routing.html">URI Routing</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="errors.html">Error Handling</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="caching.html">Caching</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="profiling.html">Profiling Your Application</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="cli.html">Running via the CLI</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="managing_apps.html">Managing your Applications</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="environments.html">Handling Multiple Environments</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="alternative_php.html">Alternate PHP Syntax for View Files</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="security.html">Security</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="styleguide.html">PHP Style Guide</a></li>
+</ul>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/index.html">Libraries</a><ul>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/benchmark.html">Benchmarking Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/caching.html">Caching Driver</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/calendar.html">Calendaring Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/cart.html">Shopping Cart Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/config.html">Config Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/email.html">Email Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/encrypt.html">Encrypt Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/encryption.html">Encryption Library</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/file_uploading.html">File Uploading Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/form_validation.html">Form Validation</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/ftp.html">FTP Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/image_lib.html">Image Manipulation Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/input.html">Input Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/javascript.html">Javascript Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/language.html">Language Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/loader.html">Loader Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/migration.html">Migrations Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/output.html">Output Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/pagination.html">Pagination Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/parser.html">Template Parser Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/security.html">Security Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/sessions.html">Session Library</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/table.html">HTML Table Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/trackback.html">Trackback Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/typography.html">Typography Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/unit_testing.html">Unit Testing Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/uri.html">URI Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/user_agent.html">User Agent Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/xmlrpc.html">XML-RPC and XML-RPC Server Classes</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../libraries/zip.html">Zip Encoding Class</a></li>
+</ul>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/index.html">Database Reference</a><ul>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/examples.html">Quick Start: Usage Examples</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/configuration.html">Database Configuration</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/connecting.html">Connecting to a Database</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/queries.html">Running Queries</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/results.html">Generating Query Results</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/helpers.html">Query Helper Functions</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/query_builder.html">Query Builder Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/transactions.html">Transactions</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/metadata.html">Getting MetaData</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/call_function.html">Custom Function Calls</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/caching.html">Query Caching</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/forge.html">Database Manipulation with Database Forge</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/utilities.html">Database Utilities Class</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../database/db_driver_reference.html">Database Driver Reference</a></li>
+</ul>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/index.html">Helpers</a><ul>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/array_helper.html">Array Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/captcha_helper.html">CAPTCHA Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/cookie_helper.html">Cookie Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/date_helper.html">Date Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/directory_helper.html">Directory Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/download_helper.html">Download Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/email_helper.html">Email Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/file_helper.html">File Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/form_helper.html">Form Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/html_helper.html">HTML Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/inflector_helper.html">Inflector Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/language_helper.html">Language Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/number_helper.html">Number Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/path_helper.html">Path Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/security_helper.html">Security Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/smiley_helper.html">Smiley Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/string_helper.html">String Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/text_helper.html">Text Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/typography_helper.html">Typography Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/url_helper.html">URL Helper</a></li>
+<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="../helpers/xml_helper.html">XML Helper</a></li>
+</ul>
+</li>
+</ul>
+
+          
+        
+      </div>
+      &nbsp;
+    </nav>
+
+    <section data-toggle="wy-nav-shift" class="wy-nav-content-wrap">
+
+      
+      <nav class="wy-nav-top" role="navigation" aria-label="top navigation">
+        <i data-toggle="wy-nav-top" class="fa fa-bars"></i>
+        <a href="../index.html">CodeIgniter</a>
+      </nav>
+
+
+      
+      <div class="wy-nav-content">
+        <div class="rst-content">
+          <div role="navigation" aria-label="breadcrumbs navigation">
+  <ul class="wy-breadcrumbs">
+    <li><a href="../index.html">Docs</a> &raquo;</li>
+      
+        <li><a href="index.html">General Topics</a> &raquo;</li>
+      
+    <li>Helper Functions</li>
+    <li class="wy-breadcrumbs-aside">
+      
+    </li>
+    <div style="float:right;margin-left:5px;" id="closeMe">
+      <img title="Classic Layout" alt="classic layout" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhFAAUAJEAAAAAADMzM////wAAACH5BAUUAAIALAAAAAAUABQAAAImlI+py+0PU5gRBRDM3DxbWoXis42X13USOLauUIqnlsaH/eY6UwAAOw==" />
+    </div>
+  </ul>
+  <hr/>
+</div>
+          <div role="main" class="document">
+            
+  <div class="section" id="helper-functions">
+<h1>Helper Functions<a class="headerlink" href="#helper-functions" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
+<p>Helpers, as the name suggests, help you with tasks. Each helper file is
+simply a collection of functions in a particular category. There are <strong>URL
+Helpers</strong>, that assist in creating links, there are Form Helpers that help
+you create form elements, <strong>Text Helpers</strong> perform various text formatting
+routines, <strong>Cookie Helpers</strong> set and read cookies, File Helpers help you
+deal with files, etc.</p>
+<p>Unlike most other systems in CodeIgniter, Helpers are not written in an
+Object Oriented format. They are simple, procedural functions. Each
+helper function performs one specific task, with no dependence on other
+functions.</p>
+<p>CodeIgniter does not load Helper Files by default, so the first step in
+using a Helper is to load it. Once loaded, it becomes globally available
+in your <a class="reference internal" href="controllers.html"><span class="doc">controller</span></a> and
+<a class="reference internal" href="views.html"><span class="doc">views</span></a>.</p>
+<p>Helpers are typically stored in your <strong>system/helpers</strong>, or
+<strong>application/helpers directory</strong>. CodeIgniter will look first in your
+<strong>application/helpers directory</strong>. If the directory does not exist or the
+specified helper is not located there CI will instead look in your
+global <em>system/helpers/</em> directory.</p>
+<div class="section" id="loading-a-helper">
+<h2>Loading a Helper<a class="headerlink" href="#loading-a-helper" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
+<p>Loading a helper file is quite simple using the following method:</p>
+<div class="highlight-ci"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nv">$this</span><span class="o">-&gt;</span><span class="na">load</span><span class="o">-&gt;</span><span class="na">helper</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">&#39;name&#39;</span><span class="p">);</span>
+</pre></div>
+</div>
+<p>Where <strong>name</strong> is the file name of the helper, without the .php file
+extension or the “helper” part.</p>
+<p>For example, to load the <strong>URL Helper</strong> file, which is named
+<strong>url_helper.php</strong>, you would do this:</p>
+<div class="highlight-ci"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nv">$this</span><span class="o">-&gt;</span><span class="na">load</span><span class="o">-&gt;</span><span class="na">helper</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">&#39;url&#39;</span><span class="p">);</span>
+</pre></div>
+</div>
+<p>A helper can be loaded anywhere within your controller methods (or
+even within your View files, although that’s not a good practice), as
+long as you load it before you use it. You can load your helpers in your
+controller constructor so that they become available automatically in
+any function, or you can load a helper in a specific function that needs
+it.</p>
+<div class="admonition note">
+<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
+<p class="last">The Helper loading method above does not return a value, so
+don’t try to assign it to a variable. Just use it as shown.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="section" id="loading-multiple-helpers">
+<h2>Loading Multiple Helpers<a class="headerlink" href="#loading-multiple-helpers" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
+<p>If you need to load more than one helper you can specify them in an
+array, like this:</p>
+<div class="highlight-ci"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nv">$this</span><span class="o">-&gt;</span><span class="na">load</span><span class="o">-&gt;</span><span class="na">helper</span><span class="p">(</span>
+        <span class="k">array</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">&#39;helper1&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;helper2&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;helper3&#39;</span><span class="p">)</span>
+<span class="p">);</span>
+</pre></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="section" id="auto-loading-helpers">
+<h2>Auto-loading Helpers<a class="headerlink" href="#auto-loading-helpers" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
+<p>If you find that you need a particular helper globally throughout your
+application, you can tell CodeIgniter to auto-load it during system
+initialization. This is done by opening the <strong>application/config/autoload.php</strong>
+file and adding the helper to the autoload array.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="section" id="using-a-helper">
+<h2>Using a Helper<a class="headerlink" href="#using-a-helper" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
+<p>Once you’ve loaded the Helper File containing the function you intend to
+use, you’ll call it the way you would a standard PHP function.</p>
+<p>For example, to create a link using the <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">anchor()</span></code> function in one of
+your view files you would do this:</p>
+<div class="highlight-ci"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="o">&lt;?</span><span class="nx">php</span> <span class="k">echo</span> <span class="nx">anchor</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">&#39;blog/comments&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;Click Here&#39;</span><span class="p">);</span><span class="cp">?&gt;</span>
+</pre></div>
+</div>
+<p>Where “Click Here” is the name of the link, and “blog/comments” is the
+URI to the controller/method you wish to link to.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="section" id="extending-helpers">
+<h2>“Extending” Helpers<a class="headerlink" href="#extending-helpers" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
+<p>To “extend” Helpers, create a file in your <strong>application/helpers/</strong> folder
+with an identical name to the existing Helper, but prefixed with <strong>MY_</strong>
+(this item is configurable. See below.).</p>
+<p>If all you need to do is add some functionality to an existing helper -
+perhaps add a function or two, or change how a particular helper
+function operates - then it’s overkill to replace the entire helper with
+your version. In this case it’s better to simply “extend” the Helper.</p>
+<div class="admonition note">
+<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
+<p class="last">The term “extend” is used loosely since Helper functions are
+procedural and discrete and cannot be extended in the traditional
+programmatic sense. Under the hood, this gives you the ability to
+add to or or to replace the functions a Helper provides.</p>
+</div>
+<p>For example, to extend the native <strong>Array Helper</strong> you’ll create a file
+named <strong>application/helpers/MY_array_helper.php</strong>, and add or override
+functions:</p>
+<div class="highlight-ci"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="c1">// any_in_array() is not in the Array Helper, so it defines a new function</span>
+<span class="k">function</span> <span class="nf">any_in_array</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">$needle</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nv">$haystack</span><span class="p">)</span>
+<span class="p">{</span>
+        <span class="nv">$needle</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">is_array</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">$needle</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">?</span> <span class="nv">$needle</span> <span class="o">:</span> <span class="k">array</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">$needle</span><span class="p">);</span>
+
+        <span class="k">foreach</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">$needle</span> <span class="k">as</span> <span class="nv">$item</span><span class="p">)</span>
+        <span class="p">{</span>
+                <span class="k">if</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">in_array</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">$item</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nv">$haystack</span><span class="p">))</span>
+                <span class="p">{</span>
+                        <span class="k">return</span> <span class="k">TRUE</span><span class="p">;</span>
+                <span class="p">}</span>
+        <span class="p">}</span>
+
+        <span class="k">return</span> <span class="k">FALSE</span><span class="p">;</span>
+<span class="p">}</span>
+
+<span class="c1">// random_element() is included in Array Helper, so it overrides the native function</span>
+<span class="k">function</span> <span class="nf">random_element</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">$array</span><span class="p">)</span>
+<span class="p">{</span>
+        <span class="nb">shuffle</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">$array</span><span class="p">);</span>
+        <span class="k">return</span> <span class="nb">array_pop</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nv">$array</span><span class="p">);</span>
+<span class="p">}</span>
+</pre></div>
+</div>
+<div class="section" id="setting-your-own-prefix">
+<h3>Setting Your Own Prefix<a class="headerlink" href="#setting-your-own-prefix" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
+<p>The filename prefix for “extending” Helpers is the same used to extend
+libraries and core classes. To set your own prefix, open your
+<strong>application/config/config.php</strong> file and look for this item:</p>
+<div class="highlight-ci"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nv">$config</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="s1">&#39;subclass_prefix&#39;</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s1">&#39;MY_&#39;</span><span class="p">;</span>
+</pre></div>
+</div>
+<p>Please note that all native CodeIgniter libraries are prefixed with <strong>CI_</strong>
+so DO NOT use that as your prefix.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="section" id="now-what">
+<h2>Now What?<a class="headerlink" href="#now-what" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
+<p>In the Table of Contents you’ll find a list of all the available Helper
+Files. Browse each one to see what they do.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+          </div>
+          <footer>
+  
+    <div class="rst-footer-buttons" role="navigation" aria-label="footer navigation">
+      
+        <a href="libraries.html" class="btn btn-neutral float-right" title="Using CodeIgniter Libraries">Next <span class="fa fa-arrow-circle-right"></span></a>
+      
+      
+        <a href="models.html" class="btn btn-neutral" title="Models"><span class="fa fa-arrow-circle-left"></span> Previous</a>
+      
+    </div>
+  
+
+  <hr/>
+
+  <div role="contentinfo">
+    <p>
+        &copy; Copyright 2014 - 2019, British Columbia Institute of Technology.
+      Last updated on Jan 16, 2019.
+    </p>
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