wpdb::_real_escape( string $data ): string
- Since
- 2.8.0
- Source
wp-includes/class-wpdb.php:1277
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 2.8.0
- PHP
- 7.4–8.6-dev
- 6.7.7
- 6.8.8
- 6.9.7
- 7.0.4
- 7.1.0
Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.
Parameters
$datastring- String to escape.
Return value
string- Escaped string.
Performance profile
How much work a call to wpdb::_real_escape() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.
- Cost class
- Trivial
- Scaling
- Constant
- Instructions
- 4–29
- Plugin surface
- None
- Called by
- 3
Touches nothing outside its own arguments.
No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.
Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 38.
Nothing here hands control to plugin code.
3 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- hookthird-party callbacks
do_action()one call below wpdb::_real_escape()
Further down the call graph this can also reach query, option, cache, serialize and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.
What one call costs · 3 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost wpdb::_real_escape() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
!is_scalar($data) | 4 | none |
is_scalar($data) | 17 | mysqli_real_escape_string(), ->add_placeholder_escape() |
is_scalar($data) | 29 | wp_load_translations_early(), __(), sprintf(), _doing_it_wrong(), addslashes(), ->add_placeholder_escape() |
Across PHP versions
| PHP | Compiled | Executed | Branches | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.6-dev | 38 | 4–29 | 2 | |
| 8.5 | 38 | 4–29 | 2 | |
| 8.4 | 38 | 4–29 | 2 | |
| 8.3 | 38 | 4–29 | 2 | |
| 8.2 | 38 | 4–29 | 2 | |
| 8.1 | 38 | 4–29 | 2 | 2 fewer instructions than PHP 7.4 |
| 7.4 | 40 | 6–31 | 2 |
An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.
Uses · 4
- wp_load_translations_early()Attempts an early load of translations.
- _doing_it_wrong()Marks something as being incorrectly called.
- __()Retrieves the translation of $text.
- wpdb::add_placeholder_escape()Adds a placeholder escape string, to escape anything that resembles a printf() placeholder.
Used by · 3
- wpdb::_escape()Escapes data. Works on arrays.
- wpdb::escape_by_ref()Escapes content by reference for insertion into the database, for security.
- wpdb::prepare()Prepares a SQL query for safe execution.
Source code
public function _real_escape( $data ) { if ( ! is_scalar( $data ) ) { return ''; } if ( $this->dbh ) { $escaped = mysqli_real_escape_string( $this->dbh, $data ); } else { $class = get_class( $this ); wp_load_translations_early(); /* translators: %s: Database access abstraction class, usually wpdb or a class extending wpdb. */ _doing_it_wrong( $class, sprintf( __( '%s must set a database connection for use with escaping.' ), $class ), '3.6.0' ); $escaped = addslashes( $data ); } return $this->add_placeholder_escape( $escaped ); }Changelog
Introduced in 2.8.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.
Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.
About this page
- Parsed data
- Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.9.7 tag, from
src/wp-includes/class-wpdb.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it. - Corrections
- Something wrong on this page? Report it and it gets fixed in the next regeneration.