anchor()

function anchor(string $url, ?string $text = null, array $attributes = []): string

Description

Generates an anchor (<a>) tag with optional attributes and partial XSS protection.

This function creates an anchor tag pointing to a specified URL. If the $text parameter is omitted, the URL itself is used as the link text.

Important: The $text parameter is NOT escaped, allowing HTML content to be rendered as-is, while the URL and attributes are automatically escaped to prevent XSS attacks.

Parameters

Name Type Description
$url string The URL to link to. This parameter is required and will be automatically escaped.
$text string|null The text content of the link (optional). If not provided, the URL itself is used. Note: This parameter is NOT escaped.
$attributes array An optional array of key-value pairs for additional attributes. These values will be automatically escaped.

Return Value

Type Description
string The complete HTML anchor tag as a string.

Example Usage

Security Considerations

Important: The $text parameter is not automatically escaped. If displaying user-generated content, use the out() function to prevent XSS attacks.

Unsafe Example (Vulnerable to XSS):

Safe Example (Escaped Output):

Note: The $url and $attributes parameters are automatically escaped for security.