session variable not saving value

[Anon]

This function is called from the top of a simple login page.

function auth($username, $password) {
if(!$username || !$password) return false;
$Conn = $GLOBALS['Conn'];
$rs = new Recordset("SELECT username, pass FROM tblCustomers WHERE username = '$username' AND pass = '$password'", $Conn);
if(($Fields = $rs->MoveNext()) == 0) {
return false;
}
else {
$CurrentUser = $username;
session_register("CurrentUser");
return true;
}
}

Notice $CurrentUser is being assigned the value in $username before it's even registered. (And yes, I've tried assigning it after registering - same effect.) After this function runs, this is the content of the session file that PHP stores on the server (immediately after running the function):

!CurrentUser|

Now, would anyone know why the value that I assign to $CurrentUser is not being saved in the session file?

[Anon]

I wouldn't use CAPS for session names, it just doesn't seem right

Have you tried passing username by ref

$currentuser =& $username;
session_register("currentuser");

Just a thought

Mark
www.hdwt.com

[majik-sheff]

I have NO CLUE where you got that database code from, but if it works for you... Anyway, here is a fixed version of the code I could recognize:

function auth($username, $password) {
if(!isset($username) || !isset($password)) return false;
$Conn = $GLOBALS['Conn'];
$rs = new Recordset("SELECT username, pass FROM tblCustomers WHERE username = '$username' AND pass = '$password'", $Conn);
if(($Fields = $rs->MoveNext()) == 0) {
return false;
}
else {
session_start();
session_register("CurrentUser");
$CurrentUser = $username;
return true;
}
}

[majik-sheff]

Slight correction, on the isset() portion:

if(!isset($username) || !isset($password)) return false;

should read:

if(($username == "") || ($password == "")) return false;

If they weren't set, PHP would complain about not having enough arguments 🙂

[Anon]

Guys Guys Guys...

I'd expect more from you!

Mark: Capital letters in variable names makes no difference. If it DID, then shame on PHP's authors. I've had capital letters work just fine for session variables as well as any other type of variable. Thanks for replying, though. Your input is still appreciated.

Majik-sheff: The database code is just a recordset type class that makes interfacing with the mssql database a little easier (for lazy people like myself 😉. You can snag it at http://www.zend.com/codex.php?id=53&single=1

Additionally, using !$variable is the same thing as using "if ($variable == '')". '' is the same thing as null, after all NULL means null, right? Thats not quite the problem, all the code shown works fine except for that dealing with the session variable. I merely included that code to show that I'm calling session_register from within a function.

Also, I have tried calling session_start() before session_register(). It makes no difference either way. In fact, I believe session_register() implicitly calls session_start() anyway, am I correct?

My immediate problem is that session_register is registering the variable name, but it is not registering the value I assign to it. Does anyone know of any possible reason why this would occur? It cannot be overwritten someplace, because that place in the code is the only place I attempt to register or assign value to that variable anywhere on any of my scripts.

[majik-sheff]

Have you tried it with an explicit session_start and in the order I described? I know that PHP is documented as implicitly starting a session but I've had it flake on me without it so I'm kinda superstitious.

[Anon]

Yep. Tried that.

Any other suggestions? 🙂

[Anon]

Can you do a var_dump on the variable to see if it's being passed to $CurrentUser

If it is being passes i can't see why it's not writing the variable to the session

Mark
www.hdwt.com

[Anon]

Hmm..

I took your suggestion and used var_dump to output the contents of $username, $CurrentUser before registering, and again after registering it. All three cases showed that the value was indeed being stored. However, after the function exited, the value would disappear, destroyed as if it were a local variable to auth().

I did manage to get it to work, though. All I did was declare $CurrentUser as a global variable, then assign it the value in username, and then register it. I don't know why I had to do that, but it worked. (Possible bug?)

Thanks for your suggestion.

Gabe