Are sessions between vhosts possible?

larry1301

I have two sites running as vhosts (one up MagazineFrames.Com, one under development, ComicFrames.Com) using apache 1.3.20, php 4.0.1 and mysql 3.22.32. These two sites will share about 50% of their code and content as well as using the same database tables and home grown cart.

MagazineFrames.Com (MFC) is for custom framing of collectible pinup magazines such as Playboy and others and has about 400 covers from the 1920s-1970s and is 'R' rated. ComicFrames.Com (CFC)is for custom framing of comics and will be 'G' rated. I want to keep the sites seperate because some venues (Paypal shops for one rejected MFC because the Playboy covers violated their community standards) don't allow 'R' rated sites.

I would like to share session data between the two sites so that a user could move between the sites at will and purchase from both in a session. While not extrememly important, I haven't found a way to do this yet and currently of the opinion that it isn't allowed easily. Of course I would like to be wrong, so hence, this post.

Does anyone know of a way to do this? I will have links between the two sites and would like a user to be able to add to the same cart from both (I save all my cart data as session variables) and checkout from both all at once.

Thanks

flipis

I can only suggest you this:

Use a page with frames, having one of them to 0 width and height. In that, frame, open your page of the other server, and make the client start a session in there.

So when the customers clicks on the link "Go to ComicFrames.com and see your buying cart there", the main frame can refresh and show the contents of the other site, WITH session started. This would allow you to see both buying carts, but not to get them together. Now, about the cart, if you want to keep it together, i suggest you use a DB. Store the queries from the customer as soon as he/she clicks on them, and, later, when processing the cart, delete those that the customer don't want. Of course this database should be accessed by both servers. You could make this DB apart from the rest (or maybe keep it in tables on one of the sites)

For this session thing not be a problem, you should set your session lifetime to long time.

I know it's not the best solution, but at least it works (i tried t and yes, amazingly, it does)

Hope this helps

fLIPIS

Anon

You could create your own session data handler so that it stores session information into your mySQL database. There is a special function for doing just this:

http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.session-set-save-handler.php

Also has some examples and such....

The only other alternative I can think of would be to create your own session handler... or I guess find one that somebody else has created 🙂

-Josh B