Passing page variables

[Arrauko]

I have just been introduced to passing page variables, after I decided that I needed to allow users to input text (through a form textarea) and then for that text to be retained for viewing on a later page. I have read extensively since on using cookies, using CGI, etc. But all are a bit beyond the knowledge of a casual user.

Can anyone guide me on how I achieve this?

[tomhath]

Communication between the web server and the user's browser generally uses a communication protocol known as HTTP. The client (browser) makes a "request" and the server returns a "response". By design, HTTP is "stateless", which means that a request doesn't know anything about any other request that has already been made.

So if you need information that was passes back and forth in an earlier exchange you have to maintain that state information somewhere. As you've already learned, there are a few places you can this store information (session variables, cookies, and form data are the most common). Sorry, there's no 30 second magic explanation of how to use them, but there are many good articles and tutorials on the subject. Try a couple of examples and you'll have the knowledge to write your own.

[yelvington]

If you need to store a significant amount of text for use three clicks downstream, use sessions. That's what they're for. Here's how they work.

The PHP session functions create a chunk of temporary server-side storage. You can put any number of variables into that storage. Conceptually, it's a lockbox at the bank.

In order to access that lockbox, you need a key. The key is the PHP session ID (PHPSESSID). It is transmitted back and forth with each HTTP interaction. It can be handled automatically as a cookie, or, if cookies are disabled, it can be embedded in the URL as an encoded variable.

When your script sees a session ID, it opens the locksbox, restores, the variables, and continues your multi-stage process as if HTTP was not a "stateless" protocol.