Session Problem

pug

I "DID" get it working but for some reason I didn't change anything, that I know of, and it doesn't work. I was sitting here and then I just closed I might have changed something but I don't know what is wrong now. It keeps getting "You are not logged in" when I click the "home" link to come back to this page, even if I"m on that page to begin with

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE> Admin - Add News </TITLE>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="stylesheet.css">
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<?
	session_start();
	//Include fuctions
	require_once("functions.php");
	db_connect();

//if not logged in already 
if (!(isset($_SESSION['valid_user'] ))) 
{
	//Get username and password
	$username = $_POST['username'];
	$password = $_POST['password'];

	if($username && $password)
	{
		$query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = '$username' and password = password('$password')";
		$result = mysql_query($query);
		if(!$result)
			echo "Error running query";
		$num_found = mysql_num_rows($result);
		if($num_found > 0)
		{
			$valid_user = $username;
            session_register('valid_user');
			echo "You are logged in as: <b><i>";
			echo $username;
			echo "</i></b>";
		?>
			<br><br>
			<TABLE align="left" border=0 cellspacing="20" width="100%">
			<TR>
				<td valign="top" width="20%">
					<? display_sitelinks(); ?>
				</td>
				<td valign="top" width="*">
				<div align=center>
				Please choose a link to the left to add something to the site. 
				<br><br>
				<IMG SRC="siteimages/avatar.gif" WIDTH="64" HEIGHT="64" BORDER="0" ALT="">
				</div>
				</td>
			</TR>
			</TABLE>
		<?
		}
		else
		{
			echo "You are not logged in";
			echo "<br>Please go <a href='login.html'>here</a> to login";
			exit;
		}
	}
	else
	{
		echo "You are not logged in";
	}
}

else
{
	//Display admin stuff	
	echo "You are logged in as: <b><i>";
	echo $_SESSION['valid_user'];
	echo "</i></b>";
	?>
	<br><br>
	<TABLE align="left" border=0 cellspacing="20" width="100%">
	<TR>
		<td valign="top" width="20%">
			<? display_sitelinks(); ?>
		</td>
		<td valign="top" width="*">
		<div align=center>
		Please choose a link to the left to add something to the site. 
		<br><br>
		<IMG SRC="siteimages/avatar.gif" WIDTH="64" HEIGHT="64" BORDER="0" ALT="">
		</div>
		</td>
	</TR>
	</TABLE>
<?
	}
?>

</body>
</html>

azn4ever

in order to work... you have to put session_start() function/methods top of the page...
e.g
<?php
session_start();
?>
and then...
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE> Admin - Add News </TITLE>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="stylesheet.css">
</HEAD>
<BODY>

pug

I did that and I'm still getting the exact same thing

Weedpacket

Of course, if you come to this page without making a form POST that contains username and password fields, $username and $password will be empty. When that happens, all the database checking, sitelink display, etc. is skipped and you go straight to "You are not logged in".

Shouldn't you be looking for those values in $_SESSION[]?

pug

I am using a login.html page that has two fields

username
and password

What I am talking about is after I am logged in the page displays fine. Just when I try to come back to this page while logged in

Weedpacket

I've never trusted session_register(), and mixing it with $SESSION[] is guaranteed to cause hassles. The PHP manual states over and over again things like

[man]session_register[/man]
Caution
If you are using $_SESSION (or $HTTP_SESSION_VARS), do not use session_register(), session_is_registered() and session_unregister().

More generally, it would probably be easier for you if you kept the login stuff on the login page. Then all the other pages need to do is see if the user is logged in.

login

If there is form information, check it out and test it against the database
if it's a valid login, set session variables, redirect to the appropriate main page, and exit();
If you're still on this page, display the login form.

all the other pages

Check the session data
if it's not valid, redirect to the login page and exit();
If you're still on this page, display it