setcookie() expire never?

[Mark]

okay, i read over the php manual on setcookie. so to make the cookie never expire, would it look like this?

$COOKIE['username', int expire(0)];
$COOKIE['passwd', int expire(0)];

i feel dumb, cause i'm pretty sure thats wrong.

[suntra]

First, you have to use setcookie() to set a cookie...

Second, if you set the expiration time to 0, the cookie will be ereased when the browser is closed.

Third, you could put a date which is very far from now...

setcookie("TestCookie" ,$value, mktime (0, 0, 0, 12, 31, 2015));

This would expire December 31th 2015 !

[Mark]

thanks 😃 so would it look like this?

$_COOKIE("username" ,$value, mktime (0, 0, 0, 12, 31, 2015));

whats the $value for?

[suntra]

No...

Not :
$_COOKIE("username" ,$value, mktime (0, 0, 0, 12, 31, 2015));

But :
setcookie("TestCookie" ,$value, mktime (0, 0, 0, 12, 31, 2015));

Where TestCookie is the name of the cookie, and $value is... the value of the cookie...

[Mark]

how come i have to use the setcookie() ? just wondering.

[suntra]

Ok...

First... $COOKIE() is bad... you must use $COOKIE[]...

Second... $_COOKIE["the_name_of_the_cookie"] will return the value of the cookie. If you modify it in PHP, the value will not be changed on the client-side...

Third, you must use setcookie() because a cookie is in fact a header which is sent to the user. You could write it yourself, but you have a function that exists just for that, so use it !

Also, if you use :
$_COOKIE("username" ,$value, mktime (0, 0, 0, 12, 31, 2015));

You'll get an error...

Suppose you have this :

$var1 = "strtolower";
$var2 = "LaLaLaLaLaAlAlAlAl";
$var3 = $var1($var2);
$var4 = strtolower($var2);

$var3 and $var4 will be the same...

Let's take $var3... it is defined like this : $var1($var2)

It takes the value of $var1 and it gives : strtolower($var2)

It then calls the strtolower() function and passes $var2.

In short, when you have a variable before a "(", it replaces that variable with its value and calls the function having the name of the value.

So, if you use $COOKIE(...), the value returned by $COOKIE is an array, so it can't work..

Is it clear ? (I don't think... !)

[Mark]

k, i have another question..

i have this script to check to see if the person is logged in or not. did i do it right? i'm thinking i didnt, because when i log in then goto the members page (where the script is) it says i'm not logged in.

<?php
    $_COOKIE['username'];
    if(empty($_COOKIE['username'])) {
        die('
An error has ocurred. It may be that you have not logged in, or that
your session has expired.  Please try <a href="/">logging in</a> again or 
<a href="/?HNC=register">Register</a><br /><br />

For further questions email the <a href="mailto:[e-mail]">Web Master</a>
');
    }
?>

[suntra]

To check if a cookie is set is very easy...

<?
 if(isset($_COOKIE["the_name_of_the_cookie"])) {
      // the cookie is set
 } else {
      // the cookie isn't set
 }
?>

[Mark]

i get this error

Parse error: parse error, unexpected '{' in C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\HazardNet\login\logincheck.php on line 2

with this:

<?php
   if(isset($_COOKIE['username']){
   $loggedin = "yes";
   }
   else{
        die('
An error has ocurred. It may be that you have not logged in, or that
your session has expired.  Please try <a href="/">logging in</a> again or 
<a href="/?HNC=register">Register</a><br /><br />

For further questions email the <a href="mailto:[e-mail]">Web Master</a>
');}
?>

[Mark]

oops, forgot a ) sorry

even so, its saying i'm not logged in, so is it not setting the cookie?

[suntra]

Are you sure you set the cookie before ?!

[Mark]

does $_COOKIE['username'] set a cookie? or do i HAVE to use setcookie("username", username) to set it..?

p.s. sorry for being a nuisance

[suntra]

$COOKIE only returns the value of a cookie. You can't set a cookie by doing $COOKIE["new_cookie"]... remember that a cookie is a header sent to he user... So but adding a new value to $_COOKIE, you won't send a header... So, you have to use setcookie().

[Mark]

okie

[Mark]

its still not working.. i'll post my code here, maybe someone can help me..

logincheck.php

<?php
    $_COOKIE['username'];
    if(empty($_COOKIE['username'])) {
        die('
An error has ocurred. It may be that you have not logged in, or that
your session has expired.  Please try <a href="/">logging in</a> again or 
<a href="/?HNC=register">Register</a><br /><br />

For further questions email the <a href="mailto:[e-mail]">Web Master</a>
');
    }
?>

login.php

<?
  if($affected_rows == 1){
  setcookie("username", username);
  setcookie("passwd", passwd);}
  $passwd = md5($passwd);
  if(!empty($HNC))
  {
  	include("$HNC.txt");
  }
?>

//more site layout

<?
$dbuser = '****';
$dbpass = '****';

//connect to the DB and select the database
$connection = mysql_connect('localhost', $dbuser, $dbpass) 
or die(mysql_error()."

//more site layout

");

mysql_select_db('Hazardnet', $connection) or die(mysql_error()."

//more site layout

");
    //set up the query
    $query = "SELECT * FROM HN_users
            WHERE username='$username' and passwd='$passwd'";

//run the query and get the number of affected rows
$result = mysql_query($query, $connection) or die('error making query'."

//more site layout

");
$affected_rows = mysql_num_rows($result);

//if there's exactly one result, the user is validated. Otherwise, he's invalid
if($affected_rows == 1){
print "Thank your for logging in, <strong>$username</strong>, Please continue into the <a href=\"/members/members.php\">members area</a>";
}
else{
    print 'Sorry, you seem to have entered an incorrect Username/Password.';
    }
?>
//more site layout
		  <?include("user_login.php");?>
//more site layout

those should be the only 2 things needed. anyone know what i'm doing wrong? why it wont set the cookie (if thats the problem) and why it wont keep them logged in.

[suntra]

In logincheck.php, put phpinfo(). It will give you a list of lots of things, and if any cookie is set, you'll see it...

[Mark]

how is that gonna help me? oh i get what your saying, but where does it show it

[suntra]

You'll know if the cookies are set.

<?
phpinfo();
?>

In the "PHP Variables" section, you'll see something like :

_COOKIE["PHPSESSID"] | e21bf766eee59716e15bdc718e9aaf1a

( | is simply a separator to represent the cells)

[Mark]

i didnt find anything with _cookie

[suntra]

So it means that cookie aren't set... check your browser settings.