Cookie Advice

fimbria

Hi,

I trying to work out how i could set a cookie to a simple form, basically, being that if a cookie was not set then allow the user access to a form, else access is not given, e.g...


if( cookie is set){

// sorry you have been on this page recently

}else{

//show form


}

How do i go about setting the cookie for say 2 mins?
and how do i find out whether the cookie has been set or not?

Thanks for any help or pointers you may give...

YodaOfCamarilla

to set the cookie use:

setcookie("auth","ok",time()+120);

note: The +120 means the cookie will expire 2 mins after creation.
Then to check the cookie is in place:

if($auth=="ok")
{
// been on recently
}
else
{
// show form
}

swr

Yoda's example is basicly right, but don't use $auth, use $COOKIE['auth'] instead. Using $auth depends on the [man]register_globals[/man] setting while $COOKIE['auth'] works in any configuration.

See the [man]register_globals[/man] manual page for more info.

fimbria

thanks,

does it matter where you initialise the cookie in the page?

as im planning to have a set up like:-

if($_COOKIE['auth']=="ok"){

//you have been here recently

}else{

//show form
//do query
//set cookie

}

swr

You must set the cookie before any output (echo statements, HTML, whatever) is sent to the browser. Otherwise you will get a "headers already sent" error.

Also, no matter where you initialize the cookie on the page, it will NOT appear to be set until the NEXT page.

See the [man]setcookie[/man] manual page for more info.