Cookie Problem

[webmasternovis]

Hi all.

I'm experimenting with cookies but have come accross a problem. I'm trying to make a cookie last for ten seconds, it won't let me. When I try for an hour though, it does work.

setcookie($id, "set", time()+3600);

My script only seems to work with numbers higher than 3600.

Anyone know what is wrong?

Thanks,
Mike

[linus]

I have also run into this oddity of the cookie system. I don't know why it is so, but I can think of a way for you to get around it. Set the 10-second cookie with:

$time = time();
setcookie('foo', 'bar', $time+3600);
setcookie('expire_foo', $time+10, $time+3600);

...then put this somewhere to check if it's been 10 seconds yet and expire it if so:

if (isset($_COOKIE['expire_foo']) && $_COOKIE['expire_foo'] <= time()) {
  setcookie('foo', false);
  setcookie('expire_foo', false);
}

[webmasternovis]

Thanks for your reply 🙂

I see what you are saying, it seems like a good solution.

However, I'm not quite sure how it works. Could you explain it to me please?

Thanks a lot,
Mike

[linus]

Sure thing:

The first code segment sets the 'foo' cookie, which will expire in an hour. Then it sets another cookie with the time at which the value of the first cookie should no longer be used.

Then, when you want to access the information stored in the 10-second cookie (probably in a different PHP file, or at least after the page is reloaded), do this:

if (isset($_COOKIE['foo'])) { // check if the cookie is set
  if ($_COOKIE['expire_foo'] > time()) { // make sure we have not yet reached the time that the cookie was to expire
    echo 'Your foo is '.$COOKIE['foo'].'!';
  } else { // at least 10 seconds have passed since the cookie was set; do not use it and expire both cookies
    setcookie('foo', false);
    setcookie('expire_foo', false;
  }
}

[webmasternovis]

Aha, I get ya. Thanks again, it works 🙂