[RESOLVED] Can you tell mysql to periodically delete? or is there an easier way to do this...

[ElectricRain]

What Im making is a basic shopping basket. Now Im not too familiar sessions so I might be missing something here, but I figured I could use session id to store a number of fields in a database- ie; if add to cart button is pressed it would store the session id, product id n quantity or whatever, n then id just call them up from the database to display them in the cart.

ok thats simple, n if i could gurantee each user would end their session on a set page, i could put a delete query on that page, but of course that is never going to happen, so what im thinking is could it be made so mysql periodically deleted sessions.. sayyy perhaps store the time n date, n it deletes entries once theyre more than a day old or something like that?
I cant just think how this would be done.. perhaps with a query on the main page that would run everytime someone entered the site? It all just seems a bit untidy.

Is there an easier way, or an easier way to store items in the cart that Im missing? or does this sound ok to you guys?

[bpat1434]

CronJobs. Like you said: have a stored datetime timestamp in the mySQL database. Then, just set up a CronJob in Apache to run every day (or at a specific 12 hour interval, or however often you want) that sends a DELETE query to the database where the time is greater than today - 1.

[ElectricRain]

Thats genius 😃 thank you. Does the rest sound arite to you structure wise? I was reading about php shopping carts n they all seem so complicated, but this is simple I cant see anything wrong with it, dyou?

[bpat1434]

No, not at this time. As it develops, you're sure to change something which will affect security or mobility or something. But right now, for as simple as it gets, it seems okay.

[ElectricRain]

Perfect. Thank you!