using sessions

nuttynibbles

hi i wanna use sessions to store data n be used in another page. wat i did was:

order.php

<?php

session_start();
$_SESSION['name'] = "hello";


?>

display.php

<?php
echo $_SESSION['name'];
?>

am i doiing it correctly coz i cant echo out.

Houdini

change the second page to

<?php
session_start();
echo $_SESSION['name'];
?>

To read a session or to assign a session variable you must open it on each page where you want to use it, since you are on another page and didn't tell php to open the session it didn't so by adding the session_start() to the beginning of the second page your code will now work as desired.

nuttynibbles

i've done that. still cant print out

Houdini

Put both these short files into the same folder and test with them as written.
test.php

<?php
session_start();
$_SESSION['name'] = "hello";
header("location: sessiontest.php")
?>

sessiontest.php

<?php
session_start();
echo $_SESSION['name'];
?>

nuttynibbles

nope still not working

nuttynibbles

must i create anything else before using session

Houdini

Hmmm let me think, it might be register_globals so... first read this post that was just entered in this forum today.
Then you need to change how you use $_SESSIONS . Do a phpinfo on your server and see if register_globals is turned on. If it is and you can change your php.ini then change it to register_globals = Off after making the change then run the script again and it should work. Here is the section of php.ini

; You should do your best to write your scripts so that they do not require
; register_globals to be on; Using form variables as globals can easily lead
; to possible security problems, if the code is not very well thought of.
register_globals = Off

nuttynibbles

yup check with phpInfo() n register_globals is OFF

Houdini

Not that I am saying you are wrong but it is possible you are not looking at the active php.ini to find out for sure run this code and if it works then your register_globals are turned on.
test.php

<?php
session_start();
session_register('test');
?>
<html>
<head><title>Testing sessions Page 1</title></head>
<body>
<?php
	$test="Hello, this is a session variable value being displayed using register_globals ON!";
	echo"This is a test of session s with register_globals ON (not a good idea)!
		<form action='sessiontest2.php'method='post'>
		<input type='text' name='form_var' value='testing'>
		<input type='submit' value='Go to next page'>
		</form>";
?>
</body>
</html>

sessiontest2.php

<?php
session_start();
?>
<html>
<head><title>Session Test Page 2</title></head>
<body>
<?php
	echo "The session variable = $test<br />";
	echo "The form variable = $form_var<br />";
?>
</body>
</html>

If this produces output then your register_globals are On

nuttynibbles

Nope there won't any output for the session variable and form variable.

Houdini

OK then there is no reason right now that I can think of there is one other but it escapes me that could cause this. Apparently your register_globals are in fact off. Did you get a little message at the bottom about using a register_globals? and did the output show

The session variable =
The form variable =

nuttynibbles

erm in sessiontest2.php, the result was:

The session variable=
The form variable=

thats all

Houdini

Now I remember the other cause of messed up $SESSION arrays and it is register_long_arrays = off here is a link to this problem HERE I believe if they are turned off that they cause difficulties with the $SESSION arrays.

nuttynibbles

checked. is ON

Houdini

Well I can't say becuase the short little codes I posted run fine with PHP 5.1.1 and should work with more recent PHP 4x versions. I am at a loss with this becuse as long as you start the seeion on successive pages prior to wanting to use them either to assign a value or to read a value from them it should work with the way your php.ini is set. Sure there are no typos, or if you copied and pasted the code I know it works cause I tested it (Firefox) before even posting cause I make typos all the time.

nuttynibbles

erm ok. i tried installing php 5.1.1

nuttynibbles

hi, I need help in using session.

I'm able to set session, and also echo it in the same page. however, if i were to pass the session to php file, I can't read it. WHY??. Here is my past posting of session but did not resolve my problem. http://www.phpbuilder.com/board/showthread.php?t=10321453

nuttynibbles

btw im using windows xp, with IIS. PHP Version 5.0.4

brandtj

The only thing I can think of is that session.use_cookies is set to false/off. These settings are directly from my php.ini file, and sessions work fine for me. I use them all the time. You may want to change your settings to match or resemble these:

[Session]
session.save_handler = files
session.use_cookies = 1
session.name = PHPSESSID
session.auto_start = 0
session.cookie_lifetime = 0
session.cookie_path = /
session.cookie_domain =
session.serialize_handler = php
session.gc_probability = 1
session.gc_divisor     = 1000
session.gc_maxlifetime = 1440
session.bug_compat_42 = 0
session.bug_compat_warn = 1
session.referer_check =
session.entropy_length = 0
session.entropy_file =
session.cache_limiter = nocache
session.cache_expire = 180
session.use_trans_sid = 0
session.hash_function = 0
session.hash_bits_per_character = 5
url_rewriter.tags = "a=href,area=href,frame=src,input=src,form=fakeentry"

SoulAssassin

Simple question, which I don't have a clue how to do.
I am building a mini chat, which is working very nice, but,
my session['nick'] gets lost or fall away after the first entry.

Can anyone tell me how to make my session available, and make it not to fall away?