session variables

alex57

Ok, im not having much luck with these sessions, its a lot easier in asp but I would like to understand. I have now created a session and declared a session variable on one page and I am then trying to call it on another but it isnt working for me.

page1 (login page)

<?php

mysql_connect("localhost", "root", "dinosaur") or die(mysql_error());

mysql_select_db("info") or die(mysql_error());

$username = $POST['username'];
$password = $POST['password'];

$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = '$username' && password='$password'");

$row = mysql_fetch_array($result);//the result

if(($row['username'] == $username) && ($row['password'] == $password) && (mysql_numrows($result) == 1))//check username and password

{
session_start();
$_SESSION['name']=$username;

?>
<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">
window.location.replace("home.php");
</script>
<?php
}
elseif (mysql_numrows($result) == 0) {
echo "incorrect login, please retry in 2 seconds ...";
?>
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="2; URL=login.php">
<?php
}

second page

<?php

if (!isset($SESSION)) {
session_start();
}
echo "hello" . $SESSION["name"];

halojoy

<?php //second page
session_start();

echo "hello" . $_SESSION["name"];

?>

I dont know why you need to test username/password 2 times.
1 time is enough!

second 'if' only needs to test if was any hit in database

alex57

I have now removed the if on tghe second page so it reads the same as you have said above but the session variable set on the first page doesnt carry over to the second and as a result the value of $_SESSION['name'] is nothing ( nothing is written still). any ideas??

halojoy

you can test that
your $_POST variables really is set correctly
by putting in suitable
echo 'varname'.$var;
at different places in tyour code ... a sort of tracking and debugging
to see what is happening in your script
.. after you have corrected your script, you can remove these 'check points ' in your script

<?php


mysql_connect("localhost", "root", "dinosaur") or die(mysql_error());

mysql_select_db("info") or die(mysql_error());

$username = trim($_POST['username']); // trim will remove leading/trailing spaces in FORM input
$password = trim($_POST['password']);
echo 'username: ' . $username . '<br>';
echo 'password: ' . $password . '<br>';

your <form> should look something like this
can be login php or html page

<form action="nameofpage-to-go.php" method="POST">
<input type="text" name="username"> your username<br>
<input type="password" name="password"> password<br>
<input type="submit" name="subm" value="post your data"><br>
</form>

bradgrafelman

What I believe your problem is, is that you're redirecting the user and killing the script too early. I've had problems where session data isn't immediately available when doing a redirect directly after setting some SESSION data.

Before redirecting the user, and AFTER modifying the session data, try calling [man]session_write_close/man (on the first page).

alex57

Ive tried all of your ideas but none seem to work.

I use session_start() to begin the sessions and the session variable is fine immediately after it has been set; the value can be read back. However when you go to the next page and use session_start() to continue with the same session the session variable value just disappears. I cant understand this?

should the sessions between two pages have different session id's or the same id?

thorpe

should the sessions between two pages have different session id's or the same id?

If they are different then most likely you dont have cookies enabled in your browser. The session id's should be the same.

bradgrafelman

Are you getting different session ID's?

Also, did you try my suggestion of adding [man]session_write_close/man? To do this, you should have changed this:

{
session_start();
$_SESSION['name']=$username;

to this:

{
session_start();
$_SESSION['name']=$username;
session_write_close();

alex57

Ok, ive made it really simple now and set IE 6 to accept all cookies. I have two pages called 'test3.php' and 'next.php' . I get different session id's on both pages and i thnk this is why the session variable arent carried over from page to page. Any other suggestions??

test3.php

<?php
session_start();
echo session_id();
session_write_close();
?>
<html>
<body>
<a href="next.php">here</a>
</body>
</html>

next.php

<?php
session_start();

echo session_id();
?>

halojoy

I never use different session_id:s

I just use
session_start()
and then I set or read $_SESSION variables in different pages.

like
bradgrafelman says
it might very well be that redirect that mess things up
it is really not needed

and I dont know what that javascript does, if you need it

<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">
window.location.replace("home.php");
</script>
<?php
}
elseif (mysql_numrows($result) == 0) {
echo "incorrect login, please retry in 2 seconds ...";
?>
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="2; URL=login.php">

at least the meta refresh can be replaced by:

elseif (mysql_numrows($result) == 0) {
?>
Incorrect login, please try again:<br>
<a href="login.php">Back to Login</a>

bradgrafelman

Do a phpinfo() and look at the session settings. Specifically, what do the following directives say: all of the session.cookie_ directives, session.referer_check, and session.use_cookies?

alex57

Ideally i would like to just use session_start() and then set or read $_SESSION variables in different pages but it wont allow me to do that. In my last post i simplified the problem with the code shown and removed the redirect but it still didnt work and the session id's were different on both pages. Is my problem in the code or im now thinking it may be a configuration error?

halojoy

Ideally i would like to just use session_start()
and then set or read $_SESSION variables in different pages
but it wont allow me to do that.

who is it that dont allow you?
tell him to 'get lost' !!!