session variables

revelater

hello, this is my first time here. I am just beginning with PHP. here is my problem,

I have created quiz that starts with a form requesting the users name. once they do this they are taken to a page that starts the quiz. They are required to answer all the questions on the quiz before continuing. if they hit submit without answering all the questions, then they recieve an error message telling them to answer all the questions and a link to go back to the the quiz. I am using session_start() and session_register() to pass all my variables. here is my glich. If they click on the link to go back to the quiz, then I loose all the info in my session variables. ie. it forgets the usersname. As long as the user fills in all the info, then it works just fine. any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

halojoy

If they click on the link to go back to the quiz, then I loose all the info in my session variables. ie. it forgets the usersname.

That shouldnt not be the case.
As long as user does not close down his browser,
then is $_SESSION variables okay.

revelater

Yeah, its strange. several other students in the class are having the same problem. here is my code for the first two pages. appreciate any advice...

[/B]This is the 1st page
<?php
session_start();

?>
<!DOCTYPE html
PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>Multiple Choice Exam</title>
<style type="text/css">
body {font-size:18px; background-color:#CCCC33; color:#990000}
a:link {color:#FF0000}
a:visited {color:#FF0000}
a:hover {color:#993300}
a:active {color:#FF0000}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<form action="CNance_7-2_exam2.php" method="post">
Multiple Choice Exam.<br /><br />
Enter your name: <input type="text" name="name" size="20"><br /><br />

<?php
$hidden = 'Ready to take the exam';
session_register('hidden');
?>
<input type="submit" value="start the exam"> <input type="reset" value="reset">
</form>

</body>
</html>

This is the 2nd page
<?php
session_start()
?>
<!DOCTYPE html
PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>Multiple Choice Exam</title>
<style type="text/css">
body {font-size:18px; background-color:#CCCC33; color:#990000}
a:link {color:#FF0000}
a:visited {color:#FF0000}
a:hover {color:#993300}
a:active {color:#FF0000}
</style>
</head>
<body>

<?php
$question1 = $POST['question1'];
$question2 = $POST['question2'];

session_register('question1','question2');

if (!isset($question1) || !isset($question2)){
print "Please answer all questions before continuing!<br />";
print '<a href="CNance_7-2_exam2.php">go back</a>';

}else{
print "$hidden2 $name?<br /><br />";

print '<form action="CNance_7-1_exam4.php" method="post">';
print '3) Who upset the top-seeded Heels in the 2nd round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament?<br />';
print '<input type="radio" name="question3" value="A">Boston College<br />';
print '<input type="radio" name="question3" value="B">Dook<br />';
print '<input type="radio" name="question3" value="C">UCLA<br />';
print '<input type="radio" name="question3" value="D">Syracuse<br /><br />';
print '4) Who is considered the best point guard to ever play at UNC?<br />';
print '<input type="radio" name="question4" value="A">Phil Ford<br />';
print '<input type="radio" name="question4" value="B">Raymond Felton<br />';
print '<input type="radio" name="question4" value="C">Kenny Smith<br />';
print '<input type="radio" name="question4" value="D">Ed Cota<br /><br />';
print 'Submit these answers and view your results on the exam<br /><br />';
print '<input type="submit" value="submit"> <input type="reset" value="start over">';
print '</form>';
}

$hidden3 ='You done! here are your results';
$hidden4 ='Thanks for taking the exam';
session_register('hidden3','hidden4');
?>

</body>
</html>

bradgrafelman

I wouldn't use [man]session_register/man, but rather the $_SESSION superglobal, like so:

$_SESSION['question1'] = $question1;
$_SESSION['question2'] = $question2;

Also, you're checking if a variable is set right after you set it here:

if (!isset($question1) || !isset($question2)){

. Seems kind of silly. I would use a function like [man]empty/man to ensure you get the desired results (i.e. check if the variable has a value).

So, change all of your session_register() stuff to use the $_SESSION superglobal array instead, and give that a shot.

revelater

Thanks, I will give it a shot and let you know. and thanks also for catching my error checking mistake. like I said, this is my first run at PHP, so I am learning...