Problem setting cookies

tberger

I have a log in processing page that reads a function from a pinc file. The function is used to make sure that the log in info being provided is in my txt file. If there is a match - I want it to set some cookies and return true. The login page using this function will then confirm that we have the information and direct the person to a welcome page. The problem is I keep getting the following error:

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /staff/seebetra/homepage/ciss225/libraryTEST.pinc:29) in /staff/seebetra/homepage/ciss225/libraryTEST.pinc on line 22

I don't see where I am doing any outputting to the browser before the cookies are set.

Here is the page with the formula:
<?php
session_start();
function getLogin($username, $pass)
{
$username = trim($POST['email_address']);
$pass = trim($POST['password']);

$file = "/staff/seebetra/homepage/ciss225/registered_users.txt";

$data = file_get_contents($file);
$lines = explode("\n", $data);

foreach($lines as $line)
{
list($email_address, $password, $first_name, $last_name) = explode(":", trim($line));

if($username == $email_address && $pass == $password)
{
$SESSION['userName'] = $username;
$SESSION['fName'] = $first_name;
$_SESSION['lName'] = $last_name;
setcookie ("ok", $username);
return TRUE;
}
}
}
?>

Here is the page using the function:

<?php
include('/staff/seebetra/homepage/ciss225/libraryTEST.pinc');

if(!isset($_POST['submit']))
{
if (getLogin($username, $password) == TRUE);
{
$logged_in='Y';
echo "Thank You for Logging in";
echo "<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv='Refresh' Content='8; url=welcome.php'>
<title>Thank You for logging in, You are now being redirected!!!!</title>
</head>
<body>
<a href='welcome.php'>Click Here</a> to go to Welcome Page";
}

}
?>

Any suggestions??

wilku

Maybe there is something like empty lines or spaces after ?> in the included file? There shouldn't be any characters, because php thinks it should be outputed to the browser (thus stopping headers from being sent).

Weedpacket

tberger wrote:
I don't see where I am doing any outputting to the browser before the cookies are set.

What exactly is on line 29 of libraryTEST.pinc? I'd be inclined to wilku's suggestion; I find that in a purely PHP file (as most of my PHP files are), leaving the final ?> off (a) still works, and (b) avoids any chance of whitespace leaking into the output. Oh, and (c) I'm lazy.

tberger

Thank you for your help - it was the extra line at #29, removing it set the cookie correctly.

Thanks again!

bradgrafelman

When posting PHP code, please use the board's
bbcode tags - they make the code much, much easier to read (as well as aiding the diagnosis of syntax errors). You should edit your post now and add these bbcode tags to help others in reading/analyzing your code.
Don't forget to mark this thread resolved.

Weedpacket wrote:
Oh, and (c) I'm lazy.

If you wanted to be lazy and unorthodox at the same time, you could leave off the final semicolon of the last statement in your code and use '?>' instead:

<?php
echo 'This code';
echo ' has absolutely';
echo ' NO parse errors,';
echo ' warnings, ';
echo ' or notices!'
?>

Weedpacket

bradgrafelman wrote:
...leave off the final semicolon of the last statement in your code and use '?>' instead.

Oh, you know me: always on the lookout for coding practices I can use to cause grief in the future :evilgrin: