Where's My Cookie?

tetuanrp

Not reading my cookies for some reason. HEre's a dummy page I set up, with the only code on it being this:

echo 'Cookie: '.$_COOKIE['NextCoupons_Referrer'];

http://www.nextcoupons.com/get_cookie.php

Attached is a screenshot of firefox showing the cookie exists.

So why isn't it echo'ing out???

laserlight

What's the whole code?

bradmasterx

You have to set the cookie first:
http://www.w3schools.com/php/php_cookies.asp

tetuanrp

I set it with the code below, adding the parameter to the query string. As you can see from the attached pic on my first post, it did pass through as 'msn'.

setcookie('NextCoupons_Referrer',$_GET['referrer_id'], time()+3600*24);

So I can't figure out why it's not coming out with my echo statement, as firefox clearly show's it's a cookie in my system. Know what I mean??

tetuanrp

Hi Brad,

Yep, I definitely set the cookie as my last post shows. I've used cookies many times before, so not sure why I'm seeing this glitch now. As I said, you can see from my firefox cookie preferences, it's clear that the cookie exists, and has a value of 'msn'.

-R

laserlight

Let me guess, the whole code is something like:

<?php
if (isset($_GET['referrer_id'])) {
    setcookie('NextCoupons_Referrer',$_GET['referrer_id'], time()+3600*24);
    echo 'Cookie: ' . $_COOKIE['NextCoupons_Referrer'];
} else {
    echo 'No referrer id.';
}
?>

If you read the PHP manual on [man]setcookie/man, you will find that it states: "Once the cookies have been set, they can be accessed on the next page load with the $_COOKIE or $HTTP_COOKIE_VARS arrays." and "Cookies will not become visible until the next loading of a page that the cookie should be visible for. To test if a cookie was successfully set, check for the cookie on a next loading page before the cookie expires." (Emphasis mine.)

If I got it wrong, then you've been wasting our time. Post the smallest and simplest code that demonstrates the problem. Code snippets are good, but they often fail to provide a complete picture of the problem.

tetuanrp

Yeah, I"m familiar with that and created a work around for it. Right now, I'm trying to figure out something that's extremely basic. As I've showed, firefox shows a cookie named "NextCoupons_Referrer" with a value of "msn".

So why, even when I refresh the page over and over again, this code:

echo 'Cookie: '.$_COOKIE['NextCoupons_Referrer'];

does not produce:

Cookie: msn

My head's hurting on this one. Seems so simple.

laserlight

So why, even when I refresh the page over and over again, this code:

That code will produce:

echo 'Cookie: '.$_COOKIE['NextCoupons_Referrer'];

Since it lacks the <?php and ?> tags 😉

Post the code you tested with, not just snippets. It could well be a typo error, or perhaps something more serious. If we have the actual code, we could run it and see what we get, and from there determine if perhaps you have a server configuration problem.

tetuanrp

THink I may have the answer. I'm dropping these cookies on different pages throughout my site. Do cookies only read relative to that page?

For example, if I drop it on "mysite.com/directory1/page.php", I will not be able to read it from "mysite.com/directory2/page.php"?

If that's the case, then that's my solution, looks like I need to set it to "/":

Optional. Specifies the server path of the cookie

If set to "/", the cookie will be available within the entire domain. If set to "/test/", the cookie will only be available within the test directory and all sub-directories of test. The default value is the current directory that the cookie is being set in.

laserlight

For example, if I drop it on "mysite.com/directory1/page.php", I will not be able to read it from "mysite.com/directory2/page.php"?

If by "drop it" you mean "set the path to", then yes, you are correct. However, you stated that you did not set it with any path specified.

EDIT:
hmm... looks like I need to read the PHP manual myself: "The default value is the current directory that the cookie is being set in." So yes, "dropping it" in a particular directory is equivalent to setting the path to that directory.

tetuanrp

Yep, what happened was I was setting it on a deep page within my site, and not setting the path as "/", but instead leaving it as default (which then set the path as the current path).

Then I would go to another page/directory on my site, and try to retrieve that cookie, but it wouldn't show up (although firefox showed a cookie with that name, which was what was really confusing me, the problem was it wasn't the same path). It was then I researched the path value and realized that was my issue.

Thanks for all your help!

laserlight

You're welcome 🙂
Remember to mark this thread as resolved (if it is) using the thread tools.

tetuanrp

Thanks again laserlight!