[RESOLVED] Adding information to SESSION variable

rsmith

Hey all,
I need to develop a small session script that will allow users who are at a site to create a list of their favorite items that will then populate a form field. When a user sees an item they like they will click on it and the item id is then stored in the session for as long as they're at the site. They need to be able to add as many items as they want and for the session to dynamically update each time they add to the session. What's the best way to go about this?

TIA!

NogDog

Use [man]session_start/man at the beginning of each relevant page, and store/retrieve the items via the $SESSION array. You can add them as...

$_SESSION['items'][] = $_POST['form_field_name'];

...then output them in the form, perhaps as the options for a select element:

<?php
session_start();
?>

<select name="select_me">
<?php
foreach($_SESSION['items'] as $value)
{
   echo "<option>" . htmlentities($value, ENT_QUOTES) . "</option>\n";
}
?>
</option>

rsmith

Thanks! I have session_start() included in my site header... The items weren't going to be part of a traditional form. Instead just passed as a link.

Assuming each item has the "Add To Favorites Link below:

echo "<a href='favoritelist.php?add=".$itemCode."'>Add To Favorites</a>";

favoriteslist.php would have this snippet?:

<?
     //get the id
          $itemCode = $_GET['itemCode'];

 //add item to the session
      $_SESSION['items'][] = $itemCode;
?>

And then whatever other code I'd want to add? And by doing this it won't overwrite the current value in $_SESSION['items'] ?

I hope that makes sense.

NogDog

Using the $SESSION['items'][] format for assigning the values means that you are actually creating a sub-array within the $SESSION array. The first item added would be referenced by $SESSION['items'][0], the second by $SESSION['items'][1], etc. Therefore you can do a foreach on $_SESSION['items'] to loop through each element when you want to output them.

rsmith

So each time an item is added, the $_SESSION['items'][] is just incremented?

NogDog

Yep. That's the way the empty brackets work in an array assignment. (See the Array Type section.)

rsmith

Excellent. I have that part working, how would I remove an entry from the $_SESSION['items'][] array that was passed to the script via a url? Here's what I'm thinking:

                      if($action == "delete"){
				$propertyCode = mysql_real_escape_string($_GET['propertyCode']);
				if(in_array($propertyCode, $_SESSION['favorites'])){
					$key = array_search($propertyCode, $_SESSION['favorites']);
					unset($_SESSION['favorites'], $key);
				}
			}

rsmith

Just tried the above code I posted. Works like a champ.
Thanks Nog!