session help

[dante7921]

As a newb...I really could use some direction here and some code help would be great. This is what I want to do.

I have a script that searches my mysql db. The script returns results in the form of links. User clicks on link and the remaining results are wiped.

I want to store those results in a session. So I start a session on the results page. I then echo the session variable that captures the search results. Problem is, the session only returns the last result. All other results are lost. My code is below.

Results Page: This is just a testing script. I don't have the links set yet.

<?php 
session_start();

include ("config.php"); 

if (isset($_POST['submit'])){

$results = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM countries WHERE value LIKE '$_POST[country]%'")
or die(mysql_error());

while ($row = mysql_fetch_array ($results)) {
echo "<div align =\"left\">$row[0] $row[1]</div>";

$_SESSION["row"] = $row[1] ;
}
}else{
echo "This script should not be accessed directly";
}

echo "<br><br><a href = \"searchform.php\">Search Again</a>";
echo "<br><br><a href = \"search.php\">Test Session</a>";

?>

Say a user clicks on a link: It takes them to the page and echos the results stored in the session.

<?php
session_start();

include ("header.php");

echo $_SESSION["row"] ;
echo "<br><br><a href = \"searchform.php\">Search again</a><br><br>";
include ("footer.php"); 
?>

Problem is, when there are more than 1 result, the session only echos the last result in the query. I think I need to make a function to create a session for each returned result but I have no idea where to begin.

Can anybody help??

Thanks
Joshua

[bradgrafelman]

Your problem starts here:

$_SESSION["row"] = $row[1];

Obviously, since this is placed inside while() loop this code will be called recursively, overwriting the value on each iteration. What you should do is build an array of rows like so:

$_SESSION["row"][] = $row[1] ;

That way, $_SESSION['row'] will be an array of rows which you can then loop through (e.g. using [man]foreach/man).

Also, might I suggest two things:

1. Change [man]mysql_fetch_array/man to [man]mysql_fetch_assoc/man and use the column names as keys (e.g. $row['name'] instead of just $row[0]. It makes your code much easier to understand (and can help you down the road when you don't remember what $row[1] means or if you alter your DB schema).

2. Don't use SELECT *. Instead, SELECT only the columns that you actually need data from.

[dante7921]

thank you so much for your help. I totally understand what you are saying but I haven't the faintest idea on how to work with a foreach loop.

Any chance you can point me in the right direction. I looked at some tutorials but they have me even more lost.

Thanks again!
joshua

[dante7921]

Maybe if you can show me how this works, i'll be able to get a good lesson in.

page 1 // user search page

<?php include ("header.php"); ?>

<div>
	<form action="countries.php" method="post">
		<div>
			Type your county:
			<br />
<input type="text" size="30" value="" id="inputString" onkeyup="lookup(this.value);" onblur="fill();" name="country" 
autocomplete="off" />
			</div>
			<div><input type="submit" name="submit" value="send" /></div>

		<div class="suggestionsBox" id="suggestions" style="display: none;">
			<img src="upArrow.png" style="position: relative; top: -12px; left: 30px;" alt="upArrow" />
			<div class="suggestionList" id="autoSuggestionsList">
				&nbsp;
			</div>
		</div>
	</form>
</div>

<?php include ("footer.php"); ?>

//action page

<?php 
session_start();

include ("config.php"); 

if (isset($_POST['submit'])){

$results = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM countries WHERE value LIKE '$_POST[country]%'")
or die(mysql_error());
$num_rows = mysql_num_rows($results);

while ($row = mysql_fetch_array ($results)) {
echo "<div align =\"left\">$row[0] $row[1]</div>";

$_SESSION["row"] = $row[1] ;

}
}else{
echo "This script should not be accessed directly";
}

echo "<br><br><a href = \"searchform.php\">Search Again</a>";
echo "<br><br><a href = \"search.php\">Test Session</a>";

?>

//retrieve session page

<?php
session_start();

include ("header.php");

echo $_SESSION["row"] ;

session_destroy();

echo "<br><br><a href = \"searchform.php\">Search again</a><br><br>";
include ("footer.php"); 
?>

Thanks again for any help!
Joshua