Zend Framework Application Session Resource and Bootstrapping, what is wrong?

Question

Hi: I am using the latest version of Zend Framework (1.9.3PL1). I set the following in my .ini

; Bootstrap session resources
resources.session.save_path = APPLICATION_PATH "/../data/sessions"
resources.session.use_only_cookies = true
resources.session.remember_me_seconds = 864000

Next I want to initialize my session in my bootstrapper:

class Bootstrap extends Zend_Application_Bootstrap_Bootstrap
{
    protected function _initSession()
    {
        // What goes here!?
    }
}

My question is, what goes in the initSession function? What should it return, if anything?

Furthermore, if i just start a session in there, it does not recognize the .ini configuration (e.g., the save_path is unchanged). However, if you move the start to a controller, the .ini configuration is recognized.

EDIT: A possible solution is:

protected function _initSession()
{
    // Based on http://framework.zend.com/issues/browse/ZF-6651
 $session = $this->getPluginResource('session'); 
 $session->init(); 
 Zend_Session::start();
}

Answer 1

If you use the resources.session.*-options in your application configuration you must not have a _initSession() method in your bootstrap as these method will override the execution of the plugin resource session (Zend_Application_Resource_Session). The sole exitance of the resources.session.*-options in the configuration file will make sure that the session will be initialized according to your options.

Please read Zend_Application, Theory of Operation for a detailed discussion about the so-called resource methods and the resource plugins.

Answer 2

Stefan is quite right, you are overriding the default session resource which makes use of those application options.

If you want to define your own _initSession() method and still access those options use something like:

protected function _initSession() 
{
    $options = $this->getOptions();
    $sessionOptions = array(
        'save_path' => $options['resources']['session']['save_path']
    );    
    Zend_Session::setOptions($options);
    Zend_Session::start();
}

Answer 3

    protected function _initSession()
{
    $config = array();
    $config['db'] = array('adapter'=>'PDO_SQLITE',
                     'params' => array('dbname'=> ROOT.'/data/tmp.db3')

                    );
    $config['SaveHandler'] = array(
        'name'    => 'sessions', //table name as per Zend_Db_Table
        'primary' => array(
            'id',   //the sessionID given by PHP
            'path', //session.save_path
            'name', //session name
        ),
        'primaryAssignment' => array(
            //you must tell the save handler which columns you
            //are using as the primary key. ORDER IS IMPORTANT
            'sessionId', //first column of the primary key is of the sessionID
            'sessionSavePath', //second column of the primary key is the save path
            'sessionName', //third column of the primary key is the session name
        ),
        'modifiedColumn' => 'modified', //time the session should expire
        'dataColumn'     => 'data',     //serialized data
        'lifetimeColumn' => 'lifetime', //end of life for a specific record
    );

    $config['lifetime'] = 60*60*24*30;

    $config['options'] = array (
                          'bug_compat_42' => '',
                          'bug_compat_warn' => '',
                          'cache_expire' => '180',
                          'cache_limiter' => 'nocache',
                          'cookie_domain' => '',
                          'cookie_httponly' => '',
                          'cookie_lifetime' => $config['lifetime'],
                          'cookie_path' => '/',
                          'cookie_secure' => '0',
                          'entropy_file' => '',
                          'entropy_length' => '0',
                          'gc_divisor' => '1000',
                          'gc_maxlifetime' => '1440',
                          'gc_probability' => '1',
                          'hash_bits_per_character' => '5',
                          'hash_function' => '0',
                          'name' => 'TaMeR_SESSID',
                          'referer_check' => '',
                          'save_handler' => 'user',
                          'save_path' => '',
                          'serialize_handler' => 'php',
                          'use_cookies' => '1',
                          'use_only_cookies' => 'on',
                          'use_trans_sid' => '0',
                          'strict' => false,
                          'remember_me_seconds' => $config['lifetime'],
                          'throw_startup_exceptions' => true,
    );

    $db = Zend_Db::factory($config['db']['adapter'], $config['db']['params']);
    if( ! in_array('sessions', $db->listTables())) {
        $sql = "CREATE TABLE sessions (";
        $sql .=     "id TEXT, ";
        $sql .=     "path TEXT, ";
        $sql .=     "name TEXT DEFAULT '', ";
        $sql .=     "modified INTEGER, ";
        $sql .=     "lifetime INTEGER, ";
        $sql .=     "data TEXT, ";
        $sql .=     "PRIMARY KEY (id, path, name)";
        $sql .= ");";
        $db->exec($sql);
    }
    Zend_Db_Table_Abstract::setDefaultAdapter($db);
    Zend_Session::setSaveHandler(new Zend_Session_SaveHandler_DbTable($config['SaveHandler']));
    Zend_Session::setOptions($config['options']);
    Zend_Session::start();
}