how do i reset the value of a single session array index in codeigniter??

Question

Using a user model which returns an array that looks like this:

$user_data['display_name'] = "John Doe";

$user_data['avatar'] = ./images/user144.jpg";

i create my session using $this->session->set_userdata('user_data',$user_data);

now if on another controller i let the user change his avatar,

how can i replace the session variable associated to that?

like $this->session->set_userdata('user_data["avatar"]',$new_avatar); just wont work right?

hee thanks for the help...

Answer 1

From looking at an overview of your code, I'm guessing the best way to go about this is to unset the data and reset it.

Use $this->session->unset_userdata('thesessiontounset'); Then set it back up with the new information and old.

Answer 2

The session->set_userdata() function will only let you modify one key at a time. In your case the key refers to an array so what you're trying to do isn't possible in the way you're attempting to do it.

When I'm updating my session I run something like this.

//Create or setup the array of the fields you want to update.
$newFields = array('avatar' = > 'image01.png');

//Check to see if the session is currently populated. 
if (!is_array($this->session->userdata('abc'))){
    //...and if it's not - set it to a blank array
    $this->session->set_userdata('abc',array());
}

//Retrieve the existing session data
$existing_session = $this->session->userdata('abc');

//Merge the existing data with the new data
$combined_data = array_merge($this->session->userdata('abc'), $newFields);
//update the session
$this->session->set_userdata('abc',$combined_data);

More details on array_merge can be found here

Answer 3

First controller

$user_data['display_name'] = "John Doe";

$user_data['avatar'] = "./images/user144.jpg";

$this->session->set_userdata('user_data',$user_data);

Second controller

$user_data = $this->session->userdata('user_data');

$user_data['avatar'] = $new_avatar;

$this->session->set_userdata('user_data', $new_avatar);