How can I uses sessions if register_globals is set to off?

Question

Because of security reasons, register_globals is set to off. And that sucks, because right now I could really have use of sessions.

How do you guys solve this "problem"?

UPDATE

I have tried using $_SESSION, but it's not working. That's why I thought it had something to do with register_globals being off.

In my header file, I have the following code:

session_start();
if (!isset($_SESSION['test'])) {
  $_SESSION['test'] = "Foo bar";

Now, anywhere in my header file, I can output the content of $_SESSION['test'].

But I'm not able to output the same content from e.g. page.php file.

Here is an example using Wordpress: example.php

//Include the header file
<?php get_header(); ?>

  Here is some text, and this is my session: <?php echo $_SESSION['test']; ?>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

This will result in an empty Session.

Answer 1

All session variables will be in the $_SESSION array. Use $_SESSION['var'] instead of the globally registered $var.

Answer 2

Use the super-global $_SESSION array to store values. It's contents are stored between requests, and seamlessly serialized and deserialized - don't worry about storing objects or arrays. A simple example:

<?php

 if (isset($_SESSION['user'])) {
   // user already logged in
 } else {
   // Create a guest user
   $user = new stdClass();
   $user->name = 'guest';
   $user->id = 0;

   $_SESSION['user'] = $user;
 }

?>

Answer 3

Use $_SESSION, see http://php.net/manual/en/session.examples.basic.php

Answer 4

If sessions aren't working, there are a couple of things to check:

• Make sure that the session is being started; call session_start() if needed - there's an option (session.auto_start) in PHP.ini which can be toggled.
• Check that session.save_path points to a valid location which is writeable - check permissions. Under Windows, the default setting is an invalid path for that platform.
• Check the PHP error log for pointers, in case something's going wrong.
• Check the browser isn't blocking session cookies.

You might take a look in the aforementioned session.save_path to inspect whether or not session files are being created.

I've assumed use of the default file-based session handler. If using something else (which would require additional configuration), then there might be further troubleshooting steps.

Answer 5

are you using IIS webserver? had similiar "strange" problems with and older IIS version and php4. check your session.save_path in php.ini and assure that your webserver has write access to the directory configured in session.save_path.