PHP session variables not being set

Question

I'm having trouble with PHP session variables: I try setting the variables, and they can't be read even in the same file, much less another file.

Sorry if the question has been asked before, but I can't find anything that doesn't say "make sure you have session_start() at the beginning of the file."

Lines 1, 2, & 3 of file:

<?php
    ini_set('session.save_path','/home/[username]/session_data'); // Just in case, points to a correct directory
    session_start();

Later, after username validation, and login, the variables are set, and code tries to echo them out:

$_SESSION['login'] == "true";
$_SESSION['username'] == $username;
$_SESSION['password'] == sha1($password);
//header("Location: [admin page hidden]"); // Code would normally redirect to admin page (commented out for debugging), and exit
//exit;
echo "Username: ".$username."<br />"; // The following 4 lines try to print out the data
echo "Password: ".$password."<br />";
echo "Secure Password: ".sha1($password)."<br />";
echo "Session Username: ".$_SESSION['username']."<br />";

The output is:

Username: root
Password: [correct password]
Secure Password: [correct sha1 version of password]
Session Username:

The secure password (sha1, what is checked) matches what is in the database file, I checked. Nothing comes out for the session variables, even though it was created 7 lines previously. The directory that I pointed the save path to just has a blank file for the session.

Does anyone have any clue why this doesn't work, or advice on how to proceed? Any helpful response is appreciated.

Pascal MARTIN · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-19 16:36:45Z

6

The following lines are the cause of the problem :

$_SESSION['login'] == "true";
$_SESSION['username'] == $username;
$_SESSION['password'] == sha1($password);

Those lines do pretty much nothing : they compare what's before the == with what's after it ; and do nothing with the result of that comparison.

To assign values to variables, you should use ONE =, and not two :

$_SESSION['login'] = "true";
$_SESSION['username'] = $username;
$_SESSION['password'] = sha1($password);

Those three lines assign what's on the right of the = to what's on its left.

In PHP :

== is a comparison operator
while = is an assignment operator.

answered Mar 19, 2011 at 16:36

Pascal MARTIN

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4 Comments

Ryan Leonard Over a year ago

Right, of course. I've been coding in PHP for about a year, and this is the first times I've screwed that up... Must have been pretty tired when I wrote that code.

Pascal MARTIN Over a year ago

Huhu ^^ sometimes, having another person look at your code helps :-) (It's the kind of mistake we all do... and never see it when it's in our own code ^^ )

Ryan Leonard Over a year ago

Yup. Thanks for the answer. I have another question, if you might be able to answer it (would SO rather I create another question?): Is there an easy way to check what variables are set, through the browser, or am I better off trying to print off most of the variables?

Pascal MARTIN Over a year ago

If the question is a new one (i.e. something not exactly related to this one), you'd better create a new question, I suppose : it would be pushed at the top of the questions list, it would allow other people to answer, ...

dmcnelis · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-19 16:36:24Z

2

You are using ==, which is an equality test. Instead use =.

answered Mar 19, 2011 at 16:36

dmcnelis

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Comments

Aif · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-19 16:36:22Z

0

What does the webserver's log says? It must be some rights issue.

answered Mar 19, 2011 at 16:36

Aif

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