Simple PHP $_SESSION problem, help!

I am having issues displaying $_SESSION variables on later pages in my site. Here is a quick synopsis of what I'm trying to accomplish:

The user inputs their information into a form on page1. The input fields are 'first' and 'last'.
That data is sent to a table in a MySQL database (this part works just fine).
Now, I want the data 'first' and 'last' to be displayed on the next page (page2)- like "Welcome 'first' 'last'!"

Here is a snippet of the code I'm working with:

Page1:

<?php
$_SESSION['userFirstName'] = $first;
$_SESSION['userLastName'] = $last;
?>

PHP:

Page2:

<?php
session_start ();
<?php echo $_SESSION['userFirstName']; ?> <? echo $_SESSION['userLastName']; ?>
?>

PHP:

What am I missing? HELP!!!

 

Simple fix

Page1:

<?php
session_start(); // This must begin ALL affected files!
$_SESSION['userFirstName'] = $first;
$_SESSION['userLastName'] = $last;
?>

PHP:

If this is going to be a big script, instead of defining session_start(); (which must always go before EVERYTHING - except comments [// or /* comment */] and <?php of course) in every file, create a file such as init.php and just make sure session_start(); is the first thing in it. Then make sure it is the first document included in all your scripts!

Regards,
Dennis M.

 

Place session_start(); on the first one aswell... it's a common one, but any page using sessions, must have the session_start() in the code

 

Thanks guys... I actually had a include ('config.php'); on the first line of each of those pages, which includes a session_start (); at the very beginning, but was really only putting in the 'juicy' code.

Any other suggestions, knowing that session_start was already there?

 

Refresh your browser.

I've found renaming the config.php sometimes works (For whatever reason I sometimes get processing errors when I include a "config.php" file name ) but doubt that's the case.

This setup should work:
config.php

<?php
session_start();

// Config vars

?>

PHP:

Page1:

<?php
include_once("config.php");

$_SESSION['blah'] = "w00t";

print "Next page: <a href=\"page2.php\">Here</a>";

?>

PHP:

Page2:

<?php
include_once("config.php");

print $_SESSION['blah']." this should work... o_O";

session_close(); // Kill session...

?>

PHP:

That setup should have no problems

Regards,
Dennis M.

 

Thanks Dennis, should just have one last question regarding the code below:

$_SESSION['blah'] = "w00t";

This all should work fine assuming in my form "woot" is the input field name that I am referencing, correct?

 

ya, just replace "w00t" with your variable name, and you are set to go.

 

Yeah, that's right. Any word on how that worked out for you?

Regards,
Dennis M.

 

It worked fine when the $_SESSION is defined on the page, but I am trying to define it as data submitted to a form.

What's the exact way to set $_SESSION as a $_POST variable?
Here's how I have it:

<?php
session_start(); 

 // Page1.php (coming from the html form)
 // Grab the POST data that was inputted

 $first = $_POST['txtUserFirstName'];

 $last  = $_POST['txtUserLastName'];

 // Once the POST data has been put into variables assign them to the sessions

 $_SESSION['fName'] = $first;
 $_SESSION['lName'] = $last;

print "Next page: <a href=\"page2.php\">Here</a>"; //direct user to next page
?>

<?php

 session_start();  

 // Page2.php (coming from page1.php)

print "welcome ".$_SESSION['fName']." how are you today?";

?>

PHP:

The problem is, page2 displays "welcome how are you today?"
It completely ignores the session variable.

Suggestions?

 

Your code looks perfect to me. You should test to see if $first and $last are storing the right information on Page1; maybe your form input is under the wrong name. Hm...

 

I think I found your problem. I copied your code exactly (making my own form, however, this step is not 100% crucial) and found you had a whitespace before the session_start(); on page2.php! session_start(); must be absolutely first (unless otherwise separated by comments) whitespaces are considered characters in this regard. So here is what I've come up with:

form.html

<form name="w00t" method="post" action="page1.php">
<p>First Name: <input type="text" name="txtUserFirstName" /></p>
<p>Last  Name: <input type="text" name="txtUserLastName" /></p>
<p><input type="submit" value="Make Session!" />
</form>

HTML:

page1.php

<?php
session_start(); 

 // Page1.php (coming from the html form)
 // Grab the POST data that was inputted

 $first = $_POST['txtUserFirstName'];

 $last  = $_POST['txtUserLastName'];

 // Once the POST data has been put into variables assign them to the sessions

 $_SESSION['fName'] = $first;
 $_SESSION['lName'] = $last;

print "Next page: <a href=\"page2.php\">Here</a>"; //direct user to next page
?>

PHP:

page2.php

<?php
session_start();  

 // Page2.php (coming from page1.php)

print "welcome ".$_SESSION['fName']." how are you today?";

?>

PHP:

Regards,
Dennis M.

 

This is what you need to change - you forgot to start a session ! Use the code below to get it working ..

<?php
session_start(); // Without starting a new session, you are not allowed to use it's objects ..
$_SESSION['userFirstName'] = $first;
$_SESSION['userLastName'] = $last;
?>

PHP: