cookies won't work!

[alfalf]

Hello.
It seems that I cannot play around with cookies at all! Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but

here's my php.ini cookie section :

[Session]
; Handler used to store/retrieve data.
session.save_handler = files

; Argument passed to save_handler. In the case of files, this is the path
; where data files are stored. Note: Windows users have to change this
; variable in order to use PHP's session functions.
session.save_path = C:\PHP\sessiondata ; argument passed to save_handler

; Whether to use cookies.
session.use_cookies = 1


; Name of the session (used as cookie name).
session.name = PHPSESSID

; Initialize session on request startup.
session.auto_start = 0

; Lifetime in seconds of cookie or, if 0, until browser is restarted.
session.cookie_lifetime = 0

; The path for which the cookie is valid.
session.cookie_path = /

; The domain for which the cookie is valid.
session.cookie_domain = localhost

; Handler used to serialize data. php is the standard serializer of PHP.
session.serialize_handler = php

; Percentual probability that the 'garbage collection' process is started
; on every session initialization.
session.gc_probability = 1

; After this number of seconds, stored data will be seen as 'garbage' and
; cleaned up by the garbage collection process.
session.gc_maxlifetime = 1440

; Check HTTP Referer to invalidate externally stored URLs containing ids.
; HTTP_REFERER has to contain this substring for the session to be
; considered as valid.
session.referer_check =

; How many bytes to read from the file.
session.entropy_length = 0

and here's the code for using cookies:

<?php
// Check for the $LastTime cookie variable.
if ( !empty( $LastTime ) )
{
$aMessage = &quot;The last time you visited was &quot;;
$aMessage .= date( &quot;d F Y&quot;, $LastTime );
$aMessage .= &quot; at &quot;;
$aMessage .= date( &quot;h:i:s a&quot;, $LastTime );
}
else
{
$aMessage = &quot;You have not visited in the past &quot;;
$aMessage .= &quot;two weeks.&quot;;
}
// Set the $LastTime cookie that will be valid for
// two weeks
$aTwoWeeks = time() + ( 60 * 60 * 24 * 14 );
setcookie( &quot;LastTime&quot;, time(), $aTwoWeeks );
// check for the extremely important cookie array values
$aValMessage = &quot;&quot;;
if ( !empty( $CookieArray ) )
{
$aValMessage = &quot;Values: &quot; . $CookieArray[0];
$aValMessage .= &quot;, &quot; . $CookieArray[1];
$aStartValue = $CookieArray[1] + 1;
}
else
{
$aValMessage = &quot;The Values are not available!&quot;;
$aStartValue = 0;
}
// delete the extremely imporant cookie array values
setcookie( &quot;CookieArray[0]&quot; );
setcookie( &quot;CookieArray[1]&quot; );
// add the extremely imporant cookie array values
setcookie( &quot;CookieArray[0]&quot;, $aStartValue, $aTwoWeeks );
setcookie( &quot;CookieArray[1]&quot;, $aStartValue + 1, $aTwoWeeks );
?>

Needles to say that cookies work just fine but if written here in javascript.

I use: W2K, Apache2, PHP4 (cgi-binary), MySQL (if neccesary).

Where am I wrong here? Help!

 

[gizmicek]

You maybe have Register-globals off in php.ini. I would try it this way:

<?php
    // Check for the $LastTime cookie variable.
    if(isset($_COOKIE['LastTime'])) {
        $LastTime=$_COOKIE['LastTime'];
        $aMessage  = &quot;The last time you visited was &quot;;
        $aMessage .= date( &quot;d F Y&quot;, $LastTime );
        $aMessage .= &quot; at &quot;;
        $aMessage .= date( &quot;h:i:s a&quot;, $LastTime );
    }
// and so on

I do the work with cookies this way and it works. Also make sure you have cookies enabled in your browser ;-)

 

[DRJ478]

I agree with gizmicek. It is probably a register-globals issue.
Write a one liner with

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

and inspect the settings for register globals. If it is PHP 4.2.1 and later it will be by default off - and that is good because it closes some security holes and avenues to introduce arbitrary values into scripts.
It is advisable to use the superglobal arrays $_POST, $_GET, $_COOKIE, $_SESSION etc. instead. These arrays are superglobal, so available throughout the scope of the entire script.

 

[alfalf]

OK. I did try it out but still have problems, most probablly I'm missing something trivial.
I spoted in my PHP.ini this:

REQUEST_METHOD | GET

Shouldn't it be POST?


Cookies are enabled in browser (mozila 4.0 compatible=MSIE 5.01). STILL PROBLEMS!

If you have an example for me to try out even if I tried yours?

Thx.

 

[sleipnir214]

Why? Are you posting a POST-method form to the phpinfo() script?

$_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] will be &quot;GET&quot; unless a POST-method form is submitted.

If you want to test whether cookies are working, use the simplest possible example.

Create two scripts:

<?php
setcookie ('FOO', 'BAR', time() + 3600);
print &quot;done.&quot;;
?>

and

<?php
print '<pre>';
print_r ($_COOKIE);
?>

Point your browser to the first script, then to the second. What is the output of the second script?

If it doesn't work with a particular browser, modify the set_cookie() invocation to set a cookie path of '/'. (As I recall, Netscape was always picky about cookie paths.)

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[alfalf]

Thanks very much!

The thing WAS TRIVIAL.

I havent noticed that cookie file: administrator@localhost,IS APPENDED!

Why did I think my localhost s. will make different cookie files (perhaps sessions made me think that way)? Silly me!

Thx!