header() syntax help

[SN1P3R_85]

I posted about this earlier today, and i think i went about explaining my problem the wrong way. I want to redirect one of my pages to a another page, but i stored the location in a variable. On a previous page i stored the url by doing this:

 

$_SESSION['return_url'] = "http://".$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'].$_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'];

 

Now after the user does something, it should redirect them back to that page. I am not sure how to include the variable in the location. I've tried this, and it doesn't redirect at all.

 

$url = $_SESSION['return_url']; 

header("Location: $url");

 

Basically, i just need to know how to use a variable instead of a direct url. Also, if you know a better way to store a url than this, go ahead and tell me:

 

$_SESSION['return_url'] = "http://".$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'].$_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'];

[trq]

Nothing wrong with the syntax your using as long as you have session_start() in place wherever your using the $_SESSION array.

 

You might also try echo'ing $url to see that it is a valid url.

[SN1P3R_85]

i tried echoing it, and i got nothing, so maybe its not valid. Do you know a good way to get the url of the current page you're on. In the format so i can just stick it in the header like this: header("Location: $url");

[SN1P3R_85]

I store the session exactly like this:

 

<?php

session_start();

$_SESSION['return_url'] = "http://".$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'].$_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'];

?>

 

Is this the wrong way? how long do sessions last? i thought they lasted until the person left the website.