My session variable disappears :(

[mads]

I have no idea why, but sometimes my session variable disappears. After having stared at it for two days, I guess it's time to cry for help...

 

This is how I set the variable and later try to use it again:

 

1) I'm creating a session in header.php (a file that is loaded everytime a webpage is displayed):

session_start();

...

$_SESSION['displaymode'] = "abe";

 

2) I'm using the variable in go.php (which does not load header.php when it is displayed):

session_start();

...

if(isset($_SESSION['displaymode']))

{

    $displaymode = $_SESSION['displaymode'];

}

 

Can anyone see why my session variable disappears? isset() returns false approx. 50% of the time and I have absolutely no idea why

 

Thanks a lot,

Mads

 

 

 

[RussellReal]

session files getting deleted?

 

set your session directory somewhere outside of the usual temporary directory and your hosting service providers won't touch em

 

 

[phporcaffeine]

That is true.  Often times 3rd party hosts will whack the /tmp folder randomly for security purposes. That seems likely since you can't see a reliable pattern.  Other than that, I would need to see more of your code.

[mads]

Sounds like a good idea, I'll try to add session_save_path() call and see what happens.

 

Thanks a lot for the help.

[mads]

That didn't help

 

I added session_save_path("mysessions") right before session_start() in header.php. Afterwards, I can see the session files being created in the "mysessions" directory on the webserver, but the session variable still doesn't exist when I need it in go.php

 

Any other ideas on what might be going wrong?

 

Thanks again,

Mads

[xnowandtheworldx]

Sometimes I had to use

if(!empty($_SESSION['session_name'])) {
    //code here;
}

 

for some reason sometimes $_SESSION would be set, and would trigger a false positive. So try that out and hopefully it might help you out.

[mads]

Sometimes I had to use

if(!empty($_SESSION['session_name'])) {
    //code here;
}

 

for some reason sometimes $_SESSION would be set, and would trigger a false positive. So try that out and hopefully it might help you out.

 

Tried that, didn't work