Global variables

[c_pattle]

I have the following code that reads and file and adds one to it before saving it again (this is being used as a hit counter).  However I at the moment it adds one every time the page is refreshed and I only want it to add one once no matter how many times they refresh the home page. 

 

I have tried to use a variable to stop this by checking if the variable has been set but it's not working.  Do I need to make it a global variable and if so how do I do that.  (I know I could make it work by using a session variable but I don't want to hassle of creating a session just for that. 

 

if (!$counter_set_index) {
$countfileindex = "counterindex.txt"; 

$handle = fopen($countfileindex, 'r+') ; 

include("includes/inc_counter.php");

$counter_set_index = 1;

} 

[Adam]

Whether it's a local variable or global variable.. on the next request it won't exist anymore. Without using a database to track user IPs, really your best bet is to set a session variable and/or cookie.