Creating A Unique Userid

[ki]

I'm not asking for any code really. I need a way to create a unique UserID per $_SESSION or by md5 hashing their IP address and only using the first 6 or 7 characters. Does anyone have any ideas into this? I'm not requiring a login for my specific project, but do want individuals posting to recognize each other within some time period or sense.

[White_Lily]

simple, go into your MySQL database, add a column at the beggining of your requested table, name it "UserID" or whatever.

 

Then all you have to do is add this to your sessions:

 

$id = $_SESSION["UserID"];

 

Create the column with an index of "PRIMARY" and A-I to "Yes" (or in my case just click the small box).

Edited September 27, 2012 by White_Lily

[ki]

I mean, I'm trying to use their unique name for posting, I just dont know which method to approach this at.

[White_Lily]

then in such case where you want their name/username to appear you need something along the lines of this:

 

echo "<p>".$_SESSION["username"]."</p>";

[DavidAM]

Hashing does not guarantee uniqueness, and is not designed to provide unique results. I think I would avoid that.

 

Are you looking for anything in particular, as far as characters go?

 

The uniqid() function will provide a unique value, mostly. It is based on the underlying server's timestamp (in milliseconds). Here are a few from my system generated in a loop, one right after the other.

5064d63e03753
5064d63e03789
5064d63e037bf
5064d63e037f6
5064d63e0382c
5064d63e03863
5064d63e03899

[xyph]

I think he wants the token to stay consistent over multiple requests.

 

I don't think using the session ID is a good idea, even if obfuscated or hashed.

 

Your best bet is to generate a string based on random data, then store this in a cookie with a FALSE expiration, so it expires with the user.

 

We'd need more details to give you a better solution

[ki]

Hashing does not guarantee uniqueness, and is not designed to provide unique results. I think I would avoid that.

 

Are you looking for anything in particular, as far as characters go?

 

The uniqid() function will provide a unique value, mostly. It is based on the underlying server's timestamp (in milliseconds). Here are a few from my system generated in a loop, one right after the other.

5064d63e03753
5064d63e03789
5064d63e037bf
5064d63e037f6
5064d63e0382c
5064d63e03863
5064d63e03899

 

I kind of like this but I want it kind of like

 

4qR31~

 

Something like that, just an example though. I think I would have to use a session though.

 

I think he wants the token to stay consistent over multiple requests.

 

I don't think using the session ID is a good idea, even if obfuscated or hashed.

 

Your best bet is to generate a string based on random data, then store this in a cookie with a FALSE expiration, so it expires with the user.

 

We'd need more details to give you a better solution

How would I go about doing this one? Someone could potentially edit that cookie and edit their ID appearing as someone else though.

[White_Lily]

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