[SOLVED] merging session arrays

[richardjh]

Hello,

I wonder if i might ask for some advice on a problem I can't seem to find a solution for. I have tried to sort this out alone by searching and reading up but alas i can't find a solution.

 

I have two session variable in a page:

session_register ("cat_name"); // Create a session variable called cat_name

session_register ("cat_id"); // Create a session variable called cat_id

$HTTP_SESSION_VARS ["cat_name"] []= $catname; ($catname for instance is 'Fiction')

$HTTP_SESSION_VARS ["cat_id"] []= $cat; ($cat for instance is '3')

 

On another page I can get the outputs for both variables ('Fiction' and '3') seperately, e.g:

cid = 1

catname = Fiction

 

However I need both to be output put together so i can place them in a link

(http..  /category.php?id=3&cat=Fiction)

 

The idea for this is so i can list the last 5 category pages a user has visited on the site, e.g:

 

"You have already viewed"

Fiction (link with both catname and cat id in)

Biography (ditto above)

etc.. 3 more times

 

I have tried reading up on array merge etc. but I think this is going to beat me.

 

Any advice from you good (and clever) php people would be most helpful.

 

thanks

R

[PHP_PhREEEk]

You should post your code... that would be helpful...

 

but without that, right before you would create the dynamic URL(s), add this code and post back results:

 

<?php
echo"<pre>";
print_r($_SESSION);
die("</pre>");
// your dynamic URL(s) created down here

 

PhREEEk

[richardjh]

Thank you for the quick reply.

 

Sorry about omitting the code

 

Here is the code for the page (actually it's a block) that receives the session variables (posted above). The code only outputs the one variable (cat_name) at the moment because I cannot fathom how to add the other variable (cat_id).

 

if (isset($_SESSION['cat_name'])) {
              $count = 1;

     $_SESSION['cat_name'] = array_unique($_SESSION['cat_name']);
          $_SESSION['cat_id'] = array_unique($_SESSION['cat_id']);
              foreach ($_SESSION['cat_name'] as $name)

{
    
echo'<pre>'; // this bit is what you asked me to include
print_r($_SESSION);
die ('</pre>'); // end
// dynamic URL(s) created below 
echo 'Categories Viewed: <a href = "category.php?id='.$cat.'&cat='.$name.'">'.$name.'</a><br>'.$cat.''."\n";

$count++; 
if($count>=6){
unset($_SESSION['cat_name']);
break; 
     
}
  }             
    } 

 

The code above does putput the session variable (cat_name) and it also strips out duplicate array entries (which i want it to do) AND it resets after showing 5 pages (because I only want to show upto 5 category history links).

 

The code is a bit hashed together so be kind

 

The output after placing the code you requested (this  code):

echo'<pre>';
print_r($_SESSION);
die ('</pre>');

 

is:

Array
(
    [cat_name] => Array
        (
            [0] => Fiction
            [1] => Biography
        )

    [cat_id] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
            [4] => 5
        )

)

 

thanks for your kind help.

R

[PHP_PhREEEk]

<?php
for ( $x=0 ; $x < 6 ; $x++ ) {
    if ( !empty($_SESSION['cat_name'][$x] ) {
        echo 'Categories Viewed: <a href = "category.php?id=' . $_SESSION['cat_id'][$x] . '&cat=' . $_SESSION['cat_name'][$x] . '">' . $_SESSION['cat_name'][$x] . '</a><br>' . $_SESSION['cat_id'][$x] . "\n";
    }
}
unset($_SESSION['cat_name']);

 

Now that should typically do it, but one problem is your array structure...

 

['cat_name'] => 0 then 1 (good)

['cat_id'] => 0 then 4 (not good)

 

For this to work right, ['cat_id'] should be 0 and 1, with the proper values (the actual IDs). When it is correct, print_r should return:

 

Array
(
    [cat_name] => Array
        (
            [0] => Fiction
            [1] => Biography
        )

    [cat_id] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
            [1] => 5
        )

)

 

So... something's not quite right with your arrays.. gotta fix that...

 

PhREEEk

[richardjh]

After a bit a fiddling I have successfully managed to get your much better code to work PhREEEk - thanks

 

This is what i now have:

$_SESSION['cat_name'] = array_unique($_SESSION['cat_name']);
$_SESSION['cat_id'] = array_unique($_SESSION['cat_id']);
          
              
              for ( $x=0 ; $x < 6 ; $x++ ) {
    if (!empty($_SESSION['cat_name'][$x])) {
        echo 'Categories Viewed: <a href = "category.php?id=' . $_SESSION['cat_id'][$x] . '&cat=' . $_SESSION['cat_name'][$x] . '">' . $_SESSION['cat_name'][$x] . '</a><br>';
    }

}
#unset($_SESSION['cat_name']);       
#unset($_SESSION['cat_id']);    

 

I've had to comment out the unset commands because i) I only get one output instead of the required 5 and ii) if i refresh a page containing this bit of code i get:

Warning: array_unique(): The argument should be an array in /var/www/html/include/Last_Viewed_block.php on line 9

Warning: array_unique(): The argument should be an array in /var/www/html/include/Last_Viewed_block.php on line 10

 

I suspect that the unset part needs to be contained inside a statment but if i move it to be inside either  } I still get errors.

 

I wonder if instead of unsetting I could sort the session variables with krsort() so that the newest key is right at the top of the list?

 

Thanks for you help so far PhREEEk. As you have probably guessed i am a very green Noobie to php. The code that you supplied (above) took you all of 5 minutes whereas I either stumble on the answer or else find a very long alternative.

 

thanks again in advance of any further help you can provide so i can limit this category list.

 

R

[richardjh]

Further to my above post, i have done a bit more tweaking and the code below seems to have done the trick and behaves how I want it to behave:

if (empty($_SESSION['cat_name'])) { echo 'No categories viewed yet!'; }else {
$_SESSION['cat_name'] = array_unique($_SESSION['cat_name']);
$_SESSION['cat_id'] = array_unique($_SESSION['cat_id']);

              
              for ( $x=0 ; $x < 6 ; $x++ ) {
    if (!empty($_SESSION['cat_name'][$x])) {
            #  krsort($_SESSION['cat_id'][$x]);
        echo 'Categories Viewed: <a href = "category.php?id=' . $_SESSION['cat_id'][$x] . '&cat=' . $_SESSION['cat_name'][$x] . '">' . $_SESSION['cat_name'][$x] . '</a><br>';
    if ($x == 5) {
unset($_SESSION['cat_name']);       
unset($_SESSION['cat_id']);  
    
} // end session unset
  }
    } // end the for loop
      } // end the session empty statement

 

Very many thanks to PHP_PhREEEk for his swift reply and even swifter fix.

 

thanks.

 

BTW - if you see anything in the above code that looks suspect or wrong please let me know 

 

thanks again

R