php session variable not updating a 2 dimensional array after initializing

Question

I'm almost embarrassed to ask because it seems so simple, but I can't get it to update.

When the user logs in I set the session vars like array('users'=>array('timezone'=>'America/los Angeles'));

I can then retrieve the data as follows: $_SESSION['users']['timezone']

and it works fine.

However in the user profile page the user can change their timezone and when I try to update the $_SESSION as follows it doesn't work:

$_SESSION['users']['timezone'] = 'America/Denver';

What am I doing wrong?

--- More code as requested -------

I found that the session variables were being set by a function inside of a class

Here's the function:

function session_var_register($object_name, $var_value)
    {
        $_SESSION[$object_name]=$var_value;
    }

Here's how the function got called:

$gf->session_var_register("users", $user_array)

Users Array looks like array('users'=>array('timezone'=>'America/los Angeles'));

I don't understand why this doesn't work. I was able to get around the problem though by bypassing the function call and just creating the array like:

$_SESSION['users'] = $user_array;

But for knowledge reasons and if anyone else comes along this post, could anyone explain what the function was doing different? There were no errors thrown, just would not allow me to assign anything to the session variable once it was registered via the function...almost acted like it became read_only once instantiated.

Scott Saunders · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-14 20:15:02Z

2

Make sure you session_start() on every page that accesses the $_SESSION variable.

answered Jul 14, 2010 at 20:15

Scott Saunders

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3 Comments

Scott Saunders Over a year ago

Thanks Kris. I caught the mix up after I submitted and have edited to fix the answer. I can never keep PHP function names straight :)

Ronedog Over a year ago

thanks. checked it and session is started...var_dump($_SESSION) showed everything...but still can't assign to it?

Scott Saunders Over a year ago

You may want to show more of your code then. There's no reason it shouldn't work based on what you've described so far.

Justin Summerlin · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-14 20:16:45Z

0

Sounds like the code that updates it may not be getting executed. You might try putting some kind of debugging statement before this assignment like an echo to verify that the action is being taken.

answered Jul 14, 2010 at 20:16

Justin Summerlin

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Ronedog Over a year ago

did that and it is executing to that statement, but just doesn't assign to the session.

danp · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-14 20:17:57Z

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Following on from Scott's reply, double checking your session is started is a good "start".

There's a good tip here which you may find useful in debugging.

answered Jul 14, 2010 at 20:17

danp

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Frank Nwoko · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-11 22:20:36Z

0

re-initialize your session id. That way you are sure it has a new spanking id to store your variables.

answered Jan 11, 2011 at 22:20

Frank Nwoko

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troseman · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-07 01:03:37Z

0

Are you doing a redirect soon after this code?

Do a session_write_close() before doing a redirect so that session vars are stored again before redirecting.

answered Jun 7, 2012 at 1:03

troseman

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