My site has a list of users and each user is a member of different areas (groups, locations, etc). Instead of making a DB call every time I want to make a list, I want to store the array variables in session.
//creates the array of groups that the user is in
$_SESSION['gx']=mysql_query("SELECT * FROM `members` WHERE `user`='$user'");
Now my page loads and session_start() runs. However, when my page goes to retrieve that session variable, it's not there. Any suggestions?
Thanks
The return value of mysql_query cannot be serialized (stored into a session). But you can pull the results out a regular array and serialize that:
$res = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM `members` WHERE `user`='$user'");
if ($res) {
$_SESSION['gx'] = mysql_fetch_array($res);
}
Warning: Depending on where $user gets its value from, this code might be vulnerable to SQL injection. Code responsibly.
mysql_query() doesn't return an array of the results, it returns a resource which you can use for mysql_fetch_array(), etc.
You have to fetch the data first:
$res = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM `members` WHERE `user`='$user'") or die('Error!');
$_SESSION['gx'] = array();
while ( $arr = mysql_fetch_array($res, MYSQL_ASSOC) )
{
$_SESSION['gx'][] = $arr;
}
I believe that the usernames are unique, so you only need one call to mysql_fetch_*(), for example:
$res = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM `members` WHERE `user`='$user'") or die('Error!');
$_SESSION['gx'] = mysql_fetch_array($res, MYSQL_ASSOC);
mysql_query() does not return an array, but a resource. Get the values out of the resource first and then store the result in your session.
You are executing a query but are returning a resource, not results. You need to fetch an array if you want the data.
$_SESSION['gx']=mysql_fetch_array(mysql_query("SELECT * FROM `members` WHERE `user`='$user'"));
mysql_query() returns a ressource, you need to fetch this ressource in an array like this:
$query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM `members` WHERE `user`='" . mysql_escape_string($user) . "'");
$_SESSION['gx'] = mysql_fetch_array($query, MYSQL_ASSOC);
Also, you have a potential security hole. You probably want to escape $user with mysql_escape_string() to avoid SQL injections.
mysql_querydoes not return an array ... it returns a result resource ... you'll need to build the array from the query result ...