#19882 [Opn->Bgs]: Nonfunctional session_decode()

ID: 19882 Updated by: iliaa@php.net Reported By: matt@dfstudios.com -Status: Open +Status: Bogus Bug Type: Session related Operating System: Redhat 7.2 PHP Version: 4CVS-2002-10-12 New Comment: Thank you for taking the time to write to us, but this is not a bug. Please double-check the documentation available at http://www.php.net/manual/ and the instructions on how to report a bug at http://bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php Unless you do session_start() before doing session_decode(), the latter will fail to produce valid data. You MUST call session start before calling session_decode. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2002-10-12 23:21:54] matt@dfstudios.com To answer iliaa's question: No, session_start is called on a separate page. This is really weird, I made up the following script as per Sniper's request: <? session_start(); session_register('testvar'); $testvar = "test"; $data = session_encode(); $testvar = "false"; session_decode($data); echo("$testvar"); ?> Strangely, THIS script works fine (if it was 'broken', it should output "false", while it in fact prints "test"). However, I've made another script where the error is replicated: www.dfstudios.com/session_test.php Here's the source: session_test.php------ <? session_start(); session_register('testvar'); $testvar = "test"; $data = session_encode(); echo("testvar is \"$testvar\", and has been encoded: $data <br><br>"); ?> <a href="session_test2.php?<? echo("$data"); ?>>Click here for page two</a> session_test2.php------ <? session_decode($QUERY_STRING); echo("testvar is \"$testvar\", and the string used for decoding is $QUERY_STRING <br><br>"); ?> Notice how $testvar is properly set on the first page and encoded properly, but in the second page $testvar is null. It seems that if session_start and session_decode are called in separate pages the decode function fails. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2002-10-12 21:42:27] sniper@php.net I closed the other report since it really is same issue. Please add a short simple script which clearly shows the problem you're having. And all in one single script, thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2002-10-12 20:09:30] iliaa@php.net But does that page that calls session_decode call session_start itself? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2002-10-12 20:02:38] matt@dfstudios.com Yes, session_start() is called in another page. I store the session data string in a local database and pass the session ID from page to page. I should note that I've used these scripts with no problems for MONTHS, I began experiencing crashes yesterday, for no reason I can identify, and it's been all downhill from there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2002-10-12 19:49:26] iliaa@php.net Did you initialize a session by calling session_start() before calling session_decode() ? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The remainder of the comments for this report are too long. To view the rest of the comments, please view the bug report online at http://bugs.php.net/19882 -- Edit this bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=19882&edit=1