RE: [PHP] Session variables and register_global

> -----Original Message----- > From: Niklas Neumann [mailto:usenet21@n-neumann.de] > Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 3:20 AM > To: php-general@lists.php.net > Subject: [PHP] Session variables and register_global > > session_register("test"); > $GLOBALS['HTTP_SESSION_VARS']['test'] = 'Hello World!'; > > does not work properly (session variable test is not > initialized with the > value 'Hello World!') if register_globals is turned on, but > when it is > turned off? $test and $GLOBALS['HTTP_SESSION_VARS']['test'] are *not* the same variable *while on the current page*: $test = "Goodbye cruel world!"; session_register("test"); $GLOBALS['HTTP_SESSION_VARS']['test'] = 'Hello World!'; echo $test; // prints Goodbye cruel world! echo $GLOBALS['HTTP_SESSION_VARS']['test']; // prints Hello World! What happens on the *next page* depends on whether register_globals is on or off. If it is on, then: echo $test; // prints Goodbye cruel world! echo $GLOBALS['HTTP_SESSION_VARS']['test']; // also prints Goodbye cruel world! The value in the GLOBAL variable $test gets written to $GLOBALS['HTTP_SESSION_VARS']['test'] when PHP stores the session variables between pages. If register_globals is off, then: echo $test; // prints nothing echo $GLOBALS['HTTP_SESSION_VARS']['test']; // prints Hello World! This is because there are no session variables outside of $HTTP_SESSION_VARS when register_globals is off. Also, all references to POST/GET variables must be made through the corresponding $HTTP_***_VARS arrays. This is a complicated aspect of PHP, and the manual is not real clear on how this all works. I strongly urge you to write up some short test code and see for yourself what is going on with register_globals. Kirk