CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascripthtml
Daan Poron
Daan Poron

Reputation: 2758

Session only cookies with Javascript

I was wondering if it's possible to create session only cookies with Javascript. When the browser is closed the cookies should be removed.

I can't use anything on the server as the website is HTML only ... so no server side script is used.

I read something about this here: http://blog.lysender.com/2011/08/setting-session-only-cookie-via-javascript/ but i can't find any more information about this ... so i was wondering if this method is reliable.

Upvotes: 112

Views: 251980

Answers (4)

Rhumborl
Rhumborl

Reputation: 16609

Yes, that is correct.

Not putting an expires part in will create a session cookie, whether it is created in JavaScript or on the server.

See https://stackoverflow.com/a/532660/1901857

For the use case in the question (no server side code), sessionStorage is a simpler solution. But sessionStorage is client only, so would not work if you need to access the stored value on the server (e.g. user logins etc.)

Also be aware, as @muzzletov and the OP point out, sessionStorage is per tab so opening a link in a new tab will not have this available. There are some ways around this via localStorage suggested here

Upvotes: 176

Tanay Soft
Tanay Soft

Reputation: 7

Use the below code for a setup session cookie, it will work until browser close. (make sure not close tab)

function setCookie(cname, cvalue, exdays) {
    var d = new Date();
    d.setTime(d.getTime() + (exdays*24*60*60*1000));
    var expires = "expires="+ d.toUTCString();
    document.cookie = cname + "=" + cvalue + ";" + expires + ";path=/";
  }
  function getCookie(cname) {
    var name = cname + "=";
    var decodedCookie = decodeURIComponent(document.cookie);
    var ca = decodedCookie.split(';');
    for(var i = 0; i <ca.length; i++) {
      var c = ca[i];
      while (c.charAt(0) == ' ') {
        c = c.substring(1);
      }
      if (c.indexOf(name) == 0) {
        return c.substring(name.length, c.length);
      }
    }
    return false;
  }
  
  
  if(getCookie("KoiMilGaya")) {
    //alert('found'); 
    // Cookie found. Display any text like repeat user. // reload, other page visit, close tab and open again.. 
  } else {
    //alert('nothing');
    // Display popup or anthing here. it shows on first visit only.  
    // this will load again when user closer browser and open again. 
    setCookie('KoiMilGaya','1');
  }

Upvotes: -1

Cerbrus
Cerbrus

Reputation: 72849

A simpler solution would be to use sessionStorage, in this case:

var myVariable = "Hello World";

sessionStorage['myvariable'] = myVariable;

var readValue = sessionStorage['myvariable'];
console.log(readValue);

However, keep in mind that sessionStorage saves everything as a string, so when working with arrays / objects, you can use JSON to store them:

var myVariable = {a:[1,2,3,4], b:"some text"};

sessionStorage['myvariable'] = JSON.stringify(myVariable);
var readValue = JSON.parse(sessionStorage['myvariable']);

A page session lasts for as long as the browser is open and survives over page reloads and restores. Opening a page in a new tab or window will cause a new session to be initiated.

So, when you close the page / tab, the data is lost.

Upvotes: 55

Gaurav Agarwal
Gaurav Agarwal

Reputation: 883

For creating session only cookie with java script, you can use the following. This works for me.

document.cookie = "cookiename=value; expires=0; path=/";

then get cookie value as following

 //get cookie 
var cookiename = getCookie("cookiename");
if (cookiename == "value") {
    //write your script
}

//function getCookie        
function getCookie(cname) {
    var name = cname + "=";
    var ca = document.cookie.split(';');
    for (var i = 0; i < ca.length; i++) {
        var c = ca[i];
        while (c.charAt(0) == ' ') c = c.substring(1);
        if (c.indexOf(name) != -1) return c.substring(name.length, c.length);
    }
    return "";
}

Okay to support IE we can leave "expires" completely and can use this

document.cookie = "mtracker=somevalue; path=/";

Upvotes: 13

Related Questions