CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phphtmlmysqlvariablesglobal-variables
user3298004
user3298004

Reputation: 195

How to store variables in PHP for use in different scripts?

I'm really new to programming in PHP so the problem I'm having may be an extremely simple one to solve but I cant find the solution online and I've tried a number of different methods myself so any help you can give me would be really appreciated. The problem I'm having is that when a user logs in to the system I need their username to be stored in a variable which can be used when a different PHP script is called. For instance, when the user first logs in to the system, the username they have entered is fetched using code similar to that seen below:

    $username = ($_POST['entered_username']);
    mysql_real_escape_string($username);

Where 'entered_username' is the name of the username input in the log in form within the HTML code. The problem I'm having is how to store the $username variable so it can be used in a different script. For instance when the user moves onto a page where he/she can see their own personal information which is stored in a MySQL database. Ideally I would like to use a SQL query such as the one below:

    $qry = ("select Username, Password, UserType from $table where Username = '".$username."'");

However this is not possible as the variable $username would not be defined in this script. So how can I store the $username variable in order to access it again via another PHP script. Thanks in advance for all your help and apologies if any of the information I have provided is too vague.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 1136

Answers (3)

display-name-is-missing
display-name-is-missing

Reputation: 4409

Most simple solution: SESSION variables.

On your login page, add this code at the top of the page:

session_start();

then set your variables like this:

$_SESSION['var_1'] = $some_val;
$_SESSION['var_2'] = $some_other_val;

you can then access them on any other php page with the session_start(); code on top. Note however that this session data gets deleted when the user closes his/her browser. For more persistant, "long-lived" variables use $_COOKIE variables or store values in db and access the variables from there.

Useful links

Upvotes: 1

user3281829
user3281829

Reputation: 17

Use $_SESSION variables. When a user logs in to your site store the variable in $_SESSION global variable.

session_start();
$_SESSION['user'] = $/* user */;

In another php script you can set ;

session_start();
$user = $_SESSION['user'];

Upvotes: 0

Styphon
Styphon

Reputation: 10447

You need to use the $_SESSION variable. It allows you to pass data between pages.

session_start();
$username = ($_POST['entered_username']);
mysql_real_escape_string($username);
$_SESSION['username'] = $username;

then on any other page you can call it by using:

session_start();
$qry = ("select Username, Password, UserType from $table where Username = '".$_SESSION['username']."'");

Make sure that you call session_start() at the top of your page, before you have outputted any HTML to the page. Otherwise you will cause a headers error.

Upvotes: 0

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