Php session global variables

Question

I use sessions with php, I use session_start and store some variables that are passed from a login form, the variables are 'user_name' and 'user_role' at the beginning of code I check if those variables are set, and if not, redirect to loggin scree. Now the problem is that I have a include file that has the menu options in it, if the user is a privileged user, it shows more options than if it's not. my problem is that when the include file is processed i get PHP Notice: Undefined index: user_name in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\2StarsGames.com\SomeGame v4.1\interface\HeaderMenu.php on line 20 'user_name' Since i don't get errors in the rest of the files, i just included the menu file in this post. Can someone tell me if there's a special treatment of sessions if are inside a separate file?

<div id="page_header"> 
<img class="logoImage" src="./img/some1.png" align="left" />
SUPER B 
<img class="logoImage" src="./img/some2.png" align="right" />
</div>

<div id="page_menu">
<center>
    <a class="menu" href="./Contest.php">Contest</a>
    <a class="menu" href="./Cards.php">Cards</a>
    <a class="menu" href="./PlayersPoints.php">Players Points</a>   
    <a class="menu" href="./SBCardsCode.php">Card's Code</a> 
    <a class="menu" href="./Avatars.php">Avatars</a>   
    <a class="menu" href="./Sims.php">Sims</a>   
    <a class="menu" href="./Boards.php">Boards</a> <br/>   
    <a class="menu" href="./Charity.php">Charity</a>
    <?php 
        $username = strtolower($_SESSION['user_name']);
        if($username == 'some name1' ||
           $username == 'some name2' ||
           $username == 'some name3' ||
           $username == 'some name4')
        {
            echo "          
                <a class='menu' href='./PayoutsNoWin.php'>Payouts</a>  
                <a class='menu' href='./Payins.php'>Payins|</a>            
                <a class='menu' href='./Payments.php'>Payments</a>
                <a class='menu' href='./Tools.php'>Tools</a>  
                <a class='menu' href='./TransferData.php'>Transfer Data</a>
                <a class='menu' href='./Games.php'>Games</a>
                ";
        }
    ?>
</center>

edit the session_start() is in the file that includes this one.

Are you sure that session_start gets called before the include? — Thomas Glaser
– Thomas Glaser, Commented Nov 22, 2012 at 8:36
session_start gets called before anything in the file that includes this one. I also check for those variables on top and if they are not set I redirect to loggin screen. — Not Amused
– Not Amused, Commented Nov 22, 2012 at 8:37
this can only happen if you set $_SESSION variable after your menu file is included, therefore menu file cannot yet get the $_SESSION keys. I would suggest you switch $_SESSION setting before inclusion of file — Ivan Hušnjak
– Ivan Hušnjak, Commented Nov 22, 2012 at 8:41

soulfreshner · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-22 08:37:21Z

1

You need to suppress the error reporting:

$username = strtolower(@$_SESSION['user_name']);

or better, check for isset($_SESSION['user_name']) before using the variable.

answered Nov 22, 2012 at 8:37

soulfreshner

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3 Comments

Not Amused Over a year ago

Why suppress it? If it's there it means that something is wrong. Shouldn't I better fix it?

Not Amused Over a year ago

I can't believe I'm doing this... but I have to select an answer, and yours as much hacky as it is, seems to be the best. I suppressed. :( No error, and everything works as they should. I'm sure I will go back to this soon, but I'm too tired with this thing to keep looking. Ty everybody for your help.

soulfreshner Over a year ago

Welcome to production code :)... You should rather be using if(!empty($_SESSION['user_name'])) or if(isset($_SESSION['user_name'])). In this case, however - it should be obvious to any experienced programmer why the error is suppressed...as hacky as it is ;)

SteB · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-22 08:48:40Z

0

The error seems to be occurring here:

$username = strtolower($_SESSION['user_name']);

"Undefined index" basically means that the 'user_name' index cannot be found in the $_SESSION variable.

Can you post your code where you're setting this?
And ensure this code runs before your check for $_SESSION['user_name'];

edited Nov 22, 2012 at 8:48

answered Nov 22, 2012 at 8:39

SteB

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4 Comments

Not Amused Over a year ago

after session_start in ALL scripts i includ another file called Lock.php which contains the following lines. if(!isset($_SESSION['logged_in'], $_SESSION['user_name'], $_SESSION['user_role'])) { header('Location: Login.php'); } so since I reach the point where it uses the session variables, it means that they are there. At least that's what I thought when I wrote the code.

Not Amused Over a year ago

The weird thing is that the code runs fine... I just get that error. It's weird.

SteB Over a year ago

If the Payment, Tools menu items are being echoed out, can you include an "echo $username" to see what this variable contains? You may need to step down your error reporting level to do this.

Not Amused Over a year ago

I noticed something, that error occurs only when I first loggin but it doesn't cause any damage, and the print_r shows that session data are set. So something has to be wrong in the code indeed. I'll do more search.

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