CSSE 290 Web Programming

Lecture 28: Cookies and Sessions

Reading: 14.1 - 14.4

Attribution:Except where otherwise noted, the contents of this document are Copyright 2012 Marty Stepp, Jessica Miller, and Victoria Kirst. All rights reserved. Any redistribution, reproduction, transmission, or storage of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited without the author's expressed written permission.

Otherwise noted: Claude Anderson was given permission to modify the slides for CSSE 290 at Rose-Hulman by author Jessica Miller. The authors' original slides, based on Web Programming Step by Step, can be seen at http://webstepbook.com.
Some of the examples in some days' slides are from David Fisher at Rose-Hulman, who was kind enough to allow me to use them. My intention is to mark these examples with [DSF].

Valid HTML Valid CSS!

14.1: Cookie Basics

Stateful client/server interaction

amazon cookie

Sites like amazon.com seem to "know who I am." How do they do this? How does a client uniquely identify itself to a server, and how does the server provide specific content to each client?

What is a cookie?

om nom nom

How cookies are sent

cookie exchange

Myths about cookies

A "tracking cookie"

tracking cookie figure

Where are the cookies on my computer?

good enough for me

How long does a cookie exist?

14.2: Programming with Cookies

Cookies in JavaScript

document.cookie = "username=smith";   // setting two cookies
document.cookie = "password=12345";
document.cookie = "age=29; expires=Thu, 01-Jan-1970 00:00:01 GMT";  // deleting a cookie
...

// (later)
var allCookies = document.cookie.split(";");    // ["username=smith", "password=12345"]
for (var i = 0; i < allCookies.length; i++) {
	var eachCookie = allCookies[i].split("=");    // ["username", "smith"]
	var cookieName = eachCookie[0];               // "username"
	var cookieValue = eachCookie[1];              // "smith"
	...
}

Provided Cookie library

<!-- using the instructor-provided Cookie.js class -->
<script src="http://www.webstepbook.com/Cookie.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

Cookie.set("username", "smith");
// (later)
alert(Cookie.get("username"));   // smith

Setting a cookie in PHP

setcookie("name", "value");

setcookie("username", "martay");
setcookie("favoritecolor", "blue");
  • technically, a cookie is just part of an HTTP header, and it could be set using PHP's header function (but this is less convenient, so you would not want to do this):
    • header("Set-Cookie: username=martay; path=/; secure");

Retrieving information from a cookie

$variable = $_COOKIE["name"];   # retrieve value of the cookie

if (isset($_COOKIE["username"])) {
	$username = $_COOKIE["username"];
	print("Welcome back, $username.\n");
} else {
	print("Never heard of you.\n");
}
print("All cookies received:\n");
print_r($_COOKIE);
  • unset function deletes a cookie

Setting a persistent cookie in PHP

setcookie("name", "value", timeout);

$expireTime = time() + 60*60*24*7;   # 1 week from now
setcookie("CouponNumber", "389752", $expireTime);
setcookie("CouponValue", "100.00", $expireTime);

Removing a persistent cookie

setcookie("name", "", time() - 1);

setcookie("CouponNumber", "", time() - 1);

14.3: Sessions

What is a session?

How sessions are established

session

Sessions in PHP: session_start

session_start();

Accessing session data

$_SESSION["name"] = value;        # store session data
$variable = $_SESSION["name"];     # read session data
if (isset($_SESSION["name"])) {  # check for session data

if (isset($_SESSION["points"])) {
	$points = $_SESSION["points"];
	print("You've earned $points points.\n");
} else {
	$_SESSION["points"] = 0;  # default
}

Where is session data stored?

session cookie

Session timeout

Ending a session

session_destroy();