Ussing an Array as a Session Variable

[lightnb]

I'm trying to access/use an array as a session variable, but get a parse error. Is this allowed/possible?

Example:

if($_SESSION["userprefs['time_standard']" == 1)
            { // use 12 hour clock 
            $call['start_time'] = date(g ,$outlook_row['call_start']) .":" . date(i ,$outlook_row['call_start']);
            }
            else
            { // use 24 hour clock
            $call['start_time'] = date(H ,$outlook_row['call_start']) .":" . date(i ,$outlook_row['call_start']);
            } 

Thanks,

Nick

[MrCoder]

// Populate the session using the array
$_SESSION['userprefs'] = serialize($userprefs);

// Populate the array using the session
$userprefs = unserialize($_SESSION['userprefs']); 

[NightShift58]

The parse error comes from a missing bracket. To get rid of the parse error, it should be:

if($_SESSION["userprefs['time_standard']"] == 1) 

But... this isn't going anywhere, unless you previously really did store the string "userprefs['time_standard']" as a session variable.

Since your thread is titled "Using an Array as a Session Variable", my guess is that you're after something else.

<?php
session_start();
$userprefs['time_standard'] = 1;
$_SESSION['userprefs']['time_standard'] = $userprefs['time_standard'];
IF ($_SESSION['userprefs']['time_standard'] == 1) :
  echo "Nightshift58 finally go it right";
ELSE :
  echo "Nightshift58... not again...";
ENDIF;
?>

[lightnb]

Based on the following assumptions (which may not be true), that is exactly what I'm looking for.

Assuming:

1. It is faster to load all of the user preferences into a session variable at log in rather than querying the database each time a preference is needed.

2. It is more logical to store all of the user preferences in a single (array) variable than to have 30-40 individual session variables floating around.


Thanks!

Can you also use that syntax to put an array inside of an array?

such as:

$my_array['item']['subitem'] = 1; 

[NightShift58]

Based on the following assumptions (which may not be true), that is exactly what I'm looking for. Assuming:

1. It is faster to load all of the user preferences into a session variable at log in rather than querying the database each time a preference is needed.

2. It is more logical to store all of the user preferences in a single (array) variable than to have 30-40 individual session variables floating around.

Considering that there are no session variables as such but a $_SESSION array, I would say that they're not really floating around. You can - as a matter of personal choice and coding comfort - choose to put the user preferences into an array and than store that array in the $_SESSION array. I don't think PHP puts a penalty on that.

Can you also use that syntax to put an array inside of an array? such as:

$my_array['item']['subitem'] = 1; 

yes, that's one way.