Not able to determine when session is active in PHP

Question

So I want to be able to tell, in PHP, whether a session is currently active. I thought that this would be easy by either using session_status() or session_id(), but both return inconclusive results.

My PHP looks like this

if (session_id() == "") {
    echo json_encode("nope");
} else {
    echo json_encode("yep");
}

if (session_status() === PHP_SESSION_DISABLED) {
    echo json_encode("disabled");
} elseif (session_status() === PHP_SESSION_NONE) {
    echo json_encode("none");
} else {
    echo json_encode("active");
}

$handler = new DatabaseSessionHandler();
session_set_save_handler($handler, true);
session_start();

And I have an Angular app making http calls to this script to basically activate its session.

I've been testing this, and when I visit the site for the first time, no session_id is found and the session_status() returns back "none", as they both should. But the problem is, when I refresh the page, and this PHP script is runs, but this time I have an active session (the PHP session cookie shows up in my browser), session_id is still acting like none exists. And also, session_status() returns back, mistakenly "none".

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Edit 1: A few people have mentioned that putting the session_start() in front of testing if it is active or not should work. When I do this, a session_id is always found, and the session_status() always returns back "active". Even when a fresh new user visits the site, this still happens.

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 12 '18 at 06:50

1

The session won't be active until you call session_start(), which you don't do until after testing to see if the session is active.

answered Aug 12 '18 at 06:50

Quentin

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score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 12 '18 at 07:51

0

You should call session_start() at Top of the page and then perform the condition on it. In your case you are not starting session and you are testing for it.

answered Aug 12 '18 at 07:51

Hidayat Ullah

147
9

I can't see your edit I see only your previous code. – Hidayat Ullah Aug 13 '18 at 05:38
A few people have mentioned that putting the `session_start()` in front of testing if it is active or not should work. When I do this, a `session_id` is always found, and the `session_status()` always returns back `"active"`. Even when a fresh new user visits the site, this still happens. – Jacob Aug 13 '18 at 05:39
Now what is the problem if you are getting your status active, Sorry if I've not understand your problem, clarify your problem. – Hidayat Ullah Aug 13 '18 at 06:02
I want to be able to tell a fresh new user, one that doesn't currently have a session, from a user that already has a session. I mean what's the point of `session_status()` if it always returns `PHP_SESSION_ACTIVE` since the function is called after `session_start()`? – Jacob Aug 13 '18 at 19:31
Hope this help. – Hidayat Ullah Aug 14 '18 at 06:25
Sorry, I guess I missed this comment but, I already tried this. Before I call `session_start()`, `session_status()` **always** returns back `PHP_SESSION_NONE`, so this won't work. – Jacob Aug 18 '18 at 19:03

curi0uz_k0d3r · Answer 3 · 2018-08-12T06:59:15.720

I am not sure if this will solve your problem, but you could check if your session directory is writable:

if (!is_writable(session_save_path())) {
    echo 'Session path "'.session_save_path().'" is not writable for PHP!'; 
}

A question related to that is at PHP Session not Saving.

Elsewhere try the following:

if (session_id() == "") {
    session_start();
    echo json_encode("nope");
} else {
    echo json_encode("yep");
}

Not able to determine when session is active in PHP

3 Answers3