9 date 2008.01.22.03.21.31; author TWikiContributor; state Exp;
25 *extends* <tt>CGI::Session::ErrorHandler </tt>
31 CGI::Session - persistent session data in CGI applications
35 # Object initialization:
37 $session = new CGI::Session();
39 $CGISESSID = $session->id();
41 # send proper HTTP header with cookies:
42 print $session->header();
44 # storing data in the session
45 $session->param('f_name', 'Sherzod');
47 $session->param(-name=>'l_name', -value=>'Ruzmetov');
49 # flush the data from memory to the storage driver at least before your
50 # program finishes since auto-flushing can be unreliable
54 my $f_name = $session->param('f_name');
56 my $l_name = $session->param(-name=>'l_name');
58 # clearing a certain session parameter
59 $session->clear(["l_name", "f_name"]);
61 # expire '_is_logged_in' flag after 10 idle minutes:
62 $session->expire('is_logged_in', '+10m')
64 # expire the session itself after 1 idle hour
65 $session->expire('+1h');
67 # delete the session for good
72 CGI-Session is a Perl5 library that provides an easy, reliable and modular session management system across HTTP requests.
73 Persistency is a key feature for such applications as shopping carts, login/authentication routines, and application that
74 need to carry data across HTTP requests. CGI::Session does that and many more.
78 This document is also available in Japanese.
84 Translation based on 4.14: http://digit.que.ne.jp/work/index.cgi?Perldoc/ja
88 Translation based on 3.11, including Cookbook and Tutorial: http://perldoc.jp/docs/modules/CGI-Session-3.11/
94 Current manual is optimized to be used as a quick reference. To learn more both about the philosophy and CGI::Session
95 programming style, consider the following:
101 L<CGI::Session::Tutorial|CGI::Session::Tutorial> - extended CGI::Session manual. Also includes library architecture and driver specifications.
105 We also provide mailing lists for CGI::Session users. To subscribe to the list or browse the archives visit https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/cgi-session-user
109 B<RFC 2965> - "HTTP State Management Mechanism" found at ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2965.txt
113 L<CGI|CGI> - standard CGI library
117 L<Apache::Session|Apache::Session> - another fine alternative to CGI::Session.
123 Following is the overview of all the available methods accessible via CGI::Session object.
131 =head2 new( $dsn, $query||$sid )
133 =head2 new( $dsn, $query||$sid, \%dsn_args )
135 Constructor. Returns new session object, or undef on failure. Error message is accessible through L<errstr() - class method|CGI::Session::ErrorHandler/errstr>. If called on an already initialized session will re-initialize the session based on already configured object. This is only useful after a call to L<load()|/"load">.
137 Can accept up to three arguments, $dsn - Data Source Name, $query||$sid - query object OR a string representing session id, and finally, \%dsn_args, arguments used by $dsn components.
139 If called without any arguments, $dsn defaults to I<driver:file;serializer:default;id:md5>, $query||$sid defaults to C<< CGI->new() >>, and C<\%dsn_args> defaults to I<undef>.
141 If called with a single argument, it will be treated either as C<$query> object, or C<$sid>, depending on its type. If argument is a string , C<new()> will treat it as session id and will attempt to retrieve the session from data store. If it fails, will create a new session id, which will be accessible through L<id() method|/"id">. If argument is an object, L<cookie()|CGI/cookie> and L<param()|CGI/param> methods will be called on that object to recover a potential C<$sid> and retrieve it from data store. If it fails, C<new()> will create a new session id, which will be accessible through L<id() method|/"id">. C<name()> will define the name of the query parameter and/or cookie name to be requested, defaults to I<CGISESSID>.
143 If called with two arguments first will be treated as $dsn, and second will be treated as $query or $sid or undef, depending on its type. Some examples of this syntax are:
145 $s = CGI::Session->new("driver:mysql", undef);
146 $s = CGI::Session->new("driver:sqlite", $sid);
147 $s = CGI::Session->new("driver:db_file", $query);
148 $s = CGI::Session->new("serializer:storable;id:incr", $sid);
152 Following data source components are supported:
158 B<driver> - CGI::Session driver. Available drivers are L<file|CGI::Session::Driver::file>, L<db_file|CGI::Session::Driver::db_file>, L<mysql|CGI::Session::Driver::mysql> and L<sqlite|CGI::Session::Driver::sqlite>. Third party drivers are welcome. For driver specs consider L<CGI::Session::Driver|CGI::Session::Driver>
162 B<serializer> - serializer to be used to encode the data structure before saving
163 in the disk. Available serializers are L<storable|CGI::Session::Serialize::storable>, L<freezethaw|CGI::Session::Serialize::freezethaw> and L<default|CGI::Session::Serialize::default>. Default serializer will use L<Data::Dumper|Data::Dumper>.
167 B<id> - ID generator to use when new session is to be created. Available ID generator is L<md5|CGI::Session::ID::md5>
171 For example, to get CGI::Session store its data using DB_File and serialize data using FreezeThaw:
173 $s = new CGI::Session("driver:DB_File;serializer:FreezeThaw", undef);
175 If called with three arguments, first two will be treated as in the previous example, and third argument will be C<\%dsn_args>, which will be passed to C<$dsn> components (namely, driver, serializer and id generators) for initialization purposes. Since all the $dsn components must initialize to some default value, this third argument should not be required for most drivers to operate properly.
177 undef is acceptable as a valid placeholder to any of the above arguments, which will force default behavior.
181 =head2 load($query||$sid)
183 =head2 load($dsn, $query||$sid)
185 =head2 load($dsn, $query, \%dsn_args);
187 Accepts the same arguments as new(), and also returns a new session object, or
188 undef on failure. The difference is, L<new()|/"new"> can create new session if
189 it detects expired and non-existing sessions, but C<load()> does not.
191 C<load()> is useful to detect expired or non-existing sessions without forcing the library to create new sessions. So now you can do something like this:
193 $s = CGI::Session->load() or die CGI::Session->errstr();
194 if ( $s->is_expired ) {
197 $cgi->p("Your session timed out! Refresh the screen to start new session!")
202 if ( $s->is_empty ) {
203 $s = $s->new() or die $s->errstr;
206 Notice, all I<expired> sessions are empty, but not all I<empty> sessions are expired!
211 Returns effective ID for a session. Since effective ID and claimed ID can differ, valid session id should always
212 be retrieved using this method.
216 =head2 param(-name=E<gt>$name)
218 Used in either of the above syntax returns a session parameter set to $name or undef if it doesn't exist. If it's called on a deleted method param() will issue a warning but return value is not defined.
220 =head2 param($name, $value)
222 =head2 param(-name=E<gt>$name, -value=E<gt>$value)
224 Used in either of the above syntax assigns a new value to $name parameter,
225 which can later be retrieved with previously introduced param() syntax. C<$value>
226 may be a scalar, arrayref or hashref.
228 Attempts to set parameter names that start with I<_SESSION_> will trigger
229 a warning and undef will be returned.
231 =head2 param_hashref()
233 B<Deprecated>. Use L<dataref()|/"dataref"> instead.
237 Returns reference to session's data table:
239 $params = $s->dataref();
240 $sid = $params->{_SESSION_ID};
241 $name= $params->{name};
244 Useful for having all session data in a hashref, but too risky to update.
248 =head2 save_param($query)
250 =head2 save_param($query, \@@list)
252 Saves query parameters to session object. In other words, it's the same as calling L<param($name, $value)|/"param"> for every single query parameter returned by C<< $query->param() >>. The first argument, if present, should be either CGI object or any object which can provide param() method. If it's undef, defaults to the return value of L<query()|/"query">, which returns C<< CGI->new >>. If second argument is present and is a reference to an array, only those query parameters found in the array will be stored in the session. undef is a valid placeholder for any argument to force default behavior.
256 =head2 load_param($query)
258 =head2 load_param($query, \@@list)
260 Loads session parameters into a query object. The first argument, if present, should be query object, or any other object which can provide param() method. If second argument is present and is a reference to an array, only parameters found in that array will be loaded to the query object.
264 =head2 clear('field')
266 =head2 clear(\@@list)
268 Clears parameters from the session object.
270 With no parameters, all fields are cleared. If passed a single parameter or a
271 reference to an array, only the named parameters are cleared.
275 Synchronizes data in memory with the copy serialized by the driver. Call flush()
276 if you need to access the session from outside the current session object. You should
277 at least call flush() before your program exits.
279 As a last resort, CGI::Session will automatically call flush for you just
280 before the program terminates or session object goes out of scope. This automatic
281 behavior was the recommended behavior until the 4.x series. Automatic flushing
282 has since proven to be unreliable, and in some cases is now required in places
283 that worked with 3.x. For further details see:
285 http://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=17541
286 http://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=17299
290 Read-only method. Returns the last access time of the session in seconds from epoch. This time is used internally while
291 auto-expiring sessions and/or session parameters.
295 Read-only method. Returns the time when the session was first created in seconds from epoch.
301 =head2 expire($param, $time)
303 Sets expiration interval relative to L<atime()|/"atime">.
305 If used with no arguments, returns the expiration interval if it was ever set. If no expiration was ever set, returns undef. For backwards compatibility, a method named C<etime()> does the same thing.
307 Second form sets an expiration time. This value is checked when previously stored session is asked to be retrieved, and if its expiration interval has passed, it will be expunged from the disk immediately. Passing 0 cancels expiration.
309 By using the third syntax you can set the expiration interval for a particular
310 session parameter, say I<~logged-in>. This would cause the library call clear()
311 on the parameter when its time is up. Note it only makes sense to set this value to
312 something I<earlier> than when the whole session expires. Passing 0 cancels expiration.
314 All the time values should be given in the form of seconds. Following keywords are also supported for your convenience:
316 +-----------+---------------+
318 +-----------+---------------+
326 +-----------+---------------+
330 $session->expire("2h"); # expires in two hours
331 $session->expire(0); # cancel expiration
332 $session->expire("~logged-in", "10m"); # expires '~logged-in' parameter after 10 idle minutes
334 Note: all the expiration times are relative to session's last access time, not to its creation time. To expire a session immediately, call L<delete()|/"delete">. To expire a specific session parameter immediately, call L<clear([$name])|/"clear">.
339 Returns true only for a brand new session.
343 Tests whether session initialized using L<load()|/"load"> is to be expired. This method works only on sessions initialized with load():
345 $s = CGI::Session->load() or die CGI::Session->errstr;
346 if ( $s->is_expired ) {
347 die "Your session expired. Please refresh";
349 if ( $s->is_empty ) {
350 $s = $s->new() or die $s->errstr;
356 Returns true for sessions that are empty. It's preferred way of testing whether requested session was loaded successfully or not:
358 $s = CGI::Session->load($sid);
359 if ( $s->is_empty ) {
363 Actually, the above code is nothing but waste. The same effect could've been achieved by saying:
365 $s = CGI::Session->new( $sid );
367 L<is_empty()|/"is_empty"> is useful only if you wanted to catch requests for expired sessions, and create new session afterwards. See L<is_expired()|/"is_expired"> for an example.
371 Deletes a session from the data store and empties session data from memory, completely, so subsequent read/write requests on the same object will fail. Technically speaking, it will only set object's status to I<STATUS_DELETED> and will trigger L<flush()|/"flush">, and flush() will do the actual removal.
373 =head2 find( \&code )
375 =head2 find( $dsn, \&code )
377 =head2 find( $dsn, \&code, \%dsn_args )
379 Experimental feature. Executes \&code for every session object stored in disk, passing initialized CGI::Session object as the first argument of \&code. Useful for housekeeping purposes, such as for removing expired sessions. Following line, for instance, will remove sessions already expired, but are still in disk:
381 The following line, for instance, will remove sessions already expired, but which are still on disk:
383 CGI::Session->find( sub {} );
385 Notice, above \&code didn't have to do anything, because load(), which is called to initialize sessions inside find(), will automatically remove expired sessions. Following example will remove all the objects that are 10+ days old:
387 CGI::Session->find( \&purge );
390 next if $session->is_empty; # <-- already expired?!
391 if ( ($session->ctime + 3600*240) <= time() ) {
392 $session->delete() or warn "couldn't remove " . $session->id . ": " . $session->errstr;
396 B<Note>: find will not change the modification or access times on the sessions it returns.
398 Explanation of the 3 parameters to C<find()>:
404 This is the DSN (Data Source Name) used by CGI::Session to control what type of
405 sessions you previously created and what type of sessions you now wish method
406 C<find()> to pass to your callback.
408 The default value is defined above, in the docs for method C<new()>, and is
409 'driver:file;serializer:default;id:md5'.
411 Do not confuse this DSN with the DSN arguments mentioned just below, under \%dsn_args.
415 This is the callback provided by you (i.e. the caller of method C<find()>)
416 which is called by CGI::Session once for each session found by method C<find()>
417 which matches the given $dsn.
419 There is no default value for this coderef.
421 When your callback is actually called, the only parameter is a session. If you
422 want to call a subroutine you already have with more parameters, you can
423 achieve this by creating an anonymous subroutine that calls your subroutine
424 with the parameters you want. For example:
426 CGI::Session->find($dsn, sub { my_subroutine( @@_, 'param 1', 'param 2' ) } );
427 CGI::Session->find($dsn, sub { $coderef->( @@_, $extra_arg ) } );
429 Or if you wish, you can define a sub generator as such:
431 sub coderef_with_args {
432 my ( $coderef, @@params ) = @@_;
433 return sub { $coderef->( @@_, @@params ) };
436 CGI::Session->find($dsn, coderef_with_args( $coderef, 'param 1', 'param 2' ) );
440 If your $dsn uses file-based storage, then this hashref might contain keys such as:
443 Directory => Value 1,
448 If your $dsn uses db-based storage, then this hashref contains (up to) 3 keys, and looks like:
451 DataSource => Value 1,
456 These 3 form the DSN, username and password used by DBI to control access to your database server,
457 and hence are only relevant when using db-based sessions.
459 The default value of this hashref is undef.
463 B<Note:> find() is meant to be convenient, not necessarily efficient. It's best suited in cron scripts.
465 =head1 MISCELLANEOUS METHODS
469 Returns the remote address of the user who created the session for the first time. Returns undef if variable REMOTE_ADDR wasn't present in the environment when the session was created.
474 Class method. Returns last error message from the library.
478 Returns a dump of the session object. Useful for debugging purposes only.
482 Replacement for L<CGI.pm|CGI>'s header() method. Without this method, you usually need to create a CGI::Cookie object and send it as part of the HTTP header:
484 $cookie = CGI::Cookie->new(-name=>$session->name, -value=>$session->id);
485 print $cgi->header(-cookie=>$cookie);
487 You can minimize the above into:
489 print $session->header();
491 It will retrieve the name of the session cookie from C<$session->name()> which defaults to C<$CGI::Session::NAME>. If you want to use a different name for your session cookie, do something like following before creating session object:
493 CGI::Session->name("MY_SID");
494 $session = new CGI::Session(undef, $cgi, \%attrs);
496 Now, $session->header() uses "MY_SID" as a name for the session cookie.
500 Returns query object associated with current session object. Default query object class is L<CGI.pm|CGI>.
502 =head2 DEPRECATED METHODS
504 These methods exist solely for for compatibility with CGI::Session 3.x.
508 Closes the session. Using flush() is recommended instead, since that's exactly what a call
513 CGI::Session consists of several components such as L<drivers|"DRIVERS">, L<serializers|"SERIALIZERS"> and L<id generators|"ID GENERATORS">. This section lists what is available.
517 Following drivers are included in the standard distribution:
523 L<file|CGI::Session::Driver::file> - default driver for storing session data in plain files. Full name: B<CGI::Session::Driver::file>
527 L<db_file|CGI::Session::Driver::db_file> - for storing session data in BerkelyDB. Requires: L<DB_File>.
528 Full name: B<CGI::Session::Driver::db_file>
532 L<mysql|CGI::Session::Driver::mysql> - for storing session data in MySQL tables. Requires L<DBI|DBI> and L<DBD::mysql|DBD::mysql>.
533 Full name: B<CGI::Session::Driver::mysql>
537 L<sqlite|CGI::Session::Driver::sqlite> - for storing session data in SQLite. Requires L<DBI|DBI> and L<DBD::SQLite|DBD::SQLite>.
538 Full name: B<CGI::Session::Driver::sqlite>
548 L<default|CGI::Session::Serialize::default> - default data serializer. Uses standard L<Data::Dumper|Data::Dumper>.
549 Full name: B<CGI::Session::Serialize::default>.
553 L<storable|CGI::Session::Serialize::storable> - serializes data using L<Storable>. Requires L<Storable>.
554 Full name: B<CGI::Session::Serialize::storable>.
558 L<freezethaw|CGI::Session::Serialize::freezethaw> - serializes data using L<FreezeThaw>. Requires L<FreezeThaw>.
559 Full name: B<CGI::Session::Serialize::freezethaw>
563 L<yaml|CGI::Session::Serialize::yaml> - serializes data using YAML. Requires L<YAML> or L<YAML::Syck>.
564 Full name: B<CGI::Session::Serialize::yaml>
568 L<json|CGI::Session::Serialize::json> - serializes data using JSON. Requires L<JSON::Syck>.
569 Full name: B<CGI::Session::Serialize::json>
575 Following ID generators are available:
581 L<md5|CGI::Session::ID::md5> - generates 32 character long hexadecimal string. Requires L<Digest::MD5|Digest::MD5>.
582 Full name: B<CGI::Session::ID::md5>.
586 L<incr|CGI::Session::ID::incr> - generates incremental session ids.
590 L<static|CGI::Session::ID::static> - generates static session ids. B<CGI::Session::ID::static>
597 CGI::Session evolved to what it is today with the help of following developers. The list doesn't follow any strict order, but somewhat chronological. Specifics can be found in F<Changes> file
603 =item Brian King E<lt>mrbbking@@mac.comE<gt>
605 =item Olivier Dragon E<lt>dragon@@shadnet.shad.caE<gt>
607 =item Adam Jacob E<lt>adam@@sysadminsith.orgE<gt>
609 =item Igor Plisco E<lt>igor@@plisco.ruE<gt>
613 =item Matt LeBlanc E<lt>mleblanc@@cpan.orgE<gt>
615 =item Shawn Sorichetti
621 Copyright (C) 2001-2005 Sherzod Ruzmetov E<lt>sherzodr@@cpan.orgE<gt>. All rights reserved.
622 This library is free software. You can modify and or distribute it under the same terms as Perl itself.
624 =head1 PUBLIC CODE REPOSITORY
626 You can see what the developers have been up to since the last release by
627 checking out the code repository. You can browse the Subversion repository from here:
629 http://svn.cromedome.net/
631 Or check it directly with C<svn> from here:
633 svn://svn.cromedome.net/CGI-Session
637 If you need help using CGI::Session consider the mailing list. You can ask the list by sending your questions to
638 cgi-session-user@@lists.sourceforge.net .
640 You can subscribe to the mailing list at https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/cgi-session-user .
642 Bug reports can be submitted at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=CGI-Session
646 Sherzod Ruzmetov E<lt>sherzodr@@cpan.orgE<gt>, http://author.handalak.com/
648 Mark Stosberg became a co-maintainer during the development of 4.0. C<markstos@@cpan.org>.
656 L<CGI::Session::Tutorial|CGI::Session::Tutorial> - extended CGI::Session manual
660 B<RFC 2965> - "HTTP State Management Mechanism" found at ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2965.txt
664 L<CGI|CGI> - standard CGI library
668 L<Apache::Session|Apache::Session> - another fine alternative to CGI::Session