PHP session variables not persisting on new page after form submission - php

Question

I have a quiz site which randomly shuffles and puts together multiple choice questions. The correct answers (as well as some other data) are stored in session variables, and the students' answers are sent via POST. On the page that the quiz form submission links to, the correct answers in SESSION are compared to the POST data, and the results of the quiz are displayed. The site used to work just fine, so I have no idea what happened to make it suddenly stop working.
I have checked to see that the session_id is the same on both pages and it is. I have made sure that start_session() is placed appropriately above all the HTML (and have even confirmed it by calling var_dump($_SESSION) on the first and second page, user login variables are displayed, but nothing else).
Here is the code from "startquiz.php" which assembles the quiz form. The session variables in question are just after the end of the "DISPLAY A QUESTION LOOP"
<?php
require_once('appvars.php');
require_once('startsession.php');
require_once('generalauthorize.php');
$page_title = '10 Question Quiz';
require_once('header.php');
require_once('navbar.php');
require_once('connectvars.php');
//=================MySQL HANDLING====================
$dbc = mysqli_connect(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_NAME);
$quizcount = count($_GET);
$content_array = [];
foreach($_GET as $quiz_content){
$quiz_content = $quiz_content . ' = 1';
array_push($content_array, $quiz_content);
}
$where_clause = implode(' OR ', $content_array);
$query = 'SELECT * FROM questionbank WHERE ' . $where_clause;
$data = mysqli_query($dbc, $query);
$questions_found = mysqli_num_rows($data);
mysqli_close($dbc);
//==================MySQL HANDLING=======================
if ($questions_found > 9) {
//==========MAKE A LIST OF POSSIBLE QUESTIONS==================
$possible_questions_array = [];
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_array($data)) {
array_push($possible_questions_array, $row);
}
//==========MAKE A LIST OF POSSIBLE QUESTIONS=================
// ============DECIDE WHICH 10 QUESTIONS TO USE=================
$quiz_array = [];
for($i = 0; $i < 10; $i++) {
$question_bank_count = count($possible_questions_array);
$random_question_number = rand(0, ($question_bank_count - 1));
array_push($quiz_array, $possible_questions_array[$random_question_number]);
array_splice($possible_questions_array, $random_question_number, 1);
}
// ============DECIDE WHICH 10 QUESTIONS TO USE=================
//============CREATE QUESTION META DATA ARRAY=================
$quiz_metadata_array = [];
for ($i = 0; $i < count($quiz_array); $i++) {
$question_holder = $quiz_array[$i];
$metadata_only = array_splice($question_holder, 12);
array_push($quiz_metadata_array, $metadata_only);
}
//============CREATE QUESTION META DATA ARRAY=================
echo '<div class="quiz-container">';
echo '<h2 class="mainpagetitles">Good Luck!</h2>';
echo '<br />';
echo '<form role="form" method="post" action="processquiz.php">';
//==============CREATE ARRAYS TO HOLD QUIZ DATA==========
$correct_answers = [];
$question_prompts = [];
//==============CREATE ARRAYS TO HOLD QUIZ DATA==========
//===============DISPLAY A QUESTION LOOP==================
for($i = 0; $i < (count($quiz_array)); $i++){
array_push($question_prompts, $quiz_array[$i]['question']);
//==================ISOLATE THE ANSWERS===============
$answers_array = [];
array_push($correct_answers, $quiz_array[$i]['answer']);
array_push($answers_array, $quiz_array[$i]['answer']);
array_push($answers_array, $quiz_array[$i]['distractor1']);
array_push($answers_array, $quiz_array[$i]['distractor2']);
array_push($answers_array, $quiz_array[$i]['distractor3']);
//==================ISOLATE THE ANSWERS===============
//=================SCRAMBLE THE ANSWERS==============
$scrambled_array = [];
$answer_count = count($answers_array);
for ($j = 0; $j < $answer_count; $j++) {
$random_answer_number = rand(0, (count($answers_array) - 1));
array_push($scrambled_array, $answers_array[$random_answer_number]);
array_splice($answers_array, $random_answer_number, 1);
}
//=================SCRAMBLE THE ANSWERS==============
//====================CREATE THE HTML=================
echo '<h3>Question ' . ($i + 1) . '.</h3>';
echo '<div class="question-container">';
echo '<p class="question">' . $quiz_array[$i]['question'] . '</p>';
//==============LOOP THROUGH THE SCRAMBLED ANSWERS===========
for($k = 0; $k < (count($scrambled_array)); $k++) {
echo '<label for="' . $i . $k . '" class="answer_choice">' . (chr((65 + $k))) . ': </label>';
echo '<input value="' . $scrambled_array[$k] . '" id="' . $i . $k . '" class="answer_choice" type="radio" name="' . $i . '" required><p class="answer_choice"> ' . $scrambled_array[$k] . '</p><br />';
}
//==============LOOP THROUGH THE SCRAMBLED ANSWERS===========
echo '</div>';
echo '<hr>';
//====================CREATE THE HTML=================
}
//===============DISPLAY A QUESTION LOOP==================
echo '<div class="center">';
$_SESSION['correct_answers'] = $correct_answers;
$_SESSION['question_prompts'] = $question_prompts;
$_SESSION['current_quiz'] = $_GET;
$_SESSION['current_quiz_meta'] = $quiz_metadata_array;
echo session_id();
echo '<button type="submit" class="centered-button">Finished!</button>';
echo '</div>';
echo '</form>';
echo '</div>';
} else {
echo '<div class="quiz-container">';
echo '<h2 class="center">Oh no!</h2>';
echo '<h4 class="center">It looks like there aren\'t enough questions in the database to take a quiz for this category yet!</h4>';
echo '<h4 class="center">Talk to your English teachers about adding some more.</h4>';
echo '<h4 class="center">Sorry about that!</h4><br />';
echo '<a class="main_menu_button" href="quizselect.php"> Okay </a>';
echo '</div>';
}
require_once('bootstrapfooter.php');
?>
And here is the code for the quiz processing page. When I insert a var_dump($_SESSION) on this page I get the login variables that are in session, but nothing else.
<?php
require_once('appvars.php');
require_once('startsession.php');
require_once('generalauthorize.php');
$page_title = 'Quiz Results';
require_once('header.php');
require_once('navbar.php');
require_once('connectvars.php');
//=====HAND OFF CURRENT QUIZ KEYWORDS TO LOCAL VARIABLE AND RESET GLOBAL====
$current_quiz = [];
foreach ($_SESSION['current_quiz'] as $key => $value) {
array_push($current_quiz, $value);
}
$_SESSION['current_quiz'] = "";
//=====HAND OFF CURRENT QUIZ KEYWORDS TO LOCAL VARIABLE AND RESET GLOBAL====
//=======UPDATE THE NUMBER OF THIS QUIZ TYPE TAKEN FOR THE USER ===========
$increment_these_quizzes = [];
for ($i = 0; $i < count($current_quiz); $i++) {
if ($current_quiz[$i] == "english_1_1" || $current_quiz[$i] == "english_1_2") {
if (!in_array('english_1_quiz_taken = english_1_quiz_taken + 1', $increment_these_quizzes)) {
$array_insert = 'english_1_quiz_taken = english_1_quiz_taken + 1';
array_push($increment_these_quizzes, $array_insert);
}
} elseif ($current_quiz[$i] == "english_2ot_1" || $current_quiz[$i] == "english_2ot_2") {
if (!in_array('english_2ot_quiz_taken = english_2ot_quiz_taken + 1', $increment_these_quizzes)) {
$array_insert = 'english_2ot_quiz_taken = english_2ot_quiz_taken + 1';
array_push($increment_these_quizzes, $array_insert);
}
} elseif ($current_quiz[$i] == "english_2pt_1" || $current_quiz[$i] == "english_2pt_2") {
if (!in_array('english_2pt_quiz_taken = english_2pt_quiz_taken + 1', $increment_these_quizzes)) {
$array_insert = 'english_2pt_quiz_taken = english_2pt_quiz_taken + 1';
array_push($increment_these_quizzes, $array_insert);
}
} elseif ($current_quiz[$i] == "english_2sw_1" || $current_quiz[$i] == "english_2sw_2") {
if (!in_array('english_2sw_quiz_taken = english_2sw_quiz_taken + 1', $increment_these_quizzes)) {
$array_insert = 'english_2sw_quiz_taken = english_2sw_quiz_taken + 1';
array_push($increment_these_quizzes, $array_insert);
}
} else {
$array_insert = $current_quiz[$i] . '_quiz_taken = ' . $current_quiz[$i] . '_quiz_taken + 1';
array_push($increment_these_quizzes, $array_insert);
}
}
$increment_this = implode(', ', $increment_these_quizzes);
$increase_quiz_count_query = "UPDATE memberinfo SET $increment_this WHERE user_id = $_SESSION[user_id]";
$dbc = mysqli_connect(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_NAME);
mysqli_query($dbc, $increase_quiz_count_query);
mysqli_close($dbc);
//=======UPDATE THE NUMBER OF THIS QUIZ TYPE TAKEN FOR THE USER ===========
//================GET QUESTION COUNT & SCORE QUIZ===========
$score = 0;
$question_count = count($_SESSION['correct_answers']);
for($i = 0; $i < $question_count; $i++) {
$switch = 0;
$keywords = [];
//==============CORRECT ANSWER HANDLING=====================
if ($_POST[$i] == $_SESSION['correct_answers'][$i]) {
$generic_array = [];
$correct_array = [];
$score++;
foreach ($_SESSION['current_quiz_meta'][$i] as $key => $value) {
if ($switch == 1) {
if ($value == 1) {
if ($key == "english_1_1" || $key == "english_1_2") {
if (!in_array('english_1_correct = english_1_correct + 1', $correct_array)) {
$key = 'english_1_correct = english_1_correct + 1';
array_push($correct_array, $key);
}
if (!in_array('english_1_answers = english_1_answers + 1', $generic_array)) {
$gkey = 'english_1_answers = english_1_answers + 1';
array_push($generic_array, $gkey);
}
} elseif ($key == "english_2ot_1" || $key == "english_2ot_2") {
if (!in_array('english_2ot_correct = english_2ot_correct + 1', $correct_array)) {
$key = 'english_2ot_correct = english_2ot_correct + 1';
array_push($correct_array, $key);
}
if (!in_array('english_2ot_answers = english_2ot_answers + 1', $generic_array)) {
$gkey = 'english_2ot_answers = english_2ot_answers + 1';
array_push($generic_array, $gkey);
}
} elseif ($key == "english_2pt_1" || $key == "english_2pt_2") {
if (!in_array('english_2pt_correct = english_2pt_correct + 1', $correct_array)) {
$key = 'english_2pt_correct = english_2pt_correct + 1';
array_push($correct_array, $key);
}
if (!in_array('english_2pt_answers = english_2pt_answers + 1', $generic_array)) {
$gkey = 'english_2pt_answers = english_2pt_answers + 1';
array_push($generic_array, $gkey);
}
} elseif ($key == "english_2sw_1" || $key == "english_2sw_2") {
if (!in_array('english_2sw_correct = english_2sw_correct + 1', $correct_array)) {
$key = 'english_2sw_correct = english_2sw_correct + 1';
array_push($correct_array, $key);
}
if (!in_array('english_2sw_answers = english_2sw_answers + 1', $generic_array)) {
$gkey = 'english_2sw_answers = english_2sw_answers + 1';
array_push($generic_array, $gkey);
}
} else {
$keyword_generic = $key . '_answers = ' . $key . '_answers + 1';
$keyword_correct = $key . '_correct = ' . $key . '_correct + 1';
array_push($generic_array, $keyword_generic);
array_push($correct_array, $keyword_correct);
}
}
$switch = 0;
} else {
$switch = 1;
}
}
$set_what_generic = implode(', ', $generic_array);
$set_what = implode(', ', $correct_array);
$update_query = "UPDATE memberinfo SET $set_what WHERE user_id = $_SESSION[user_id]";
$update_generic_query = "UPDATE memberinfo SET $set_what_generic WHERE user_id = $_SESSION[user_id]";
$dbc = mysqli_connect(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_NAME);
mysqli_query($dbc, $update_query);
mysqli_query($dbc, $update_generic_query);
mysqli_close($dbc);
//==============CORRECT ANSWER HANDLING=====================
//==============WRONG ANSWER HANDLING=====================
} else {
$generic_array = [];
foreach ($_SESSION['current_quiz_meta'][$i] as $key => $value) {
if ($switch == 1) {
if ($value == 1) {
if ($key == "english_1_1" || $key == "english_1_2") {
if (!in_array('english_1_answers = english_1_answers + 1', $generic_array)) {
$gkey = 'english_1_answers = english_1_answers + 1';
array_push($generic_array, $gkey);
}
} elseif ($key == "english_2ot_1" || $key == "english_2ot_2") {
if (!in_array('english_2ot_answers = english_2ot_answers + 1', $generic_array)) {
$gkey = 'english_2ot_answers = english_2ot_answers + 1';
array_push($generic_array, $gkey);
}
} elseif ($key == "english_2pt_1" || $key == "english_2pt_2") {
if (!in_array('english_2pt_answers = english_2pt_answers + 1', $generic_array)) {
$gkey = 'english_2pt_answers = english_2pt_answers + 1';
array_push($generic_array, $gkey);
}
} elseif ($key == "english_2sw_1" || $key == "english_2sw_2") {
if (!in_array('english_2sw_answers = english_2sw_answers + 1', $generic_array)) {
$gkey = 'english_2sw_answers = english_2sw_answers + 1';
array_push($generic_array, $gkey);
}
} else {
$keyword_generic = $key . '_answers = ' . $key . '_answers + 1';
array_push($generic_array, $keyword_generic);
}
}
$switch = 0;
} else {
$switch = 1;
}
}
$set_what_generic = implode(', ', $generic_array);
$update_generic_query = "UPDATE memberinfo SET $set_what_generic WHERE user_id = $_SESSION[user_id]";
$dbc = mysqli_connect(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_NAME);
mysqli_query($dbc, $update_generic_query);
mysqli_close($dbc);
}
//===============WRONG ANSWER HANDLING=====================
}
//================GET QUESTION COUNT & SCORE QUIZ===========
//============ADJUST OVERALL TOTALS AND SUCCESS RATES===================
$update_score_query = "UPDATE memberinfo SET score = total_answers * overall_success_rate WHERE user_id = $_SESSION[user_id]";
$increase_totals_query = "UPDATE memberinfo SET total_quizzes_taken = total_quizzes_taken + 1, total_answers = total_answers + $question_count, total_correct = total_correct + $score WHERE user_id = $_SESSION[user_id]";
$adjust_success_query = "UPDATE memberinfo SET overall_success_rate = (total_correct / total_answers) * 100, phys_con_success = (phys_con_correct / phys_con_answers) * 100, abbr_success = (abbr_correct / abbr_answers) * 100, anatomy_success = (anatomy_correct / anatomy_answers) * 100, society_success = (society_correct / society_answers) * 100, career_success = (career_correct / career_answers) * 100, ment_heal_success = (ment_heal_correct / ment_heal_answers) * 100, tools_success = (tools_correct / tools_answers) * 100, other_success = (other_correct / other_answers) * 100, english_1_success = (english_1_correct / english_1_answers) * 100, english_2ot_success = (english_2ot_correct / english_2ot_answers) * 100, english_2pt_success = (english_2pt_correct / english_2pt_answers) * 100, english_2sw_success = (english_2sw_correct / english_2sw_answers) * 100 WHERE user_id = $_SESSION[user_id]";
$dbc = mysqli_connect(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_NAME);
mysqli_query($dbc, $increase_totals_query);
mysqli_query($dbc, $adjust_success_query);
mysqli_query($dbc, $update_score_query);
//===============UPDATE THE RANKING CHARTS====================
//==========FIRS FLUSH ALL RANKINGS TO 0===================
$flush_rankings = "UPDATE memberinfo SET rank = 0";
mysqli_query($dbc, $flush_rankings);
//==========FIRS FLUSH ALL RANKINGS TO 0===================
//==========NEXT GET ELIGIBLE MEMBERS====================
$get_eligible_scores = "SELECT user_id FROM memberinfo WHERE total_quizzes_taken > 0 AND overall_success_rate >= 40 ORDER BY score DESC, overall_success_rate DESC, total_correct DESC";
$eligible_data = mysqli_query($dbc, $get_eligible_scores);
//==========NEXT GET ELIGIBLE MEMBERS====================
//==========LOOP THROUGH AND UPDATE THE DATABASE=================
$rank_number = 1;
while ($member_data = mysqli_fetch_array($eligible_data)) {
$rank_update_query = "UPDATE memberinfo SET rank = $rank_number WHERE user_id = $member_data[user_id]";
mysqli_query($dbc, $rank_update_query);
$rank_number++;
}
//==========LOOP THROUGH AND UPDATE THE DATABASE=================
//===============UPDATE THE RANKING CHARTS====================
mysqli_close($dbc);
//============ADJUST OVERALL TOTALS AND SUCCESS RATES===================
//=================DISPLAY SCORE & APPROPRIATE MESSAGE=========
echo '<div class="quiz_results">';
echo '<div class="container">';
if ($score == 10) {
echo '<h2 class="center">Perfect Score!!!</h2>';
} else if ($score > 7 && $score < 10) {
echo '<h2 class="center">Well Done!</h2>';
} else if ($score > 5 && $score < 8) {
echo '<h2 class="center">Good!</h2>';
} else if ($score > 3 && $score < 6) {
echo '<h2 class="center">Try a little harder!</h2>';
} else if ($score > 1 && $score < 4) {
echo '<h2 class="center">Oooh. Not good.</h2>';
} else if ($score <= 1) {
echo '<h2 class="center">Seriously? That bad?</h2>';
} else {
echo '<h2 class="center">How\'d you even get this score??</h2>';
}
echo '<h1 class="center">You scored ' . $score . '/' . $question_count . '</h1>';
//=================DISPLAY SCORE & APPROPRIATE MESSAGE=========
//================COMPARE AND DISPLAY ANSWERS=================
?>
<div id="quiz_table_headings" class="row">
<h2 class="col-xs-6">Correct Answer</h2>
<h2 class="col-xs-6">Your Answer</h2>
</div>
<?php
for ($i = 0; $i < $question_count; $i++) {
echo '<div id="quiz_table_question" class="row">';
echo '<p id="quiz_table_question_inner" class="col-xs-12">Question ' . ($i + 1) . ': ' . $_SESSION['question_prompts'][$i] . '</p>';
echo '</div>';
echo '<div id="quiz_table_data" class="row">';
echo '<p id="quiz_table_answer" class="col-xs-6">' . $_SESSION['correct_answers'][$i] . '</p>';
if ($_POST[$i] == $_SESSION['correct_answers'][$i]) {
echo '<p id="quiz_table_correct" class="col-xs-6">' . $_POST[$i] . '</p>';
} else {
echo '<p id="quiz_table_wrong" class="col-xs-6">' . $_POST[$i] . '</p>';
}
echo '</div>';
echo '<hr>';
}
echo '</div>';
//================COMPARE AND DISPLAY ANSWERS=================
//===========CREATE END OF QUIZ LINKS=====================
$replay_url = 'startquiz.php?';
$args_array = [];
for ($i = 0; $i < count($current_quiz); $i++) {
$arg = 'quiz' . $i . '=' . $current_quiz[$i];
array_push($args_array, $arg);
}
$link_args = "";
$link_args = implode('&', $args_array);
$replay_url .= $link_args;
//=============DISPLAY THE BUTTONS=====================
echo '<div class="container">';
echo '<div id="quiz_finish_buttons_row" class="row">';
echo '<div id="quiz_finish_buttons_col" class="col-xs-6">';
echo '<a class="centered-button" href="' . $replay_url . '">Take This Quiz Again</a>';
echo '</div>';
echo '<div id="quiz_finish_buttons_col" class="col-xs-6">';
echo '<a class="centered-button" href="quizselect.php">Back to Quiz Select</a><br />';
echo '</div>';
echo '</div></div>';
echo '</div>';
//=============DISPLAY THE BUTTONS=====================
//===========CREATE END OF QUIZ LINKS=====================
require_once('bootstrapfooter.php');
?>
I apologize for posting the entire code for each page, but I'm not a professional programmer and I'm not sure what is relevant and what isn't.

Answer 1

The problem has been resolved. It turns out the issue was with the php.ini file on the hosting site. They recently made some changes that I was unaware of and the temporary storage location for session files/variables became undefined. Once I edited that information in the .ini file, everything worked just fine.