Mysqli_fetch_assoc not storing as a session variable - php

Question

I am trying to store my outputted table from mySQL query into session variables and for use in another page. Here's what I have so far, but I do not get an output:
First page that displays the results of my search:
<?php
session_start();
$personid = ($_POST['personid']) ? $_POST['personid'] : $_GET['personid'];
if (empty($personid)) {
echo 'Please enter some search parameters';
} else {
$sql = "SELECT * FROM persons WHERE 1=1";
if ($personid)
$sql .= " AND personid='" . mysqli_real_escape_string($mysqli,$personid) . "'";
$total_records = mysqli_num_rows(mysqli_query($mysqli,$sql));
$sql .= " ORDER BY surname";
$loop = mysqli_query($mysqli,$sql)
or die ('cannot run the query because: ' . mysqli_error($mysqli));
echo "<table border='1' cellpadding='10'>";
echo "<tr> <th>Name</th> <th>Address</th> <th>City</th> <th>Province</th> <th>Postal Code</th> <th>Phone Number</th> <th>Email</th> <th></th></tr>";
while ($record = mysqli_fetch_assoc($loop)) {
echo "<tr>";
/* echo '<td>' . $record['firstname'] . $record['surname'] .'</td>';*/
echo "<td>$record[firstname] $record[surname]</td>";
echo '<td>' . $record['address'] . '</td>';
echo '<td>' . $record['city'] . '</td>';
echo '<td>' . $record['province'] . '</td>';
echo '<td>' . $record['postalcode'] . '</td>';
echo '<td>' . $record['phone'] . '</td>';
echo '<td>' . $record['email'] . '</td>';
echo ("<td>Edit</td>");
echo "</tr>";
}
echo "</table>";
$_SESSION['animals']=$loop;
echo "<center>" . number_format($total_records) . " search results found</center>";
}
?>
Click here to see if sessions work
This then goes to this script:
<?php
session_start();
echo "The results";
while ($record = mysqli_fetch_assoc($_SESSION['animals'])) {
echo "<tr>";
echo "<td>$record[firstname] $record[surname]</td>";
echo '<td>' . $record['address'] . '</td>';
echo '<td>' . $record['city'] . '</td>';
echo '<td>' . $record['province'] . '</td>';
echo '<td>' . $record['postalcode'] . '</td>';
echo '<td>' . $record['phone'] . '</td>';
echo '<td>' . $record['email'] . '</td>';
echo ("<td>Edit</td>");
echo "</tr>";
}
What might the problem be? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Session are meant to store primitive data types.
Storing a resulstset into a session is a terrible idea and mostly likely bad for server ressources.
If you really need that data somewhere else in your app just query your database again which is not overly expensive.

Answer 2

I can see the problem that you are trying to store the mysqli resource object to the session.
$loop = mysqli_query($mysqli,$sql)
If you want to store the final html to the session, then create a single variable that holds final html string.
$html = "<table>";
while ($record = mysqli_fetch_assoc($loop)) {
$html .= $record['something'];
// Likewise add other variables to html string.
}
$html . = "</table>";
$_SESSION['animals'] = $html
But if you want the array that holds all the database result then you can do like this
$rows = array();
while ($record = mysqli_fetch_assoc($loop)) {
$rows[] = $record;
}
$_SESSION['animals'] = $rows;
Now you use this session value in another pages and iterate and create html.

Answer 3

Just as other website with session variables, using isset will make the script run smoothly
if (!isset($_SESSION['basket'])){
$_SESSION['basket'] = array();
}
Pascal
multiskillz