Content of class property gets cleared out before outputting to browser - php

Question

I have this inside a class named site among other harmless stuff:
private
$notice_type = '',
$notice_msg = '';
public function setNotice($type,$msg){
$this->notice_type=$type;
$this->notice_msg=$msg;
}
public function notice($what){
switch($what){
case 'type': return $this->notice_type; break;
case 'msg': return $this->notice_msg; break;
}
}
public function clearNotice(){
$this->notice_type='';
$this->notice_msg='';
}
I've set this class to a session like this:
$_SESSION['site'] = new site();
Here's a scenario of how I use it:
After submitting a form; I set the notification like this : $_SESSION['site']->setNotice('success','success message');, or error if that's the case and redirect the user somewehere using header().
Then I output the message like this on the landing page:
echo $_SESSION['site']->notice('msg');
$_SESSION['site']->clearNotice();.
But; When I use the clearNotice()-function - the contents of both $notice_type and $notice_msg is cleared out before it gets outputted to the browser.
I need for it to stay untill the user navigates away from the page somehow. What am I missing here?

Answer 1

I don't know what happend. But somehow this script started to work as expected.
I've rewritten the code over and over for a while now, and as far as I know it's just about the same as before. But anyway; This is what works now:
site()-class:
This class controlls notifications as well as settings set by the user - like preffered sorting direction of data and selections worth remembering for better user experience and such.
<?php
class site {
private
$notice_type = '',
$notice_msg = '';
public function newNotice($type,$msg){
$this->notice_type=$type;
$this->notice_msg=$msg;
}
public function notice($what){
switch($what){
case 'type': return $this->notice_type; break;
case 'msg': return $this->notice_msg; break;
}
}
public function clearNotice(){
$this->notice_type='';
$this->notice_msg='';
}
}
?>
I have a document where I configurate the entire site by setting a couple of variables to Yes or No - As in this case : $_SITE_CLASS_site.
<?php
# check to see if session is started
if(!isset($_SESSION)){session_start();}
//
// check if site()-class should be activated for this site
if($_SITE_CLASS_site=='Yes'){
# if Yes; prevent resetting the class if it has already been started.
if(!isset($_SESSION['site'])){$_SESSION['site']=new site();}
//
}
//
?>
I've created a template where I have this code before the page content is outputted:
basically it just checks if there is any message to display
<?php if ($_SITE_CLASS_site=='Yes'&&$_SESSION['site']->notice('msg')!=''): ?>
<div id="site-notice-<?=$_SESSION['site']->notice('type')?>" class="grid_12"><p><?=$_SESSION['site']->notice('msg')?></p></div>
<?php endif; ?>
Then I load the page content, and at the end I have this:
the notice should be viewable untill the user closes it, or leaving the page. I don't want, or need, to keep the message
<?php
if ($_SITE_CLASS_site=='Yes'&&$_SESSION['site']->notice('msg')!=''):
$_SESSION['site']->clearNotice();
endif;
?>
Now; Whenever I need to give the user a feedback on their actions - after submitting a form successfully for example - I can just do this at the end of the script:
$_SESSION['site']->newNotice('success','<b>Success!</b> Your request was submitted successfully...');
header('Location '.$_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']);
exit;
It works like a charm...