Check if PHP session has already started

Question

I have a PHP file that is sometimes called from a page that has started a session and sometimes from a page that doesn\'t have session started. Therefore when I have s

Answer 1

PHP_VERSION_ID is available as of PHP 5.2.7, so check this first and if necessary , create it. session_status is available as of PHP 5.4 , so we have to check this too:

if (!defined('PHP_VERSION_ID')) {
    $version = explode('.', PHP_VERSION);
    define('PHP_VERSION_ID', ($version[0] * 10000 + $version[1] * 100 + $version[2]));
}else{
    $version = PHP_VERSION_ID;
}
if($version < 50400){
    if(session_id() == '') {
        session_start();
    }
}else{
    if (session_status() !== PHP_SESSION_ACTIVE) {
        session_start();
    }
}

Answer 2

Based on my practice, before accessing the $_SESSION[] you need to call session_start every time to use the script. See the link below for manual.

http://php.net/manual/en/function.session-start.php

For me at least session_start is confusing as a name. A session_load can be more clear.

Answer 3

if (version_compare(phpversion(), '5.4.0', '<')) {
     if(session_id() == '') {
        session_start();
     }
 }
 else
 {
    if (session_status() == PHP_SESSION_NONE) {
        session_start();
    }
 }

Answer 4

Response BASED on @Meliza Ramos Response(see first response) and http://php.net/manual/en/function.phpversion.php ,

ACTIONS:

• define PHP_VERSION_ID if not exist
• define function to check version based on PHP_VERSION_ID
• define function to openSession() secure

only use openSession()

    // PHP_VERSION_ID is available as of PHP 5.2.7, if our
    // version is lower than that, then emulate it
    if (!defined('PHP_VERSION_ID')) {
        $version = explode('.', PHP_VERSION);

        define('PHP_VERSION_ID', ($version[0] * 10000 + $version[1] * 100 + $version[2]));


        // PHP_VERSION_ID is defined as a number, where the higher the number
        // is, the newer a PHP version is used. It's defined as used in the above
        // expression:
        //
        // $version_id = $major_version * 10000 + $minor_version * 100 + $release_version;
        //
        // Now with PHP_VERSION_ID we can check for features this PHP version
        // may have, this doesn't require to use version_compare() everytime
        // you check if the current PHP version may not support a feature.
        //
        // For example, we may here define the PHP_VERSION_* constants thats
        // not available in versions prior to 5.2.7

        if (PHP_VERSION_ID < 50207) {
            define('PHP_MAJOR_VERSION',   $version[0]);
            define('PHP_MINOR_VERSION',   $version[1]);
            define('PHP_RELEASE_VERSION', $version[2]);

            // and so on, ...
        }
    }

    function phpVersionAtLeast($strVersion = '0.0.0')
    {
        $version = explode('.', $strVersion);

        $questionVer = $version[0] * 10000 + $version[1] * 100 + $version[2];

        if(PHP_VERSION_ID >= $questionVer)
            return true;
        else
            return false;

    }

    function openSession()
    {
        if(phpVersionAtLeast('5.4.0'))
        {
            if(session_status()==PHP_SESSION_NONE)
                session_start();
        }
        else // under 5.4.0
        {
            if(session_id() == '')
                session_start();
        }
    }

Answer 5

i ended up with double check of status. php 5.4+

if(session_status() !== PHP_SESSION_ACTIVE){session_start();};
if(session_status() !== PHP_SESSION_ACTIVE){die('session start failed');};

Answer 6

You should reorganize your code so that you call session_start() exactly once per page execution.