Question

Due to server settings I am having to use $_COOKIE instead of $_SESSION to manage session vars for a project.

On my search form I set an initial cookie but am unclear whether this is helpful or needed?

setcookie('NOSG', 'oHai', time()+7200, '/', 'some.org');

Each time the search results page loads I iterate over the cookies and back date the ones I need to clear and then set the new values like so:

if ($board) {
  foreach ($_COOKIE as $k => $v) { 
    if (preg_match('/boa_/', $k)) {
      setcookie($k, '', time()-3600, '/', 'some.org');
    }
  }
  foreach ($people as $p) {
    setcookie('boa_'.$p->ID, $p->whatever, time()+7200, '/', 'some.org');
  }
}

Mostly this is used for making sticky selections in multi-line <SELECT> inputs.

Is this approach sound? I have rarely used $_COOKIE for anything.

// EDIT 1:12 PM GMT-06:00
All of the comments and answers are focused on fixing sessions. I assume this is because there is some reason the method suggested is NOT sound? The question asked is about using $_COOKIE to remember form settings. Would anyone care to respond as to why the method I am using is or is not appropriate to the problem?

Answer 1

None of the respondents addressed my question: Is using $_COOKIE to store session data a sound method?

Experience has taught me what they would not. Not all browsers handle cookies in the same way. For instance Internet Explorer has limits per domain on the number of cookies: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941495

So the answer is- $_SESSION is superior to cookies as it is handled by PHP in the same manner for all browsers.