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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-15T18:20:21+00:00

If this is file_1.php <?php $_POST[test_message] = Hello, world; header(Location: http://localhost/file_2.php); ?> and this

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If this is file_1.php 

<?php

  $_POST["test_message"] = "Hello, world";    

  header("Location: http://localhost/file_2.php");
?>

and this is file_2.php 

<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>

<?php

  if (!(isset($_POST["test_message"])))
    echo "Test message is not set";
  else
    echo $_POST["test_message"];
?>

</body>
</html>

the output is Test message is not set

Which makes me wonder if one can even write to $_POST and, having wondered that, I wonder if it is bad practice to do so. Should I just let forms with submit buttons and method=post write to $_POST for me, or is it legitimate to write to $_POST to pass data between files?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    You want to use $_SESSION instead.

    $_POST is for information that has been POSTed to the current page and doesn’t maintain state between page loads, it will only be populated if you actually post something to the second file when redirecting. If you were to include the second file, rather than redirecting via a header, then what you’ve done would work since the $_POST variable would still be set.

    $_SESSION will maintain state between pages, so will accomplish what you want when redirecting.

    To use $_SESSION properly, you’ll need to call session_start(); first to begin the session. There’s more info in the PHP manual.

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