[End User]

No, sessions are not the same as your database. To use variables in a session you'll need to explicitly add the variable to the session itself, like this:

PHP Code:

// place this line at top of page before any output

session_start();



//create a var with a value

$testvar = "myfirstname";



// register the variable into a session

$_SESSION['testvar'] = $testvar; 

On another page, you can then do this (again, you need to start the session as above):

PHP Code:

// this will print nothing because the variable hasn't 

// been retrieved from the session yet

print "TESTVAR: $testvar";



// now we'll retrieve the var from the session

$testvar = $_SESSION['testvar'];



// this will print the text 'myfirstname'

print "TESTVAR: $testvar"; 

If you have a customer name saved in the database, you must first pull the name out of the database, then store it in a session.

Originally Posted by craigfarrall

Ok so if I have a customer first name saved in the db as 'fname' then I can use:

Code:

$_SESSION['fname'];

Then I can echo that out later to show the fname?