Technical References - [session]

[session] is a new WebDNA feature that recognises a browser through its "fingerprint"

numero = 1009
interpreted = N
texte = [session] is a new WebDNA feature (from version 8.1) that recognises a browser through its "fingerprint", and thus to get rid of a cookie in most cases. It is fast and easy to use. The server-side session is created when the visitors first hits a page with [sessionstart] in it; a unique ID is generated and remains valid until the "lifetime" expires. [sessionstart life=1200] > starts a 20 min session [sessionstart] without any specification has an unlimited lifetime The session is recorded inside a database "reserved.db" in /WebDNA (FastCGI version) or in /globals/ (server version), one column for the "browserID" and the other one for the session itself. The value of the unique session is available through a tag [session], a unique Session Identifier, and allows the developer to pass this [session] information from one page to the other, store it and link it with a name and/or a shopping cart, or whatever.

USAGE: follow the visitor by moving the [session] value from one page to the other with a POST or GET Identify a visitor who logged-in : associates the tag [session] with the user name Identify a visitor who comes back after few days. Depending on the settings, the session test allow to recognise him.

ADVANTAGES: Work with search engines Security is increased by not allowing a cookie to be manipulated, since there is none Easier to use and much faster than a client-side cookie Good for visitors who do not want to leave information behind them (cookie disabled) Allows to easily kill a session Allows to move a session from a browser to another browser

TagDescription
[sessionstart]Starts a session by recording the day, time of the day, IP, Unique browser ID and (optional) the life in seconds, like in [sessionstart life=10]
[session][session] has a unique value once the session is started. This value can be moved from one page to another using POST or GET
[sessionIPmatch]T(rue) or F(alse): checks if the session IP is the same as the current IP
[sessionalive]T(rue) or F(alse): checks the current time against the session time if it is alive
[browserIDmatch]T(rue) or F(alse): checks the browser "fingerprint" against the session browser ID
[sessionend]kills a [session] by deleting it from reserved.db
[sessionip]shows the IP number stored in session, format [IPaddress] (with the leadings 0, so we can do comparisons)
[sessiondate]shows the date stored in session
[sessiontime]shows the time stored in session
[sessionlife]calculates how many seconds a session is still alive, and show 0 if terminated
[sessionutime]shows the session Unix Time (also known as POSIX time or Epoch time, defined as the number of seconds that have elapsed since 00:00:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), Thursday, 1 January 1970)

In certain rare cases, it is possible to find two identicals browser "fingerprint" or BrowserID. It is not advised to do visitor recognition based only on Browser ID

[session] is a new WebDNA feature (from version 8.1) that recognises a browser through its "fingerprint", and thus to get rid of a cookie in most cases. It is fast and easy to use.

The server-side session is created when the visitors first hits a page with [sessionstart] in it; a unique ID is generated and remains valid until the "lifetime" expires.

[sessionstart life=1200] > starts a 20 min session
[sessionstart] without any specification has an unlimited lifetime

The session is recorded inside a database "reserved.db" in /WebDNA (FastCGI version) or in /globals/ (server version), one column for the "browserID" and the other one for the session itself.

The value of the unique session is available through a tag [session], a unique Session Identifier, and allows the developer to pass this [session] information from one page to the other, store it and link it with a name and/or a shopping cart, or whatever.

USAGE:
follow the visitor by moving the [session] value from one page to the other with a POST or GET
Identify a visitor who logged-in : associates the tag [session] with the user name
Identify a visitor who comes back after few days. Depending on the settings, the session test allow to recognise him.



ADVANTAGES:
Work with search engines
Security is increased by not allowing a cookie to be manipulated, since there is none
Easier to use and much faster than a client-side cookie
Good for visitors who do not want to leave information behind them (cookie disabled)
Allows to easily kill a session
Allows to move a session from a browser to another browser





TagDescription
[sessionstart]Starts a session by recording the day, time of the day, IP, Unique browser ID and (optional) the life in seconds, like in [sessionstart life=10]
[session][session] has a unique value once the session is started. This value can be moved from one page to another using POST or GET
[sessionIPmatch]T(rue) or F(alse): checks if the session IP is the same as the current IP
[sessionalive]T(rue) or F(alse): checks the current time against the session time if it is alive
[browserIDmatch]T(rue) or F(alse): checks the browser "fingerprint" against the session browser ID
[sessionend]kills a [session] by deleting it from reserved.db
[sessionip]shows the IP number stored in session, format [ipaddress] (with the leadings 0, so we can do comparisons)
[sessiondate]shows the date stored in session
[sessiontime]shows the time stored in session
[sessionlife]calculates how many seconds a session is still alive, and show 0 if terminated
[sessionutime]shows the session Unix Time (also known as POSIX time or Epoch time, defined as the number of seconds that have elapsed since 00:00:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), Thursday, 1 January 1970)


In certain rare cases, it is possible to find two identicals browser "fingerprint" or BrowserID. It is not advised to do visitor recognition based only on Browser ID


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