per-session cookies and session logging.

[Paul Komski]

As I have understood it per session cookies are stored/cached only during that particular browser session.

Does anyone know if this storage is:-
[list=1]
Only stored in the RAM.
Embedded in a URI as a Session ID.
Stored on the server and not the user side.
Ever written to the Cookie Directory for that Browser.
[/list=1]

And... is there any way to read/access the information on such a cookie during that session?

BTW for those interested in Cookies and other management in Opera there is a utility that Opera links-to called Opera 4 File Explorer (http://www.opera.com/support/supsearch/supsearch.cgi?index=169).

[Paul Komski]

Thanks indirectly to sea69 (came across the following after visiting a Gator link that he posted elsewhere)!

The site is called SQUAREFREE (http://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets/) and if you R-click on Cookies ON THIS PAGE (http://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets/pagedata.html) you can add a javascript bookmark to your favorites (have tested it in both Opera and IE) that will put up a Dialog Box of all the cookies (including per session cookies) from that page! Pretty neat.

So I'm halfway there - just need to find out where those darn session ones actually reside.

There are a whole load of other javascript bookmarks there that i haven't tried out. IE was "worried" about setting them so if the script was malignant there must be a potential security risk - so I guess you have to either trust the author or read the script carefully. Come to think of it, when I get round to reading it, I might get the second half of my question answered. :D

[mjc]

You should bear in mind that these per-session cookies are deleted from your computer when you close the session either by closing the browser or navigating to another web site.

That above quote implies that a per-session cookie only resides in memory, not any where on the drive.

Description of Persistent and Per-Session Cookies in Internet Explorer (Q223799) (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q223799)

Per-Session Cookies Are Not Cleared Until You Close Browser (Q224304) (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q224304)

[Paul Komski]

Thanks mjc. Nice one; but it doesn't help me since I had sussed that about IE right from the start. I have since narrowed it down to being stored in RAM or within the URI. Also, however it is done must work for all browsers.

Finding the javascript cookies bookmark from Squarefree has confirmed that this information is "readable during a session"; my search is now to find out "from where".

To try to explain. Using IE and allowing all cookies on this site: then the Squarefree bookmark's Dialog Box reads:

Cookies stored by this site or domain.
sessionhash=etc.etc...
bblastvisit=etc.etc...
bbuserid=etc.etc...
bbpassword=etc.etc...
bbthreadview=etc.etc...

and just as there should be, there is a cookie to see in the cookies folder.

But using IE and allowing only per-session cookies on this site: then the Squarefree bookmark's Dialog Box reads:

Cookies stored by this site or domain.
sessionhash=etc.etc...
bblastvisit=etc.etc...

and since there is no cookie to read this from, where did Squarefree read the information from. Hope this makes it clearer. :p

[Paul Komski]

:D I seem to be hogging my own post - but finally got it - or at least one answer. This site's PHP for example stores them in the HTML headers. Viewing the source HTML (with only per-session cookies enabled) reveals entries such as:

(td valign="top" align="left" background="images/menu_background.gif")(a href="index.php?sess = [f28c07b9f35fb1f49b8b360c65e98e20] )(img src="../ubb/pcgubb.gif" border="0" alt="The PC Guide Discussion Forums")(/a)(/td)

where sess = the session id set by the web-side server.

How these are migrated (client-side) to new pages by the server as one navigates the site is another story.

I finally got in the right direction after some German translation led me to Session management in Perl (http://www.zdnetindia.com/techzone/coding/stories/36385.html) just in case anyone is interested.

PS How the hell do you disable html code without changing the >'s to )'s which is what I have done above. LOL

[mjc]

Use the "php" button or the [.PHp][./PHP] commands around the code you would like to enter works, bnut I though that the [code] should work too....

Like this:




<head>
<title>The PC Guide Discussion Forums - Reply to Topic</title>

[Paul Komski]

I tried it within (code)(/code) but the text still appeared isolated on a white background between the two posts. Will try (php)(/php) when next the need arises! ;)

Just tried the php and code tags with some verrrrrry strange results. Have a look at http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=80501#post80501 to see what I mean!!

BTW mjc et al: Feel free to delete all of them.

[mjc]

Paul, it looks like this is going to take some experimentation.:D