PHP - session_cache_expire() Function

Definition and Usage

Sessions or session handling is a way to make the data available across various pages of a web application. The session_cache_expire() function is used to get the current cache expire.

Syntax

session_cache_expire([$new_cache_expire]);

Parameters

Sr.No	Parameter & Description
1	new_cache_expire (Optional) This is an integer value representing the new cache expire value.

Return Values

This function returns the current cache expire value.

PHP Version

This function was first introduced in PHP Version 4 and works in all the later versions.

Example 1

Following example demonstrates the usage of the session_cache_expire() function.

<html>   
   <head>
      <title>Setting up a PHP session</title>
   </head>   
   <body>
      <?php  	
         //Retrieving the cache limiter
         $expire = session_cache_expire();
         print("Cache limiter: ".$expire);
      ?>
   </body>   
</html>

One executing the above html file it will display the following message −

Cache limiter: 180

The number in the message keeps changing based on the number of times you refresh the page without closing the browser. For example, if you refresh 10 times, then the same page displays the following message

You have visited this page 16 times in this session.

Example 2

Following is another example of this function, in here we have two pages from the same application in the same session.

session_page1.htm

<?php
   if(isset($_POST['SubmitButton'])){
      //Setting the cache limiter
      session_cache_limiter('public');
      //Setting the session expire
      session_cache_expire(30);
      session_start();
      $_SESSION['name'] = $_POST['name'];
      $_SESSION['age']  = $_POST['age']; 
   }
?>
<html>
   <body>
      <form action="#" method="post">
         <br>
         <label for="fname">Enter the values click Submit and click on Next</label>
         <br>
         <br>
         <label for="fname">Name:</label>
         <input type="text" id="name" name="name"><br><br>
         <label for="lname">Age:</label>
         <input type="text" id="age" name="age"><br><br>           
         <input type="submit" name="SubmitButton"/>
         <?php echo '<br><br /><a href="session_page2.htm">Next</a>'; ?>
      </form>
   </body>
</html>

This will produce the following output −

On clicking on Next the following file is executed.

session_page2.htm

<html>   
   <head>
      <title>Second Page</title>
   </head>
   <body>
      <?php
         //Session started
         session_start();	
         //Retrieving the cache expire
         print("Cache Expire: ".session_cache_expire());
         echo "<br>";	  
         print_r($_SESSION);
      ?>   
   </body>   
</html>

This will produce the following output −

Cache Expire: 180
Array ( [name] => krishna [age] => 30 )

Example 3

You can set session expire using this function as shown below −

<html>   
   <head>
      <title>Setting up a PHP session</title>
   </head>   
   <body>
      <?php  	
         //Setting the session expire
         session_cache_expire(30);
         //Retrieving the cache limiter
         $expire = session_cache_expire();
         print("Cache limiter: ".$expire);
      ?>
   </body>   
</html>

One executing the above html file it will display the following message −

Cache limiter: 30

php_function_reference.htm