title: PHP (CodeIgniter) Sessions Empty
body: <p>I am trying to build a Login system in CodeIgniter. So far everything works, until I have to save the details into a SESSION. I have tried multiple things, but how hard I try, the SESSION array is empty when I dump it.</p>
  
  <pre><code>public function submit() 
  {
  $this-&gt;load-&gt;helper(array('form'));
  // authenticate
  $username = $this-&gt;input-&gt;post('txtLogin');
  $password = $this-&gt;input-&gt;post('txtPassword');
  
  //query the database
  $result = $this-&gt;user-&gt;login($username, $password);
  
  if($result)
  {
  
   session_start();
   $sess_array = array();
   foreach($result as $row)
   {
     $sess_array = array(
       'id' =&gt; $row-&gt;GebruikerID,
       'username' =&gt; $row-&gt;Email
     );
     $this-&gt;session-&gt;set_userdata('logged_in', $sess_array);
  
     redirect('dashboard');
   }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>That is the part where I check the credentials and if successful I set the session.
  NOTE: I also tried to place <code>session_start();</code> at the top of the page, and even tried it without <code>session_start();</code> in the code.</p>
  
  <pre><code>if($this-&gt;session-&gt;userdata('logged_in'))
  {
      print_r($_SESSION);
      exit();
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>That is the part where I check if the session is set in another controller. </p>
  
  <p>Result of <code>print_r($_SESSION)</code>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Array();
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I have no idea where I'm going wrong.</p>
  
  <p>EDIT:</p>
  
  <p>This is my config file:</p>
  
  <pre><code>        &lt;?php  if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Base Site URL
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | URL to your CodeIgniter root. Typically this will be your base URL,
          | WITH a trailing slash:
          |
          |   http://example.com/
          |
          | If this is not set then CodeIgniter will guess the protocol, domain and
          | path to your installation.
          |
          */
          $config['base_url'] = '';
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Index File
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | Typically this will be your index.php file, unless you've renamed it to
          | something else. If you are using mod_rewrite to remove the page set this
          | variable so that it is blank.
          |
          */
          $config['index_page'] = 'index.php';
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | URI PROTOCOL
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | This item determines which server global should be used to retrieve the
          | URI string.  The default setting of 'AUTO' works for most servers.
          | If your links do not seem to work, try one of the other delicious flavors:
          |
          | 'AUTO'            Default - auto detects
          | 'PATH_INFO'       Uses the PATH_INFO
          | 'QUERY_STRING'    Uses the QUERY_STRING
          | 'REQUEST_URI'     Uses the REQUEST_URI
          | 'ORIG_PATH_INFO'  Uses the ORIG_PATH_INFO
          |
          */
          $config['uri_protocol'] = 'AUTO';
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | URL suffix
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | This option allows you to add a suffix to all URLs generated by CodeIgniter.
          | For more information please see the user guide:
          |
          | http://codeigniter.com/user_guide/general/urls.html
          */
  
          $config['url_suffix'] = '';
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Default Language
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | This determines which set of language files should be used. Make sure
          | there is an available translation if you intend to use something other
          | than english.
          |
          */
          $config['language'] = 'english';
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Default Character Set
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | This determines which character set is used by default in various methods
          | that require a character set to be provided.
          |
          */
          $config['charset'] = 'UTF-8';
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Enable/Disable System Hooks
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | If you would like to use the 'hooks' feature you must enable it by
          | setting this variable to TRUE (boolean).  See the user guide for details.
          |
          */
          $config['enable_hooks'] = FALSE;
  
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Class Extension Prefix
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | This item allows you to set the filename/classname prefix when extending
          | native libraries.  For more information please see the user guide:
          |
          | http://codeigniter.com/user_guide/general/core_classes.html
          | http://codeigniter.com/user_guide/general/creating_libraries.html
          |
          */
          $config['subclass_prefix'] = 'MY_';
  
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Allowed URL Characters
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | This lets you specify with a regular expression which characters are permitted
          | within your URLs.  When someone tries to submit a URL with disallowed
          | characters they will get a warning message.
          |
          | As a security measure you are STRONGLY encouraged to restrict URLs to
          | as few characters as possible.  By default only these are allowed: a-z 0-9~%.:_-
          |
          | Leave blank to allow all characters -- but only if you are insane.
          |
          | DO NOT CHANGE THIS UNLESS YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND THE REPERCUSSIONS!!
          |
          */
          $config['permitted_uri_chars'] = 'a-z 0-9~%.:_\-';
  
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Enable Query Strings
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | By default CodeIgniter uses search-engine friendly segment based URLs:
          | example.com/who/what/where/
          |
          | By default CodeIgniter enables access to the $_GET array.  If for some
          | reason you would like to disable it, set 'allow_get_array' to FALSE.
          |
          | You can optionally enable standard query string based URLs:
          | example.com?who=me&amp;what=something&amp;where=here
          |
          | Options are: TRUE or FALSE (boolean)
          |
          | The other items let you set the query string 'words' that will
          | invoke your controllers and its functions:
          | example.com/index.php?c=controller&amp;m=function
          |
          | Please note that some of the helpers won't work as expected when
          | this feature is enabled, since CodeIgniter is designed primarily to
          | use segment based URLs.
          |
          */
          $config['allow_get_array']      = TRUE;
          $config['enable_query_strings'] = FALSE;
          $config['controller_trigger']   = 'c';
          $config['function_trigger']     = 'm';
          $config['directory_trigger']    = 'd'; // experimental not currently in use
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Error Logging Threshold
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | If you have enabled error logging, you can set an error threshold to
          | determine what gets logged. Threshold options are:
          | You can enable error logging by setting a threshold over zero. The
          | threshold determines what gets logged. Threshold options are:
          |
          |   0 = Disables logging, Error logging TURNED OFF
          |   1 = Error Messages (including PHP errors)
          |   2 = Debug Messages
          |   3 = Informational Messages
          |   4 = All Messages
          |
          | For a live site you'll usually only enable Errors (1) to be logged otherwise
          | your log files will fill up very fast.
          |
          */
          $config['log_threshold'] = 0;
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Error Logging Directory Path
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | Leave this BLANK unless you would like to set something other than the default
          | application/logs/ folder. Use a full server path with trailing slash.
          |
          */
          $config['log_path'] = '';
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Date Format for Logs
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | Each item that is logged has an associated date. You can use PHP date
          | codes to set your own date formatting
          |
          */
          $config['log_date_format'] = 'Y-m-d H:i:s';
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Cache Directory Path
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | Leave this BLANK unless you would like to set something other than the default
          | system/cache/ folder.  Use a full server path with trailing slash.
          |
          */
          $config['cache_path'] = '';
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Encryption Key
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | If you use the Encryption class or the Session class you
          | MUST set an encryption key.  See the user guide for info.
          |
          */
          $config['encryption_key'] = 'You're not allowed to see this';
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Session Variables
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | 'sess_cookie_name'        = the name you want for the cookie
          | 'sess_expiration'         = the number of SECONDS you want the session to last.
          |   by default sessions last 7200 seconds (two hours).  Set to zero for no expiration.
          | 'sess_expire_on_close'    = Whether to cause the session to expire automatically
          |   when the browser window is closed
          | 'sess_encrypt_cookie'     = Whether to encrypt the cookie
          | 'sess_use_database'       = Whether to save the session data to a database
          | 'sess_table_name'         = The name of the session database table
          | 'sess_match_ip'           = Whether to match the user's IP address when reading the session data
          | 'sess_match_useragent'    = Whether to match the User Agent when reading the session data
          | 'sess_time_to_update'     = how many seconds between CI refreshing Session Information
          |
          */
          $config['sess_cookie_name']     = 'ci_session';
          $config['sess_expiration']      = 7200;
          $config['sess_expire_on_close'] = FALSE;
          $config['sess_encrypt_cookie']  = FALSE;
          $config['sess_use_database']    = FALSE;
          $config['sess_table_name']        = 'ci_sessions';
          $config['sess_match_ip']        = FALSE;
          $config['sess_match_useragent'] = TRUE;
          $config['sess_time_to_update']  = 300;
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Cookie Related Variables
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | 'cookie_prefix' = Set a prefix if you need to avoid collisions
          | 'cookie_domain' = Set to .your-domain.com for site-wide cookies
          | 'cookie_path'   =  Typically will be a forward slash
          | 'cookie_secure' =  Cookies will only be set if a secure HTTPS connection exists.
          |
          */
          $config['cookie_prefix']    = "";
          $config['cookie_domain']    = "";
          $config['cookie_path']      = "/";
          $config['cookie_secure']    = FALSE;
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Global XSS Filtering
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | Determines whether the XSS filter is always active when GET, POST or
          | COOKIE data is encountered
          |
          */
          $config['global_xss_filtering'] = FALSE;
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Cross Site Request Forgery
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Enables a CSRF cookie token to be set. When set to TRUE, token will be
          | checked on a submitted form. If you are accepting user data, it is strongly
          | recommended CSRF protection be enabled.
          |
          | 'csrf_token_name' = The token name
          | 'csrf_cookie_name' = The cookie name
          | 'csrf_expire' = The number in seconds the token should expire.
          */
          $config['csrf_protection'] = FALSE;
          $config['csrf_token_name'] = 'csrf_test_name';
          $config['csrf_cookie_name'] = 'csrf_cookie_name';
          $config['csrf_expire'] = 7200;
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Output Compression
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | Enables Gzip output compression for faster page loads.  When enabled,
          | the output class will test whether your server supports Gzip.
          | Even if it does, however, not all browsers support compression
          | so enable only if you are reasonably sure your visitors can handle it.
          |
          | VERY IMPORTANT:  If you are getting a blank page when compression is enabled it
          | means you are prematurely outputting something to your browser. It could
          | even be a line of whitespace at the end of one of your scripts.  For
          | compression to work, nothing can be sent before the output buffer is called
          | by the output class.  Do not 'echo' any values with compression enabled.
          |
          */
          $config['compress_output'] = FALSE;
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Master Time Reference
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | Options are 'local' or 'gmt'.  This pref tells the system whether to use
          | your server's local time as the master 'now' reference, or convert it to
          | GMT.  See the 'date helper' page of the user guide for information
          | regarding date handling.
          |
          */
          $config['time_reference'] = 'local';
  
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Rewrite PHP Short Tags
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | If your PHP installation does not have short tag support enabled CI
          | can rewrite the tags on-the-fly, enabling you to utilize that syntax
          | in your view files.  Options are TRUE or FALSE (boolean)
          |
          */
          $config['rewrite_short_tags'] = FALSE;
  
  
          /*
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          | Reverse Proxy IPs
          |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |
          | If your server is behind a reverse proxy, you must whitelist the proxy IP
          | addresses from which CodeIgniter should trust the HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR
          | header in order to properly identify the visitor's IP address.
          | Comma-delimited, e.g. '10.0.1.200,10.0.1.201'
          |
          */
          $config['proxy_ips'] = '';
  
  
          /* End of file config.php */
          /* Location: ./application/config/config.php */
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>EDIT:
  Solved! Thanks to WebHQ.</p>
  
  <p>This did the trick:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>I see two problems. First you set session data wrong ([manual]>  >(<a href="http://ellislab.com/codeigniter/user-guide/libraries/sessions.html" rel="nofollow">http://ellislab.com/codeigniter/user-guide/libraries/sessions.html</a>)):</p>
    
    <p>Change this:</p>
    
    <p>$this->session->set_userdata('logged_in', $sess_array);</p>
    
    <p>Into this:</p>
    
    <p>$this->session->set_userdata($sess_array);</p>
    
    <p>Then read session data like this:</p>
    
    <p>$this->session->userdata('id');
       $this->session->userdata('username');</p>
    
    <p>Good Luck!</p>
  </blockquote>