php - How to keep session alive without reloading page?

Question

I have a strange problem in my online test management system.

Some users in the test form (test.php) need long time to answer the question and submit the form.

After submitting the form the session is expired and user must login again

this is not a code problem

I set this value in top of all pages

ini_set('session.gc_maxlifetime', 18000);

Is there a way to refresh the session evrey 10 minutes without reloading the page in test form to prevent session expire?

Please help me

Thanks

Answer 1

You can use javascript XHR, or as others call it, AJAX.

• http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.ajax/
• http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.get/

Using ajax you can call a php script that refreshes your session every 10 minutes. :)

---

This is as far as i can go to "exact".

javascript

var refreshSn = function ()
{
    var time = 600000; // 10 mins
    setTimeout(
        function ()
        {
        $.ajax({
           url: 'refresh_session.php',
           cache: false,
           complete: function () {refreshSn();}
        });
    },
    time
);
};

// Call in page
refreshSn()

refresh_session.php

<?php
session_start();

// store session data
if (isset($_SESSION['id']))
$_SESSION['id'] = $_SESSION['id']; // or if you have any algo.
?>

---

Anyway, another solution would be to extend the session time for the test page only using the solution presented here

How do I expire a PHP session after 30 minutes?