I agree with you on that. Having something that is reliable is not a bad idea. Anyway, this HTTP_REFERER script have been in use for 4 years and we sometime very little have problem with it. It the HTTP_REFERER doesn't work then all the user will experienced is a direct access attempt and be brought to the login page, it's part of the fail-safe code. I haven't come up with an alternative to HTTP_REFERER that work even better than this. So, better safe than sorry. :-)
"Chris Shiflett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message [EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]... > --- Scott Fletcher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Many PHP programmer tried to their best to use > > HTTP_REFERER so they can keep track of which > > webpages on the current website did the user > > last visited. > > I think I see what you are referring to now. > > The reason that many people (myself included) discourage > the use of REFERER for this purpose is not only because > support is inconsistent, but also because it is not > required that a Web client send this header. In fact, the > only required header in the latest version of HTTP (1.1) is > the Host header. So, it really boils down to not depending > on something that is not guaranteed to be there. > > More reliable solutions usually incorporate some sort of > shared secret between the client and the server. For > example, say you have a form located at foo.php that > submits to bar.php. Rather than checking the REFERER on > bar.php to make sure it is foo.php, it is better to include > a hidden form field on foo.php that is dynamically > generated and stored in the user's session. You can be > assured that the hidden form field will be included with > the other form elements, so you can compare it to the value > stored in the user's session and not run the risk of it > being absent or blank (for the legitimate user, the good > guy). > > Of course, this is just one example of many, but the point > is that you need to rely on something that is reliable. :-) > > Chris -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php