Sessions#

🔥 Hot Tips

• Tina4 sessions support three backends: database, Redis, and Memcached
• The database backend works with any Tina4 database driver (SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Firebird, etc.)
• The session table is created automatically on first use -- no migrations needed
• Redis and Memcached backends handle expiry via TTL, so no garbage collection overhead

Installation {#installation}#

composer require tina4stack/tina4php-session

Depending on your chosen backend, you may also need:

# For database sessions (pick your driver)composer require tina4stack/tina4php-sqlite3composer require tina4stack/tina4php-mysql​# For Redis sessions - requires ext-redis# For Memcached sessions - requires ext-memcached

SessionConfig Options {#config}#

All session behaviour is controlled through the SessionConfig class:

Database Backend {#database}#

The database backend stores sessions in a SQL table and works with any Tina4 database driver. The table is created automatically when the session is first opened.

global $DBA;$DBA = new \Tina4\DataSQLite3("mydb.db");​$config = new \Tina4\SessionConfig();$config->sessionType = 'database';$config->database = $DBA;// $config->tableName = 'tina4_sessions'; // optional, this is the default​\Tina4\SessionHandler::start($config);​// Use sessions normally$_SESSION['user'] = 'Andre';

Auto-Table Creation {#auto-table}#

On first open(), the DatabaseSession backend checks whether the session table exists using the driver's tableExists() method. If missing, it creates:

CREATE TABLE tina4_sessions (    session_id VARCHAR(128) PRIMARY KEY,    data TEXT,    last_accessed INTEGER)

Garbage collection removes rows where last_accessed is older than the configured lifetime.

Redis Backend {#redis}#

Redis sessions require the ext-redis PHP extension. Session keys are stored with the prefix tina4:session: and expire automatically via Redis TTL.

$config = new \Tina4\SessionConfig();$config->sessionType = 'redis';$config->redisConfig = [    'host' => '127.0.0.1',    'port' => 6379,    'auth' => null, // set password if needed];$config->lifetime = 3600; // 1 hour​\Tina4\SessionHandler::start($config);​$_SESSION['token'] = bin2hex(random_bytes(16));

Memcached Backend {#memcached}#

Memcached sessions require the ext-memcached PHP extension. Like Redis, keys use the tina4:session: prefix and TTL handles expiry.

$config = new \Tina4\SessionConfig();$config->sessionType = 'memcached';$config->memcachedConfig = [    'host' => '127.0.0.1',    'port' => 11211,];​\Tina4\SessionHandler::start($config);​$_SESSION['cart'] = ['item1', 'item2'];

Putting It Together {#usage}#

A typical setup in your index.php:

<?phprequire_once 'vendor/autoload.php';​global $DBA;$DBA = new \Tina4\DataSQLite3("sessions.db");​$config = new \Tina4\SessionConfig();$config->sessionType = 'database';$config->database = $DBA;$config->lifetime = 7200; // 2 hours​\Tina4\SessionHandler::start($config);​echo new \Tina4\Tina4Php();

After SessionHandler::start(), PHP's built-in $_SESSION superglobal works as expected. The handler registers itself via session_set_save_handler() and calls session_start() if no session is active.

Switching Backends {#switching}#

Because all three backends share the same SessionConfig entry point, switching is a one-line change:

$config->sessionType = 'redis'; // or 'memcached', or 'database'

Set the matching connection property (database, redisConfig, or memcachedConfig) and the handler takes care of the rest. An InvalidArgumentException is thrown if the required connection property is missing.