How to display correct output of Sessions & Cookies in PHP

Question

I have a problem with this program of Sessions & Cookies.

Plz see the following code:-

<?php
session_start();    //session starts
if(! isset($_COOKIE['cnt']))
{
    @$_SESSION['nv'] = 1;
}
else
{
    @$_SESSION['nv'] += 1;
}
$val =  $_SESSION['nv'];
echo $val;
setcookie("cnt", $val, time()+30 );
echo "<h1>No. of visits=".@$_COOKIE['cnt'] ."</h1>";
if (@$_COOKIE['cnt'] == 5)
  {
  setcookie("cnt", 0, time()-30);
  session_destroy();
  }
?>

It is not giving the correct output.

When I run the program for the first time, it shows:

No. of visits=

Means nothing..

& when I run the program for the second time, it shows:

No. of visits=1

I want that my output should be displayed as "No. of visits=1" when I run the program for the first time. But it shows this output at 2nd time.

Do help me please..

Answer 1

The cookie set by setcookie is sent along with the HTTP response the server sends to the client and, quoting the documentation:

Once the cookies have been set, they can be accessed on the next page load with the $_COOKIE or $HTTP_COOKIE_VARS arrays.

You should print the session var

echo "<h1>No. of visits=" . $_SESSION['nv'] . "</h1>";