Cookie not found even though it exists

Question

I'm having a really strange problem and I'm looking for any possible ideas. I have a flyover that I load based on whether or not a cookie is found on the client's machine. In the flyover there is a 'No thanks' checkbox saying " Don't show again ". I check to see if it has been checked like this in the flyover page:

$(document).ready(function() {
jQuery(window).bind("beforeunload", function(){ setCookieFO('noShowMerkleCpn','true',180);       });
}); 

function setCookieFO(c_name,value,exdays){
if($('#noThanks').attr('checked') ){
var exdate=new Date();
exdate.setDate(exdate.getDate() + exdays);
var c_value=escape(value) + ((exdays==null) ? "" : "; expires="+exdate.toUTCString());
document.cookie=c_name + "=" + c_value;
}else{
}
} 

I have ran the code in Firebug and verified that the cookie gets saved on document unload. I can even go into my cookies and find the cookie. Here is how I check for the cookie:

function runFancyBox(){
var idx = document.cookie.indexOf('noShowMerkleCpn');
if(idx < 0 ){
$('#cpnForm').click();
}else{
}
} 

I don't really care about the cookie value. I just check to see if it exists and display the flyover if it doesn't. However, for some reason this check will return -1 even when the cookie exists.

Extra info :

The cookie is saved in my flyover.Html page under

server/bank/ima

The script that looks for the cookie is on the same server

server/bank/ima/script

The cookie is saved with this Path value with Host: server

/bank/ima/

Is there anything that jumps out that could be causing this issue? Any suggestions?

Answer 1

two things i would check. first, you are setting document.cookie without appending, so you wipe out all previous cookies (bad idea). second, make sure to set the cookie's domain and path to the same domain as the page reading it.

also be aware of your usage of the checked attribute:

if($('#noThanks').prop('checked'))

http://timmywillison.com/2011/When-to-use-.attr%28%29-and-.prop%28%29.html

Answer 2

I tried your code on both localhost and my server, and it works fine I assume you were careful to close your browser so that the cookie is actually set. My guess is you have a path problem, although from what you say about paths, it is certainly not obvious what it is.

I saved the code on my server, so you can at least examine code that works.

The url to set the cookie is: http://www.bridgesights.com/hondobridge/bbohondo/setcookietest.php

The url to test the cookie is: http://www.bridgesights.com/hondobridge/bbohondo/bbohondo_files/getcookietest.php

Although this has nothing to do with your problem, I highly recommend the jquery-cookie plugin for manipulating cookies. It is very lightweight and easy to use. The link is: https://github.com/carhartl/jquery-cookie