A Function to Set a Cookie
First, we create a function that stores the name of the visitor in a cookie variable:
Example
function setCookie(cname, cvalue, exdays) {
var d = new Date();
d.setTime(d.getTime() + (exdays*24*60*60*1000));
var expires = "expires="+ d.toUTCString();
document.cookie = cname + "=" + cvalue + ";" + expires + ";path=/";
}
Example explained:
The parameters of the function above are the name of the cookie (cname), the value of the cookie (cvalue), and the number of days until the cookie should expire (exdays).
The function sets a cookie by adding together the cookiename, the cookie value, and the expires string.
A Function to Get a Cookie
Then, we create a function that returns the value of a specified cookie:
Example
function getCookie(cname) {
var name = cname + "=";
var decodedCookie = decodeURIComponent(document.cookie);
var ca = decodedCookie.split(';');
for(var i = 0; i <ca.length; i++) {
var c = ca[i];
while (c.charAt(0) == ' ') {
c = c.substring(1);
}
if (c.indexOf(name) == 0) {
return c.substring(name.length, c.length);
}
}
return "";
}
Function explained:
Take the cookiename as parameter (cname).
Create a variable (name) with the text to search for (cname + "=").
Decode the cookie string, to handle cookies with special characters, e.g. '$'
Split document.cookie on semicolons into an array called ca (ca = decodedCookie.split(';')).
Loop through the ca array (i = 0; i < ca.length; i++), and read out each value c = ca[i]).
If the cookie is found (c.indexOf(name) == 0), return the value of the cookie (c.substring(name.length, c.length).
If the cookie is not found, return "".
A Function to Check a Cookie
Last, we create the function that checks if a cookie is set.
If the cookie is set it will display a greeting.
If the cookie is not set, it will display a prompt box, asking for the name of the user, and stores the username cookie for 365 days, by calling the setCookie function:
Example
function checkCookie() {
var username = getCookie("username");
if (username != "") {
alert("Welcome again " + username);
} else {
username = prompt("Please enter your name:", "");
if (username != "" && username != null) {
setCookie("username", username, 365);
}
}
}
All Together Now
Example
function setCookie(cname, cvalue, exdays) {
var d = new Date();
d.setTime(d.getTime() + (exdays * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000));
var expires = "expires="+d.toUTCString();
document.cookie = cname + "=" + cvalue + ";" + expires + ";path=/";
}
function getCookie(cname) {
var name = cname + "=";
var ca = document.cookie.split(';');
for(var i = 0; i < ca.length; i++) {
var c = ca[i];
while (c.charAt(0) == ' ') {
c = c.substring(1);
}
if (c.indexOf(name) == 0) {
return c.substring(name.length, c.length);
}
}
return "";
}
function checkCookie() {
var user = getCookie("username");
if (user != "") {
alert("Welcome again " + user);
} else {
user = prompt("Please enter your name:", "");
if (user != "" && user != null) {
setCookie("username", user, 365);
}
}
}
