I want to store a single integer like so:
<?php
$_SERVER['amount'] = 54;
echo($_SERVER['amount']);
?>
And be able to modify it, as well as be accessed from every new php session. However whenever the session ends the server variable disappears. How can i store a single variable on the server without a database? A .txt file seems kinda unnecessary for 2 characters stored.
Your storage options are a file, a hardcoded variable in the PHP code, a database table, a cookie or a session variable, as I understand it. Probably the most elegant solution if you already are using a database is to add a new table with your permanent data variables.
Another solution, if you are looking for a quick and dirty solution, is to add a global php variable with a magic number, which is really what you are trying to do with your server variable, eg global $_AMOUNT = 54; // The amount is always 54 for all users. That doesn't really meet your requirement of being able to modify it each time the page is accessed, though.
$_SERVER is a superglobal, which is read from a file each time PHP is initiated on every pageload. You are not writing to the file that the variable is read from, and so it resets each time the script executes.
Just make a database table, in my opinion. Make one row for the table, amount. I am willing to bet the table will grow over time as you add more global variables.
You could use file_put_contents and create a kind of cache file then use file_get_contents to retrieve the data..
file_get_contents AND file_put_contents
something like
$data = array(
'something' => 'this',
'somethingelse' => 'again',
);
$settings = json_encode($data);
file_put_content( 'settings.txt', $settings);
//then
$texstSettings = file_get_contents('settings.txt' );
$settings = json_decode(texstSettings);
$_SESSION? Also you don't need brackets to echo variables. You have two storage options really, cookies/sessions or a SQL database. The latter is over kill for as you said just 2 characters.session_start();you can set the lifespan of them.