My session.counter is not counting

[Joe]

I am trying to use session.counter to count clicks on images on a page.

My problem is that my session.counter is not counting...

I am doing something wrong, not sure exactly what.

I am pretty sure the issue is the if image.id == 1

I'd appreciate some help with this.

Controller:

def index():

    images = db().select(db.image.ALL, orderby=db.image.id)

    return dict(images=images)

def show():

    image = db.image(request.args(0,cast=int)) or redirect(URL('index'))

    one_counter = []

    two_counter = []

    three_counter = []

    if image.id == 1:

        session.counter = (session.counter or 0)+1

        one_counter=session.one_counter

    elif image.id == 2:

        session.counter = (session.counter or 0)+1

        two_counter=session.two_counter

    elif image.id == 3:

        session.counter = (session.counter or 0)+1

        three_counter=session.three_counter

    return dict(image=image)

def download():

    return response.download(request, db)

View:

show:

<h3>{{=0 if session.one_counter is None else session.one_counter}}</h3>

<h3>{{=0 if session.two_counter is None else session.two_counter}}</h3>

<h3>{{=0 if session.three_counter is None else session.three_counter}}</h3>

[Kiran Subbaraman]

You seem to be incrementing 'counter' in the session (the counter is user session specific then).
Also, you are using session.one_counter/two_counter/three_counter, without having initialized it. Is that a typo?

________________________________________
Kiran Subbaraman
http://subbaraman.wordpress.com/about/

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[Joe]

Hi Kiran,

Thanks very much for your reply.

I tried to initialize session.one_counter/two_counter/three_counter but it seems my understanding of the session variables in this case is not sufficient to get this right.

Basically, I am stuck with this one.

My aim is to count the clicks to image.id 1, image.id 2 and image.id 3 separately, so I can compare them.

If you could guide me in the right direction so I can have a better understanding and solve this problem or if you could correct my code, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks again.

Cheers,

Joe

[Kiran Subbaraman]

So you want to keep track of the number of a times a user (in a user's session) clicked on the images 1 to 3. Using a session to capture this count, you won't be able to track the total number of clicks across all users (just saying)

My understanding is:
* the url comes in as 'show/some_number'
* you use the the 'some_number' to query the database for a matching 'image'.

The changes you would need to make are:
if image.id == 1:
            session.one_counter = (session.one_counter or 0) + 1
if image.id == 2:
...

________________________________________
Kiran Subbaraman
http://subbaraman.wordpress.com/about/

[Joe]

Hello Kiran,

Yes, I know I wont be able to track the total number of clicks across all users. I want to serve a targeted ad banner to a user based on which category of images he or she clicks the most. In other words, different users will see different banners based on their individual likes or dislikes.

Thank you so much for helping me with this. I appreciate your answer. Your solution works perfectly. My problem is solved now and I learned something about session variables.

Thanks again.

Cheers,

Joe

[Kiran Subbaraman]

Joe,
Glad the issue is sorted out.
If you haven't already, I suggest you also take a look at the web2py book's 'Session' section: http://web2py.com/books/default/chapter/29/04/the-core#session

________________________________________
Kiran Subbaraman
http://subbaraman.wordpress.com/about/