cookies - php $_COOKIE isset

Question

I am using this code to set a cookie and then see if they exist

setcookie("token", "value", time()+60*60*24*100, "/");
setcookie("secret", "value", time()+60*60*24*100, "/");
setcookie("key", "value", time()+60*60*24*100, "/");

if (!isset($_COOKIE['token']) || !isset($_COOKIE['secret']) || !isset($_COOKIE['key'])) {

// do something because one of the cookies were not set

}

Even though all three of the cookies were set in my browser, it still runs the if() statement. Via the process of elimination I have discovered the middle cookie !isset($_COOKIE['secret']) seems to cause the if() statement to run even though the cookie secret was set in my browser. The script says it has not been set when I look at my browser and it has been set. Can you think of any reason why php is saying it wasn't set?

Answer 1

setcookie only defines a cookie to be sent along with the rest of the HTTP headers, and they can be accessed on the next page load with the $_COOKIE. With your code, the HTTP headers are not be sent.

You just need setcookie when a cookie is not set. Like:

if (!isset($_COOKIE['token'])) {
    setcookie("token", "value", time()+60*60*24*100, "/");
}