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ASP Cookies Collection

< Complete Request Object Reference

The Cookies collection is used to set or get cookie values. If the cookie does not exist, it will be created, and take the value that is specified.

Note: The Response.Cookies command must appear before the <html> tag.

Syntax

Response.Cookies(name)[(key)|.attribute]=value

variablename=Request.Cookies(name)[(key)|.attribute]

Parameter Description
name Required. The name of the cookie
value Required for the Response.Cookies command. The value of the cookie
attribute Optional. Specifies information about the cookie. Can be one of the following parameters: 
  • Domain -  Write-only. The cookie is sent only to requests to this domain
  • Expires - Write-only. The date when the cookie expires. If no date is specified, the cookie will expire when the session ends
  • HasKeys - Read-only. Specifies whether the cookie has keys (This is the only attribute that can be used with the Request.Cookies command)
  • Path - Write-only. If set, the cookie is sent only to requests to this path. If not set, the application path is used
  • Secure - Write-only. Indicates if the cookie is secure
key Optional. Specifies the key to where the value is assigned

Examples

The "Response.Cookies" command is used to create a cookie or to set a cookie value:

<%
Response.Cookies("firstname")="Alex"
%>

In the code above, we have created a cookie named "firstname" and assigned the value "Alex" to it.

It is also possible to assign some attributes to a cookie, like setting a date when a cookie should expire:

<%
Response.Cookies("firstname")="Alex" 
Response.Cookies("firstname").Expires=#May 10,2002#
%>

Now the cookie named "firstname" has the value of "Alex", and it will expire from the user's computer at May 10, 2002.

The "Request.Cookies" command is used to get a cookie value.

In the example below, we retrieve the value of the cookie "firstname" and display it on a page:

<%
fname=Request.Cookies("firstname")
response.write("Firstname=" & fname)
%>

Output:
Firstname=Alex

A cookie can also contain a collection of multiple values. We say that the cookie has Keys.

In the example below, we will create a cookie-collection named "user". The "user" cookie has Keys that contains information about a user:

<%
Response.Cookies("user")("firstname")="John"
Response.Cookies("user")("lastname")="Smith"
Response.Cookies("user")("country")="Norway"
Response.Cookies("user")("age")="25"
%>

The code below reads all the cookies your server has sent to a user. Note that the code checks if a cookie has Keys with the HasKeys property:

<html>
<body>

<%
dim x,y

for each x in Request.Cookies
  response.write("<p>")
  if Request.Cookies(x).HasKeys then
    for each y in Request.Cookies(x)
      response.write(x & ":" & y & "=" & Request.Cookies(x)(y))
      response.write("<br>")
    next
  else
    Response.Write(x & "=" & Request.Cookies(x) & "<br>")
  end if
  response.write "</p>"
next
%>

</body>
</html>
%>

Output:

firstname=Alex

user:firstname=John
user:lastname=Smith
user:
country=Norway
user:
age=25

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