db table not getting updated when forcing logout using ajax

Question

As stated in the title, db table trace_users is not getting updated when no activity happens for 30 mins but its get updated when its 6 mins.

The following code (both JS and PHP) is inside the same php file mno.php.

I am storing the last activity of user through this line let lastActivity = <?php echo time(); ?> ; present in the script below.

<?php
session_start();     
if (isset($_GET['action']) && $_GET['action'] == "logout")
{
    session_destroy(); // destroy session data in storage
    !isset($_SESSION['admin']);
    $open = "false";
    $write = "0";
    $stmt = $connect->prepare("UPDATE trace_users SET open=?, write=? WHERE user_name=?");
    $usname = !empty($_SESSION['user_name']) ? $_SESSION['user_name'] : '';
    $stmt->bind_param('sss', $open, $write, $usname);
    $stmt->execute();
}
?>
<script>
    jQuery(document).ready(function($) {

        let lastActivity = <?php echo time(); ?> ;  // storing last activity of user

        let now = <?php echo time(); ?> ;

        let logoutAfter = 360;

        let timer = setInterval(function() {
            now++;
            let delta = now - lastActivity;
            console.log(delta);
            if (delta > logoutAfter) {
                clearInterval(timer);
                //DO AJAX REQUEST TO close.php
                $.ajax({
                    url: "/abc/mno.php",
                    type: 'GET',
                    data: {
                        action: 'logout'
                    }, // Line A
                    success: function(data) {
                        console.log(data); // Line B
                    },
                    error: function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) {
                        alert(textStatus);
                    }
                });
            }
        }, 1000);
    }); 
</script>

Problem Statement:

I am wondering what changes I should make in the code above so that when no activity happens for 30 mins (1800 seconds) then the db table should also get updated.

Case1 (Not Working) : 1800 seconds (page logs out, db doesn't update)
Case2 (Working) : 360 seconds (page logs out, db gets updated)

The values inside session.gc_maxlifetime are 1440(Local Value) 1440(Master Value)

This is what I have tried/debugged:

On the network tab, I am getting Request Method GET when session timeout is set 6 mins and 60 mins.

Answer 1

You need to pass to the javascript some sort of permanent UID that identifies the user even after the session expires.

For the sake of simplification, I'm using user_name that already exists in your code. But you can also assign an UUID for each user, so that one can't guess another user's name and can't modify their stats.

---

First, you'll pass the $_SESSION['user_name'] from PHP to the JS closure.

let userName = "<?php echo $_SESSION['user_name']; ?>";  // don't forget to wrap the JS string value in quotes or apostrophes

Then, you'll pass it in the AJAX request payload.

data: {
    action: 'logout',
    user_name: userName  // added param
},

Finally, you'll overwrite the value that is sent to DB (if it's sent with the payload)

$usname = !empty($_SESSION['user_name']) ? $_SESSION['user_name'] : '';  // original line
if (isset($_GET['user_name']) && !empty($_GET['user_name'])) {
    $usname = $_GET['user_name'];
}
$stmt->bind_param('sss', $open, $write, $usname);  // original line

---

Complete updated code:

<?php
if (isset($_GET['action']) && $_GET['action'] == "logout")
{
    session_destroy(); // destroy session data in storage
    !isset($_SESSION['pageadmin']);
    $open = "false";
    $write = "0";
    $stmt = $connect->prepare("UPDATE trace_users SET open=?, write=? WHERE user_name=?");
    $usname = !empty($_SESSION['user_name']) ? $_SESSION['user_name'] : '';
    if (isset($_GET['user_name']) && !empty($_GET['user_name'])) {
        $usname = $_GET['user_name'];
    }
    $stmt->bind_param('sss', $open, $write, $usname);
    $stmt->execute();
}
?>
<script>
    jQuery(document).ready(function($) {

        let lastActivity = <?php echo time(); ?> ;  // storing last activity of user

        let now = <?php echo time(); ?> ;

        let logoutAfter = 10;

        let userName = "<?php echo $_SESSION['user_name']; ?>";

        let timer = setInterval(function() {
            now++;
            let delta = now - lastActivity;
            console.log(delta);
            if (delta > logoutAfter) {
                clearInterval(timer);
                //DO AJAX REQUEST TO close.php
                $.ajax({
                    url: "/abc/mno.php",
                    type: 'GET',
                    data: {
                        action: 'logout',
                        user_name: userName
                    }, // Line A
                    success: function(data) {
                        console.log(data); // Line B
                    },
                    error: function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) {
                        alert(textStatus);
                    }
                });
            }
        }, 1000);
    }); 
</script>

---

Few notes at the end:

• It's bad practice to combine PHP, HTML and JS altogether in one file.
• There are some parts of your code that are not easily reproducible and I had to guess from the context (e.g. i guessed that the session is already set, jQuery is used but there's no <script src="...jquery.js">, there's a DB query but no separate SQL import to try it quickly). Please read and apply the knowledge from How to create a Minimal, Reproducible Example in your next question, so that more people are able or willing to help you with it.