SAMS Teach Yourself Perl in 24 Hours THIRD EDITION

Long Term Cookies

So far, the cookies you've set on the browser have been temporary: as soon as the browser is closed, the cookie disappears. When you're using cookies to save values among multiple pages on a form—instead of hidden HTML values—using temporary cookies is entirely appropriate. When a new browser is started, you don't want the cookie returned to the server because the user wouldn't be filling out the form starting in the middle; he or she would be starting at the beginning.

In some cases, you might like the cookie to hang around much longer. Perhaps you want the cookie to persist for days, weeks, or months after the browser is closed and restarted. Creating these cookies is easy with Perl's CGI module.

To set an expiration date ...