My base question: can I write a cookie in one language and access it via another language?

Specific situation: at work we have numerous webbased applications, written in PHP, Perl, and ColdFusion. Last year, we built a centralized login database that all internal applications use to retrieve login info/permissions.

This allows a user to have one login/password for all of the internal applications. But the current setup still requires that the user login to each separate application. I'm trying to figure out a way to have the user log in once and be able to access each application that uses this centralized login database.

My thought is that the first time a user logs in (during the defined time period), the process handling the login will write a cookie with the user id. Subsequent applications will look for the cookie and if it exists, use the user id to get permission info from the central database, thus the user won't have to go thru the login process again (until the cookie expires).

But, the applications are written by different people, at different times and in different languages. So, one question that occurs to me, is can language A read a cookie written by language B.

Given that cookies are just text files, it would seem likely, but ...?

Thanks

There shouldn't be any problems accessing cookies with any language. Since cookies mostly contain a string of data you just need to know what to do with the data.

It's plain text so any language that can handle text file surely can handle a cookie.

Tech Alpha Computer Forums

As long as all the applications accessing the cookie are on the same domain there should be no problem.

Michael J