Session variables let you store and display information maintained for the duration of a user’s visit (or session). The server creates a different session object for each user and maintains it for a set period of time or until the object is explicitly terminated.

Because session variables last throughout the user’s session and persist when the user moves from page to page within the website, they’re ideal for storing user preferences. Session variables can also be used for inserting a value in the page’s HTML code, assigning a value to a local variable, or providing a value to evaluate a conditional expression.

Before defining session variables for a page, you must create them in the source code. After you create a session variable in the web application’s source code, you can use Dreamweaver to retrieve its value and use it in a web page.