Repopulating a form from session data

[eluser]Jesse Schutt[/eluser]
Hi guys,

I know that this is a fairly simple question, but I don't know the syntax to accomplish it!

Code:

<label for="first_name">First Name <span class="required">*</span></label>
&lt;input id="first_name" type="text" name="first_name" value="&lt;?php echo set_value('first_name'); ?&gt;"  /&gt; &lt;?php echo form_error('first_name'); ?&gt;

What I'd like to do is have the form check if the 'first_name' is set in the user's session. If it is set, then I'd like it to be in the set_value. If it is not set, I'd like it to be blank (unless it is being validated...)

Thanks Much!!

Jesse