Checking if a string is empty?

another way to do this that is very flexible - validate the session and then return something useful like a $user object,
and if it doesn't come back then show the log in.

PHP Code:

if( ! $user = $this->users->returnActiveUser() ){ $this->showLogin() ; } 


that way you can change the session validation in users but the controller that is calling it does not have to change.