codeigniter, $this-> property not available in 1 method after being set in another

[eluser]bill19[/eluser]
My code now has:

Code:

class Main extends Common_Auth_Controller {


    public $row;
    
    function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
        
        //do stuff here -
//        remember that $this->the_user is available in this controller
        //as is $the_user available in any view I load

  
        $this->primary_folder='...';
        $this->secondary_folder='...';

The var_dump result is now NULL