header is not working when called within a function

Question

I have created a php file named public.php and have added few functions to it to reduce code redundancy. One of the functions is as follows.

/**
 * Checks if there is a valid session and navigates to the login page if false.
 * @return boolean true if session valid.
 */
function checkSession_auto() {
    if (checkSession()) {
        return true;
    } else {
        //echo 'pass'; exit;
        header("location: accounts/login.php");
    }
}

I have verified that the checkSession() returns false, using an echo statement. Here's the problem.

The page does not navigates to login.php. Why?

Thanks in advise!

You generally need to `exit` after you send a location header. — Alex Howansky, Apr 18 '17 at 21:01
@Alex It usually doesn't needs the `exit` statement. Why in a function? — Roshana Pitigala, Apr 18 '17 at 21:03
`header()` doesn't exit by itself, so when the function returns to the caller, it will just keep executing more code, and continue to render whatever page was originally called. — Alex Howansky, Apr 18 '17 at 21:05

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

Problem solved by adding exit statement after header($string), read this comment.

It seems that the exiting is mandatory after sending a location header unless you do not have any code (PHP or HTML) under header.

The header is only a line of data asking the browser to redirect. The rest of the page will still be served by PHP and can be looked at by the client by simply preventing the header command from executing.

Resources;

header is not working when called within a function

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