[ic] Newbie Help With Session Vars

[Michael Stearne]

I have a site that I am developing ( 
http://demo.lserve.com/cgi-bin/fea/index.html ) that is to be view by 
different types of users.  The first, the standard user, will have 
access to all "lines"  (band names) and should see all designs in the 
system.  The second type, a branded store will be directed into the site 
from an external link and should only be viewing one "line" at a time. 
 For example if a user is coming in from the Blink 182 site, a session 
variable should be set to let it be know that the line code is now BL 
(unique for each band) and only that lines designs should show up.  (in 
browsing, searching, and on the left side category listing). 

My question is, how can I create a session variable and then use that 
for various substitutions throughtout the catalog.

For example all the Blink 182 designs are in a category called BL-Designs

Is there anyway I can set the "lineVariable" (a session? variable) to be 
BL and then when I am search on categories I can swap in lineVariable 
dynamically:

category=BL-Designs
or if the session happens to be AM
category=AM-Designs

?


I am sure this is very vague, but I am looking for basic guidance here 
of how the above (branded and non-branded sites sharing same templates, 
database) can be accomplished.

Thanks for any help,
Michael Stearne