Document that the cookie store is the default session store. Mention the memcached store. Closes #10241 [Josh Susser, Jeremy Kemper]

git-svn-id: http://svn-commit.rubyonrails.org/rails/trunk@8189 5ecf4fe2-1ee6-0310-87b1-e25e094e27de

2 files changed, 17 insertions, 8 deletions

diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/base.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/base.rb
index 07fed278e2..5249fd035a 100755
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/base.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/base.rb
@@ -162,17 +162,26 @@ module ActionController #:nodoc:
   # For removing objects from the session, you can either assign a single key to nil, like <tt>session[:person] = nil</tt>, or you can
   # remove the entire session with reset_session.
   #
-  # By default, sessions are stored on the file system in <tt>RAILS_ROOT/tmp/sessions</tt>. Any object can be placed in the session
-  # (as long as it can be Marshalled). But remember that 1000 active sessions each storing a 50kb object could lead to a 50MB store on the filesystem.
-  # In other words, think carefully about size and caching before resorting to the use of the session on the filesystem.
+  # Sessions are stored in a browser cookie that's crytographically signed, but unencrypted, by default. This prevents
+  # the user from tampering with the session but also allows him to see its contents.
   #
-  # An alternative to storing sessions on disk is to use ActiveRecordStore to store sessions in your database, which can solve problems
-  # caused by storing sessions in the file system and may speed up your application. To use ActiveRecordStore, uncomment the line:
+  # Do not put secret information in session!
+  #
+  # Other options for session storage are:
+  #
+  # ActiveRecordStore: sessions are stored in your database, which works better than PStore with multiple app servers and,
+  # unlike CookieStore, hides your session contents from the user. To use ActiveRecordStore, set
   #
   #   config.action_controller.session_store = :active_record_store
   #
   # in your <tt>environment.rb</tt> and run <tt>rake db:sessions:create</tt>.
   #
+  # MemCacheStore: sessions are stored as entries in your memcached cache.  Set the session store type in <tt>environment.rb</tt>:
+  #
+  #   config.action_controller.session_store = :mem_cache_store
+  #
+  #  This assumes that memcached has been installed and configured properly.  See the MemCacheStore docs for more information.
+  #
   # == Responses
   #
   # Each action results in a response, which holds the headers and document to be sent to the user's browser. The actual response
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/session_management.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/session_management.rb
index 207db90c83..fabb6e7f60 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/session_management.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/session_management.rb
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ module ActionController #:nodoc:
     end
 
     module ClassMethods
-      # Set the session store to be used for keeping the session data between requests. The default is using the
-      # file system, but you can also specify one of the other included stores (:active_record_store, :drb_store, 
-      # :mem_cache_store, or :memory_store) or use your own class.
+      # Set the session store to be used for keeping the session data between requests. By default, sessions are stored
+      # in browser cookies (:cookie_store), but you can also specify one of the other included stores
+      # (:active_record_store, :p_store, drb_store, :mem_cache_store, or :memory_store) or your own custom class.
       def session_store=(store)
         ActionController::CgiRequest::DEFAULT_SESSION_OPTIONS[:database_manager] =
           store.is_a?(Symbol) ? CGI::Session.const_get(store == :drb_store ? "DRbStore" : store.to_s.camelize) : store