function getsessiondata ($session_name = ' sessid', $session_save_handler = 'files') {
     $session_data = array();
     # did we get told what the old session id was? we can't continue it without that info
     if (array_key_exists($session_name, $_cookie)) {
         # save current session id
         $session_id = $_cookie[$session_name];
         $old_session_id = session_id();
        
         # write and close current session
         session_write_close();
        
         # grab old save handler, and switch to files
         $old_session_save_handler = ini_get('session.save_handler');
         ini_set('session.save_handler', $session_save_handler);
        
         # now we can switch the session over, capturing the old session name
         $old_session_name = session_name($session_name);
         session_id($session_id);
         session_start();
        
         # get the desired session data
         $session_data = $_session;
        
         # close this session, switch back to the original handler, then restart the old session
         session_write_close();
         ini_set('session.save_handler', $old_session_save_handler);
         session_name($old_session_name);
         session_id($old_session_id);
         session_start();
     }
    
     # now return the data we just retrieved
     return $session_data;
 }