Here is a quick example:
function step1() {
$data = array(
'level_1' => array(
'level_2' => 'abc\def'
),
);
$this->session->set_userdata("data", $data);
}
function step2() {
echo '<pre>';
print_r($this->session->all_userdata());
}
As end result, data is not stored in session.