1. Chapter 2 Getting Started with PHP PHP Programming with MySQL

2. Objectives Install and configure a Web server
Install and configure PHP
Install and configure MySQL
Create basic PHP scripts
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3. Understanding Binary and Source Code Installations
Binary format (or binaries) refer to compiled files, such as executable installation programs
Source code is the original programming code in which an application was written
Source code must be compiled, or processed, and assembled into an executable format before it is used
Compiled programs only need to be recompiled when their code changes
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4. Installing and Configuring a Web Server
Apache is the most popular Web server software used on the Internet
Microsoft IIS for Windows is the second most popular server software
In Windows, a service refers to a program that performs a specific function to support other programs
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5. Installing and Running Apache on UNIX and Linux
Go to
Run the gunzip command: gunzip httpd tar.gz
Run the tar command: tar xvf httpd tar
Change to the http directory: cd httpd
Run the configure command: ./configure
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6. Installing and Running Apache on UNIX and Linux (continued)
Compile the Apache source code with the make command
Run the make install command in the httpd directory
Start, stop, and restart Apache using the apachectl control script
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7. Installing and Running Apache on Windows
Go to
Download the apache_ win32-x86-no_ssl.msi installation file
Navigate to the installation file and from the Welcome screen, click Next
Accept the terms of the License Agreement, click Next
Read the contents of the Read This First screen, click Next
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8. Installing and Running Apache on Windows (continued)
Accept the default values, click Next
Select a Typical installation, click Next
Accept the default Destination Folder directory, click Next
Click Back to make changes or click Install to finish
Click Finish
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9. Installing and Running Internet Information Services on Windows
Open the Control Panel from the Start menu
If using Windows XP, select Switch to Classic View
Select the Add or Remove Programs icon
Click Add/Remove Windows Components
Click the check box next to Internet Information Services (IIS), click Next
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10. Installing and Running IIS on Windows (continued)
After the installation is complete, click Finish
If prompted, restart Windows otherwise close the Control Panel
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11. Testing Your Web Server
Open your Web browser
Type in the Address box, click Enter
Figure 2-2 Apache’s default Web page
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12. Testing Your Web Server (continued)
Type in the Address box, click Enter
Figure 2-3 Web page informing you that IIS is running
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13. Configuring Apache
To configure ports and other settings you must edit the httpd.conf file
For UNIX/Linux
/usr/local/apache2/conf
For Windows
C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\conf
Lines that begin with the pound sign (#) are informational comments
Lines without pound signs contain directives
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14. Configuring Apache (continued)
Figure 2-4 httpd.conf
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15. Configuring Apache (continued)
Directives define information about how a program should be configured
The DocumentRoot directive identifies the default directory from where Apache serves Web pages
The Alias directive identifies other directories that Apache can use to serve Web pages
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16. Configuring Internet Information Services
Figure 2-5 Default Web Site Properties dialog box
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17. Installing PHP on UNIX and Linux Systems Running Apache
Go to
Run the gunzip command: gunzip php tar.gz
Run the tar command: tar xvf php tar
Change to the php directory: cd php-5.0.3
Run the configure command: ./configure
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18. Installing PHP on UNIX and Linux Systems Running Apache (continued)
Compile the PHP source code with the make command
Run the make install command in the php directory
Specify which configuration file you want to use with PHP: cp php.ini-dist /usr/local/lib/php.ini
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19. Installing PHP Windows Running Apache or IIS
Go to and download the latest Windows binary installer
Navigate to the installation file and from the Welcome screen, click Next
In the License Agreement screen, click I Agree
In the Installation Type screen, select Standard, then click Next
Accept the default destination location, click Next
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20. Installing PHP Windows Running Apache or IIS (continued)
In the Mail Configuration screen, accept the default values of localhost, click Next
In the Server Type screen, select the type of Web server that you want to use with PHP, click Next
In the Start Installation screen, click Next to begin installation
Click OK to close the dialog box of the Web server you selected
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21. Configuring Apache for PHP on UNIX/Linux Platforms
Open the httpd.conf file from the /usr/local/apache2/conf directory
Search for the LoadModule directive: LoadModule php5_module libexec/libphp5.so
Add the AddType directive to the end of the file: AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
Save and close the httpd.conf file
Restart Apache with the command: /usr/local/apache2/bin/apachectl restart
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22. Configuring Apache for PHP on Windows
Click the Start menu and point to All Programs
Select the Edit the Apache httpd.config Configuration File command
Add the following to the end of the file: ScriptAlias /PHP/ “C:/PHP/” AddType application/x-httpd-php .php Action application/x-httpd-php “/PHP/php-cgi.exe”
Save and close the httpd.conf file
Restart Apache and select the Restart command
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23. Configuring PHP Figure 2-6 The php.ini configuration file
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24. Installing and Configuring MySQL on UNIX and Linux
Go to and download the latest version of MySQL
Create a separate group and user named for running MySQL: groupadd mysql useradd -g mysql mysql
Run the gunzip mysql tar.gz command
Run the tar xvf mysql tar command
Change to the mysql directory
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25. Installing and Configuring MySQL on UNIX and Linux (continued)
Run the ./configure command
Compile the MySQL code with the make command
Run the make install command
Change to the scripts directory
Run the mysql_install_db --user=mysql script
Run the ownership commands: chown -R root /usr/local/mysql chown -R mysql /usr/local/mysql/var chgrp -R mysql /usr/local/mysql
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26. Installing and Configuring MySQL on Windows
Go to
Open Windows Explorer or My Computer and start the MySQL installation
In the Welcome screen, click Next to start the installation
Accept the default setup type Typical, click Next
Click Back to make changes or click Install to continue
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27. Installing and Configuring MySQL on Windows (continued)
Create a new account or skip sign-in, click Next
In the Wizard Completed screen, click Finish
In the first screen of the MySQL Server Instance Configuration Wizard, click Next
In the Configuration Type screen, select Standard Configuration, click Next
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28. Installing and Configuring MySQL on Windows (continued)
In the Windows Options screen, accept the default values (do not select the Include Bin Directory in Windows PATH check box), click Next
In the Security Options screen, deselect the Modify Security Settings check box, click Next
Click Back to change any of the configuration operations or Execute to finish
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29. Testing the MySQL Server
Check to see if MySQL is running
For UNIX/Linux systems:
/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe --user=mysql &
For Windows, use the Services window
Run the mysqladmin version command
/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqladmin version
For Windows, change to the C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 4.1\bin\ directory and run:
mysqladmin version
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30. Creating Basic PHP Scripts
Embedded scripting languages (JavaScript or PHP) refer to code that is embedded within a Web page (either an HTML or XHTML document)
This code is typed directly into a Web page as a separate section
A Web page document containing PHP code must have an extension of .php
PHP code is never sent to a client’s Web browser
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31. Creating Basic PHP Scripts (continued)
The Web page generated from the PHP code, and HTML or XHTML elements found within the PHP file, is returned to the client
A PHP file that does not contain any PHP code should have an .html extension
.php is the default extension that most Web servers use to process PHP scripts
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32. Creating PHP Code Blocks
Code declaration blocks are separate sections within a Web page that are interpreted by the scripting engine
There are four types of code declaration blocks:
Standard PHP script delimiters
The <script> element
Short PHP script delimiters
ASP-style script delimiters
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33. Standard PHP Script Delimiters
A delimiter is a character or sequence of characters used to mark the beginning and end of a code segment
The standard method of writing PHP code declaration blocks is to use the <?php and ?> script delimiters
The individual lines of code that make up a PHP script are called statements
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34. The <script> Element
The <script> element identifies a script section in a Web page document
For client-side scripting, the type attribute of the <script> element indicates which scripting language and version is being used
When the <script> element is used with PHP, you do not include the type attribute
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35. Short PHP Script Delimiters
The syntax for the short PHP script delimiters is
<? statements; ?>
Short delimiters can be disabled in a Web server’s php.ini configuration file
PHP scripts will not work if your Web site ISP does not support short PHP script delimiters
Short delimiters can be used in XHTML documents, but not in XML documents
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36. ASP-Style Script Delimiters
The syntax for the ASP-style script delimiters is
<% statements; %>
ASP-style script delimiters can be used in XHTML documents, but not in XML documents
ASP-style script delimiters can be enabled or disabled in the php.ini configuration file
To enable or disable ASP-style script delimiters, assign a value of “On” or “Off ” to the asp_tags directive in the php.ini configuration file
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37. Understanding Functions
A function refers to a procedure that performs a specific task
To execute a function, you must invoke, or call, it from somewhere in the script
A function call is the function name followed by any data that the function needs
The data (in parentheses following the function name) are called arguments or actual parameters
Sending data to a called function is called passing arguments
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38. Displaying Script Results
To return to the client the results of any processing that occurs within a PHP code block, you must use an echo() statement or the print() statement
The echo() and print() statements create new text on a Web page that is returned as a response to a client
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39. Displaying Script Results (continued)
Figure PHP Diagnostic Information Web page
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40. Displaying Script Results (continued)
The echo() and print() statements are language constructs of the PHP programming language
A programming language construct refers to a built-in feature of a programming language
The echo() and print() statements are virtually identical except:
The print() statement returns a value of 1 if it is successful
It returns a value of 0 if it is not successful
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41. Displaying Script Results (continued)
Use the echo() and print() statements to return the results of a PHP script within a Web page that is returned to a client
A text string, or literal string, is text that is contained within double or single quotation marks
To pass multiple arguments to the echo() and print() statements, separate them with commas like arguments passed to a function
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42. Creating Multiple Code Declaration Blocks
For multiple script sections in a document, include a separate code declaration block for each section
...
</head>
<body>
<h1>Multiple Script Sections</h1>
<h2>First Script Section</h2>
<?php echo “<p>Output from the first script section.</p>”;
?>
<h2>Second Script Section</h2>
<?php echo “<p>Output from the second script section.</p>”
;?>
</body>
</html>
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43. Creating Multiple Code Declaration Blocks (continued)
PHP code declaration blocks execute on a Web server before a Web page is sent to a client
...
</head>
<body>
<h1>Multiple Script Sections</h1>
<h2>First Script Section</h2>
<p>Output from the first script section.</p>
<h2>Second Script Section</h2>
<p>Output from the second script section.</p>
</body>
</html>
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44. Creating Multiple Code Declaration Blocks (continued)
Figure Output of a document with two PHP script sections
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45. Case Sensitivity in PHP
Programming language constructs in PHP are mostly case insensitive
<?php
echo “<p>Explore <strong>Africa</strong>, <br />”;
Echo “<strong>South America</strong>, <br />”;
ECHO “ and <strong>Australia</strong>!</p>”;
?>
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46. Adding Comments to a PHP Script
Comments are nonprinting lines placed in code such as:
The name of the script
Your name and the date you created the program
Notes to yourself
Instructions to future programmers who might need to modify your work
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47. Adding Comments to a PHP Script (continued)
Line comments hide a single line of code
Add // or # before the text
Block comments hide multiple lines of code
Add /* to the first line of code
And */ after the last character in the code
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48. Adding Comments to a PHP Script (continued)/*
This line is part of the block comment.
This line is also part of the block comment. */
echo “<h1>Comments Example</h1>”; // Line comments can follow
code statements
// This line comment takes up an entire line.
# This is another way of creating a line comment.
/* This is another way of creating
a block comment. */
?>
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49. Summary
Binary format (or “binaries”) refers to files that can be in the form of executable installation programs
Source code is the original programming code in which an application was written
Directives define information about how a program should be configured
JavaScript and PHP are both referred to as embedded scripting languages
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50. Summary (continued)
You write PHP scripts within code declaration blocks, which are separate sections within a Web page that are interpreted by the scripting engine
The individual lines of code that make up a PHP script are called statements
The term function refers to a procedure (or individual statements grouped into a logical unit) that perform a specific task
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51. Summary (continued)
The term programming language construct refers to a built-in feature of a programming language
Programming language constructs in PHP are mostly case insensitive, although there are some exceptions
Comments are nonprinting lines that you place in code to contain various types of remarks
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