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?>
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- home - source code -
![](\"http://php.net/gifs/logo.gif\")
";
print "Introduction";
print "PHP is a server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting language.
";
print "PHP uses PERL style variables (scalars, arrays, and hashes) but its syntax is more like C.
";
print "PHP binaries and source code can be downloaded from http://www.php.net. It is free for personal and commercial use.
";
print "PHP is simple enough for casual web pages and powerful enough for ecommerce sites.";
print "
";
print "A small sample program:
";
$example =
"
<?php echo \$title; ?>
A list of PHP advantages:
";
print "";
print htmlspecialchars( $example );
print "$stage. Dynamic HTML";
print "PHP can be used to customize simple things such as background colors to very complex things such as inventory lists (pulled from a database).
";
print "PHP can preserve a certain look and feel throughout a web page while changing the content.
";
print "PHP can produce HTML or be used as a device to display static HTML files.
";
print "Examples:";
print "Current date/time: $Today
";
print "Change background color to:
";
print "";
print "
";
break;
case 2:
print "$stage. Form Processing";
print "PHP can process information from a plain HTML form or one that is generated by PHP.
";
print "Each HTML form field is turned into a PHP variable with the same name.
";
print "Once the form variable is in PHP it can be manipulated like any other variable. Information can be stored in a datbase, checked for errors, used to generate an email, etc.
";
print "Example:";
if (!empty($form_example)) {
print "Your email is: $form_example
";
print "Your favorite color is: $fav_color.
";
if (empty($fav_color)) {
$fav_color = "(unspecified)";
}
$msg = "PHP Example\n\n";
$msg .= "Your email is: $form_example\n";
$msg .= "Your favorite color is: $fav_color.\n\n";
$recipient = "$form_example";
$subject = "PHP Example";
$mailheaders = "From: The Computer Club <> \n\n";
mail($recipient, $subject, $msg, $mailheaders);
}
print "Email:
Favorite Color:
";
print "";
print "
";
break;
case 3:
print "$stage. Files";
print "PHP can open, display, read, write, and otherwise manipulate files.
";
print "A file can be a local file or a URL
";
print "Reading files is very easy but writing to files can only be done under special circumstances. It is generally very insecure to allow a web-based application to write to files. If it is necessary to store information, a database provides a much more secure (and powerful) interface.
";
print "Example:";
$file = fopen("text.txt", "r");
print "";
fpassthru($file);
print "";
print "
Output from a text file
";
break;
case 4:
print "$stage. Database Access";
print "PHP can connect to PostgreSQL and MySQL databases. PHP also supports Oracle, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, and ODBC database connections.
";
print "PHP can perform all standard SQL operations by passing an SQL statement to a database execute command.
";
print "";
print "Example:";
if(!$connection = @mysql_connect("MYSQL_HOST","MYSQL_USERNAME","MYSQL_PASSWORD")) {
print "Cannot connect to database engine.";
}
if(!$db = @mysql_select_db("DB_NAME", $connection)) {
print "Database not found";
}
/*
print "
";
print "
";
if (!empty($data)) {
$DateTime = date("Y-m-d H:i:s");
$sql = "insert into data (name, date) values ('$data', '$DateTime')";
if (!($sql_result = mysql_query($sql,$connection))) {
print "Couldn't execute query - $sql
";
}
}
*/
if (empty($order)) {
$order = "id";
}
$sql = "select * from info order by $order";
if (!($sql_result = @mysql_query($sql,$connection))) {
print "Couldn't execute query - $sql
";
}
print "";
@mysql_free_result($sql_result);
mysql_close($connection);
break;
case 5:
print "$stage. Additional Information";
print "Other PHP Functions";
print "- Graphics manipulation
- Regular Expressions";
print "
- Cookies";
print "
- Execute shell commands";
print "
Links";
print " - http://www.php.net - PHP Homepage";
print "
- http://www.thickbook.com - PHP Tutorials";
print "
Recommended Text";
print " - Professional PHP Programming
Castagnetto, et al
Published by WROX";
print "
";
break;
case $last_stage:
print "
";
print "Questions?";
break;
}
?>
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