PHP

CGI Scripts | Javascript | PERL Scripts | Server Side Includes (SSI's)

If you are a web developer you’ve probably heard of PHP. It’s been going since 1994 with many improvements being made.


What is PHP?
PHP (officially "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor") is a server-side HTML-embedded scripting language.
Simple answer, but what does that mean?

An introductory example:

Notice how this is different from a CGI script written in other languages like Perl or C -- instead of writing a program with lots of commands to output HTML, you write an HTML script with a some embedded code to do something (in this case, output some text). The PHP code is enclosed in special start and end tags that allow you to jump into and out of PHP mode.

What distinguishes PHP from something like client-side Javascript is that the code is executed on the server. If you were to have a script similar to the above on your server, the client would receive the results of running that script, with no way of determining what the underlying code may be. You can even configure your web server to process all your HTML files with PHP, and then there’s really no way that users can tell what you have up your sleeve.


What can PHP do?
At the most basic level, PHP can do anything any other CGI program can do, such as collect form data, generate dynamic page content, or send and receive cookies.

Perhaps the strongest and most significant feature in PHP is its support for a wide range of databases. Writing a database-enabled web page is incredibly simple. The following databases are currently supported:
  • Adabas D InterBase Solid
  • dBase mSQL Sybase
  • Empress MySQL Velocis
  • FilePro Oracle Unix dbm
  • Informix PostgreSQL
PHP also has support for talking to other services using protocols such as IMAP, SNMP, NNTP, POP3, or even HTTP. You can also open raw network sockets and interact using other protocols.

(Source: PHP Manual, © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 by the PHP Documentation Group)


It's all out there
As with the other scripts mentioned in the WebServUSB Manual, PHP is covered extensively on the web. Just go to your favorite search engine and type in PHP. You'll find lots of links. Have fun

If you are used to ASP then you will find PHP similar in its operation.

Also see the PHP configuration window (pop up)

Visit PHP to learn more and download the latest version. http://www.php.net/downloads.php  install as you would a regular Windows program.

PHP is supported on WebServUSB (via CGI gateway). When you install PHP put it in the root directory of WebServUSB under \php\ folder