Explains how to build Web database applications with the PHP scripting language and the MySQL database. PHP & MySQL Web Development All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies 5 About the Author 7 Dedication 9 Author’s Acknowledgments 9 Introduction 29 About This Book 29 Conventions Used in This Book 30 What You’re Not to Read 31 Foolish Assumptions 32 How This Book Is Organized 32 Icons Used in This Book 34 Getting Started 34 Contents at a Glance 36 Book I: Setting Up Your Environment 35 Chapter 1: Setting Up Your Web Environment 37 The Required Tools 38 Choosing a Host for Your Web Site 38 Choosing Your Development Environment 44 Setting Up Your Local Computer for Development 45 Keeping Up with PHP and MySQL Changes 47 Chapter 2: Installing PHP 49 Checking the PHP Installation 50 Obtaining PHP 50 Installing PHP 53 Configuring Your Web Server for PHP 61 Configuring PHP 64 Testing PHP 66 Activating MySQL Support 67 Troubleshooting 70 Chapter 3: Setting Up the MySQL Environment 75 Checking the MySQL Installation 76 Obtaining MySQL 77 Installing MySQL 80 Configuring MySQL 88 Starting and Stopping the MySQL Server 89 Testing MySQL 91 Troubleshooting MySQL 92 Installing MySQL GUI Administration Programs 94 Installing phpMyAdmin 95 Troubleshooting phpMyAdmin 99 Chapter 4: Installing a Web Server 101 Testing Your Web Server 101 Installing and Configuring Apache 102 Installing IIS 114 Chapter 5: Setting Up Your Web Development Environment with the XAMPP Package 115 Obtaining XAMPP 116 Installing XAMPP 116 Using the XAMPP Control Panel 119 Testing Your Development Environment 120 Configuring Your Development Environment 123 Uninstalling and Reinstalling XAMPP 125 Troubleshooting 126 Contents at a Glance 130 Book II: PHP Programming 129 Chapter 1: PHP Basics 131 How PHP Works 131 Structure of a PHP Script 133 PHP Syntax 135 Writing PHP Code 137 Displaying Content in a Web Page 138 Using PHP Variables 141 Using PHP Constants 146 Understanding Data Types 147 Using Arrays 156 Using Dates and Times 166 Understanding PHP Error Messages 170 Adding Comments to Your PHP Script 176 Chapter 2: Building PHP Scripts 179 Setting Up Conditions 180 Using Conditional Statements 189 Repeating Actions with Loops 195 Using Functions 206 Organizing Scripts 217 Chapter 3: PHP and Your Operating System 225 Managing Files 226 Using Operating System Commands 232 Using FTP 238 Reading and Writing Files 243 Exchanging Data with Other Programs 249 Using SQLite 253 Chapter 4: Object-Oriented Programming 257 Introducing Object-Oriented Programming 257 Developing an Object-Oriented Script 260 Defining a Class 263 Using a Class in a Script 274 Using Abstract Methods in Abstract Classes and Interfaces 276 Preventing Changes to a Class or Method 279 Handling Errors with Exceptions 279 Copying Objects 281 Comparing Objects 282 Getting Information about Objects and Classes 283 Destroying Objects 283 Contents at a Glance 286 Book III: Using MySQL 285 Chapter 1: Introducing MySQL 287 How MySQL Works 287 Understanding Database Structure 288 Communicating with MySQL 288 Protecting Your MySQL Databases 295 Chapter 2: Administering MySQL 297 Understanding the Administrator Responsibilities 297 Default Access to Your Data 298 Controlling Access to Your Data 299 Setting Up MySQL Accounts 303 Backing Up Your Database 313 Restoring Your Data 318 Upgrading MySQL 321 Chapter 3: Designing and Building a Database 323 Designing a Database 323 Building a Database 336 Changing the Database Structure 344 Chapter 4: Using the Database 347 Adding Information to a Database 348 Looking at the Data in a Database 355 Retrieving Information from a Database 356 Updating Information in a Database 367 Removing Information from a Database 368 Chapter 5: Communicating with the Database from PHP Scripts 371 How MySQL and PHP Work Together 371 PHP Functions That Communicate with MySQL 372 Communicating with MySQL 372 Selecting a Database 377 Handling MySQL Errors 377 Using Other Helpful mysqli Functions 379 Converting mysqli Functions to mysql Functions 382 Contents at a Glance 386 Book IV: Security 385 Chapter 1: General Security Considerations 387 Understanding Security Roles 387 Understanding Security Threats 389 Developing a Security Policy 391 Chapter 2: An Overview of Authentication and Encryption 401 Understanding Authentication 401 Exploring Encryption 408 Chapter 3: Creating a Secure Environment 411 Securing Apache 411 Securing IIS 413 Setting Security Options in php. ini 423 Chapter 4: Programming Securely in PHP 425 Handling Errors Safely 425 Sanitizing Variables 429 Uploading Files without Compromising the Filesystem 431 Chapter 5: Programming Secure E-Commerce Applications 437 Securing Your Database 437 Sending Encrypted Data with Secure Sockets Layer 440 Keeping Sessions Secure 443 Preventing Cross-Site Scripting 445 Keeping Up to Date 447 Contents at a Glance 450 Book V: PHP Extensions 449 Chapter 1: Introduction to Extensions 451 How Extensions Fit into the PHP Architecture 451 Finding Out Which Extensions Are Loaded 452 Loading Extensions 454 Chapter 2: Using PEAR 457 Introducing PEAR 457 Downloading and Installing the PEAR Package Manager 461 Installing a PEAR Package 465 Using a PEAR Package in Your Own Code 468 Chapter 3: Using the XML Extension 469 Understanding the Document Object Model 469 XML Validation Using Schema 471 Giving Your Documents Some Style with XSLT 473 Searching XML Documents with XPath 474 Chapter 4: Manipulating Images with the GD Extension 477 Configuring the GD Extension 477 Image Manipulations 479 Chapter 5: Mail Extensions 487 Sending E-Mail with PHP 487 Accessing IMAP and mBox Mailboxes 493 Contents at a Glance 496 Book VI: PHP Web Applications 495 Chapter 1: Building and Processing Dynamic Forms 497 Using Static HTML Forms 497 Displaying Dynamic HTML Forms 505 Processing Information from the Form 518 Creating a Form That Allows Customers to Upload a File 533 Chapter 2: Making Information Available on Multiple Web Pages 539 Navigating Web Sites with Multiple Pages 539 Passing Information from One Page to the Next 543 Making Information Available to All Pages in the Web Site 550 Chapter 3: Building a Login Application 561 Designing the Login Application 562 Creating the User Database 562 Building the Login Web Page 565 Building the Login Script 573 Protecting Your Web Pages 581 Chapter 4: Building an Online Catalog 583 Designing the Online Catalog 583 Creating the Catalog Database 584 Building the Catalog Web Pages 587 Building the Online Catalog Application Script 594 Chapter 5: Building a Shopping Cart 599 Designing the Shopping Cart 599 Creating the Shopping Cart Database 602 Building the Shopping Cart Web Pages 607 Building the Shopping Cart Scripts 628 Index 645
If you want to build dynamic Web sites that encourage users to interact with them, PHP and MySQL are among the best tools you’ll find. PHP is a scripting language designed specifically for use on the Web, while MySQL is a database management system that works with it perfectly. Best of all, they’re free. It’s hard to beat that combination!
PHP & MySQL Web Development All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies is kind of one-stop shopping for the information you need to get up and running with these tools and put them to good use. It’s divided into six handy minibooks that cover setting up your environment, PHP programming, using MySQL, security, PHP extensions, and PHP Web applications. They make it easy to create a Web site where visitors can sign on, use shopping carts, complete forms, and do business with your business.
It’s easy to find what you need in this handy guide. You’ll discover how to:
- Find and acquire all the tools you need and set up your development environment
- Build PHP scripts to make your Web site work
- Create a MySQL database that visitors can access
- Summarize and sort data results
- Design and implement user access control
- Build a shopping cart application
- Create extensions that make your site more useful
With PHP & MySQL Web Development All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies by your side, you’ll be a Web site guru before you know it!
Webmasters and Web programmers around the world know that PHP and MySQL provide a robust, easy-to-learn, open-source solution for creating dynamic, database-driven Web sites for eCommerce and content management. In fact, PHP is used in one of every three
