[nevpugh68]

Hi there ! I'm just getting into PHP (learning from a book) ... I want to be able to test and try out my PHP scripts "offline", i.e. working on my development machine.

Do I have to install Apache or IIS before I can install PHP ? Can I get away without having Apache ? (it just seems overkill when all I want to go is play with PHP)

I'm running a Windows XP or 2000 machine btw.

Many thanks !

[kickinhard007]

you will need apache or IIS on your PC as this provides the webserver environment which is crucial for two resons:

1) the webserver will parse the php, in plain english PHP will work.

2) it would help you get to grips with server administration and configuration, which comes in handy for the future and will give you a few more options when working with large of complicated projects.

*please* go for apache :-)

[nevpugh68]

Okay, fair enough ! :-) Thanks, it's kind of what I suspected ...

Er ... when installing Apache (oh go on then, you talked me into it ! ;-) is it a case of just run the install (on Win2k) or is there lots and lots of parameters to set up ? (remembering I dont want to actually run a web server from it, just create PHP pages on the PC)

Tx !

[kickinhard007]

Once you have run the install, you shouldn't have too much to do.

http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/...tml?tw=backend

this will help you *a lot* :-)

basically there is a file in /httpd/conf called...wait for it...httpd.conf, and this the file that contains the configuration apache uses.

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/ (version 1.3)
or
http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.0/ (version 2.0)

are the links to the official apache documentation. 1.3 will do the job, a lot of people aren't using version 2.0 yet. i work for a web hosting company and we use 1.3

[IndyTim]

Another approach is to get one of the many WinInstall bundles that are out there. Most come with PHP, MySQL and Apache ready to install on a Windows machine.

IndyTim

[nevpugh68]

Er ... help !!

Someone recommended Foxserv to me as one of these "all in" bundles with Apache, PHP and mySQL all in.

So I've downloaded Foxserv (all 37mb of it) and installed it, taking all the default options, onto my Win2k machine. All appeared to work fine.

Quick reboot later for good measure, and mySQL is working fine (I can get to it's control panel via Foxserv, and see the test and mySQL databases), Apache appears to be working fine (I can see localhost and mooch around a few localhost pages etc) but PHP refuses to work ! (a simple .php file doesn't run, you see a mish mash of the PHP code instead in IE6)

I've checked that httpd.conf contains a loadmodule and an addtype row for PHP (as set up by the Foxserv install)

But I'm totally at a loss what to try next ?!?

[nevpugh68]

Okay, I think I've sussed it to a degree. I didn't realise you couldn't just open .php files in IE, you have to "publish" them to http://localhost/mypage.php

But why am I getting this error from a script in the book I'm reading ?

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_ECHO in C:/FoxServ/www/hello.php on line 5

... from this simple hello world page ?!? ....

< html>
< head>
< body>
< ?php>
echo ?< p>Hello World!?
?>
< /body>
< /html>

(ignoring the extra spaces after the < of course)

Argh ! Frustration ! Any help gratefully grasped ....

[Godsmack]

The PHP should look something like this:

PHP Code:

<?php 

     echo "<p>Hello World!?"; 

?>

[nevpugh68]

Spot on ! Thanks.

However this has given me no confidence whatsoever in my new book, as how I copied it is how it is in the book and on the CD ! Great start .... wonder how many of the other examples have errors in them ....

But, thanks all for your help :-)

[XMLMania.com]

IMO you should use Microsoft IIS, because not only can u install PHP, Perl etc, but you can also have ASP running, and if you download the .NET framework you can also run many other languages, the major one being ASP.NET.