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"PHP Newbie Help"

I got a "beginning PHP4" book for christmas and today, I set about installing PHP4. So, I downloaded the appropriate software and it was all going fine. I installed PHP4 and PWS. It told me what to change in the php.ini file and where to add all the .dll files to, all of which I had done.

Next, I installed PWS and did exactly what my book said to do. It then said it was all fine and it should all be installed. So it then told me how to test if the installation had worked, by making a "phptest.php" file. I copied what it told me to do exactly and saved it in the appropriate place (C:/Inetpub/wwwroot).

It then said to open the web browser and see what happens if I type "http://localhost/" which I did and I got the screen that the book said I should get. I then tried "http://localhost/phpinfo.php" and it asked me if I wanted to download the php file. This is not right because it had a picture in the book of what I should of got.

I just don't know what is wrong so any suggestions would be more than welcome.

Thanks is advance.

Turbonutter wrote:
> You don't need to download PHP, it comes with OmniHTTPd.


Could that be why it worked first time??? Damn, shame on MS for not supporting that pesky PHP thing.

Turbonutter wrote:
> FG, yes, Omni does support ASP, as does Apache -
> oficially the world's best server.

Apache supports ASP from a basic installation. WOW! This is the first I have heard of this. You mean you don't need to install any other server plug-ins?

Also, define "best" - I have no problem telling people that the Internet (not just the WWW) was built on the backbone of Unix and Apache. That is fact. Where I work, we use some beatiful Sun servers running flavours of unix & Apache, they are workhorses. But to be honest, I don't have the time or the memory to get to know how to work them properly - I know the basics of Unix server admin, that is it. Luckily, all I do is develop, server stuff is left to the pros.

But ... Give me Win2000 Advanced server and I'll quickly have a web site up and running. I admit, it will not be as stable, it's a ball acher that one. But it is so fast to learn and use. Once Unix becomes as user-friendly as Windows, then we shall see MS quaking...

FG, yes, Omni does support ASP, as does Apache - oficially the world's best server.

You don't need to download PHP, it comes with OmniHTTPd. If you want to use it with any other server though get the auto-installer. Compiling it under Windows is, well, impossible.

As for MySQL, just get it from MySQL.org. I can't remember which one, there should be something like a MySQL binary. Anyway, you just have to run it and you can reach it via http://localhost/. It'll automatically know the port.

At this point, I feel I must stand up for PWS.

It is invaluable as an ASP testing platform. When I first got into writing ASP I didn't have WinNT Server, but I did have Win98 and with it PWS. My first "Hello World" ASP file worked fine.

It may be different for PHP, but obviously it does work because the PHP book this guy is reading told him to install PHP on a PWS server! I have installed Perl on PWS succesfully before, so these types of things do work. Does the OmniHTTPd server interpret ASP pages? I doubt it.

However, yes, it is a security risk, which is why I make a point of stopping the PWS service when I log on to the Internet from home. PWS is not an industrial strength server, what do you expect for free?

I'm not saying PWS is the best, what I am saying is that it's horses for course mate. Simple as that.

The Installer???
The Zip Package??
or Both??

And which PHP do I download from the Site???

I'm gonna do all that stuff you mention down there, but would MySQL work as well if I installed it Rob?

No probs. Microsoft have always generallly been poor at anything to do with the Internet.

Ok, so I removed PWS and downloaded that program. Installed it and you never guess what? It worked :D:D

Cheers Turbonutter!