WT Unit-4 Notes

Web Technologies
UNIT-IV
What You Should Already Know

Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:
 HTML
 JavaScript
What is PHP?
 PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
 PHP is a widely-used, open source scripting language
 PHP scripts are executed on the server
 PHP is free to download and use
What is a PHP File?

 PHP files can contain text, HTML, JavaScript code, and PHP code
 PHP code are executed on the server, and the result is returned to the browser as plain
HTML
 PHP files have a default file extension of ".php"
What Can PHP Do?

 PHP can generate dynamic page content
 PHP can create, open, read, write, and close files on the server
 PHP can collect form data
 PHP can send and receive cookies
 PHP can add, delete, modify data in your database
 PHP can restrict users to access some pages on your website
 PHP can encrypt data
With PHP you are not limited to output HTML. You can output images, PDF files, and even
Flash movies. You can also output any text, such as XHTML and XML.
Why PHP?
 PHP runs on different platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, etc.)
 PHP is compatible with almost all servers used today (Apache, IIS, etc.)
 PHP has support for a wide range of databases
 PHP is free. Download it from the official PHP resource: www.php.net
 PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server side
WWW.KVRSOFTWARES.BLOGSPOT.COM
What Do I Need?
To start using PHP, you can:
 Find a web host with PHP and MySQL support

 Install a web server on your own PC, and then install PHP and MySQL
Use a Web Host With PHP Support

If your server has activated support for PHP you do not need to do anything.
Just create some .php files, place them in your web directory, and the server will
automatically parse them for you.
You do not need to compile anything or install any extra tools.
Because PHP is free, most web hosts offer PHP support.
Set Up PHP on Your Own PC

However, if your server does not support PHP, you must:
 install a web server

 install PHP
 install a database, such as MySQL
The official PHP website (PHP.net) has installation instructions for PHP:
http://php.net/manual/en/install.php
The PHP script is executed on the server, and the plain HTML result is sent back to the
browser.
Basic PHP Syntax

A PHP script always starts with <?php and ends with ?>. A PHP script can be placed
anywhere in the document.
On servers with shorthand-support, you can start a PHP script with <? and end with ?>.
For maximum compatibility, we recommend that you use the standard form (<?php) rather
than the shorthand form.
<?php
// PHP code goes here
?>
The default file extension for PHP files is ".php".
A PHP file normally contains HTML tags, and some PHP scripting code.
Below, we have an example of a simple PHP script that sends the text "Hello World!" back to
the browser:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<?php
echo "Hello World!";
?>
</body>
</html>
Show example »
Each code line in PHP must end with a semicolon. The semicolon is a separator and is used
to distinguish one set of instructions from another.
There are two basic statements to output text with PHP: echo and print.
In the example above we have used the echo statement to output the text "Hello World".
Comments in PHP
In PHP, we use // to make a one-line comment, or /* and */ to make a comment block:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<?php
//This is a comment
/*
This is
a comment
block
*/
?>
</body>
</html>
Variables are "containers" for storing information.
Do You Remember Algebra From School?

Do you remember algebra from school? x=5, y=6, z=x+y
Do you remember that a letter (like x) could be used to hold a value (like 5), and that you
could use the information above to calculate the value of z to be 11?
These letters are called variables, and variables can be used to hold values (x=5) or
expressions (z=x+y).
PHP Variables
As with algebra, PHP variables are used to hold values or expressions.
A variable can have a short name, like x, or a more descriptive name, like carName.
Rules for PHP variable names:
 Variables in PHP starts with a $ sign, followed by the name of the variable
 The variable name must begin with a letter or the underscore character
 A variable name can only contain alpha-numeric characters and underscores (A-z, 0-
9, and _ )
 A variable name should not contain spaces
 Variable names are case sensitive (y and Y are two different variables)
Creating (Declaring) PHP Variables

PHP has no command for declaring a variable.
A variable is created the moment you first assign a value to it:
$myCar="Volvo";
After the execution of the statement above, the variable myCar will hold the value Volvo.
Tip: If you want to create a variable without assigning it a value, then you assign it the value
of null.
Let's create a variable containing a string, and a variable containing a number:
<?php
$txt="Hello World!";
$x=16;
?>
Note: When you assign a text value to a variable, put quotes around the value.
PHP is a Loosely Typed Language

In PHP, a variable does not need to be declared before adding a value to it.
In the example above, notice that we did not have to tell PHP which data type the variable is.
PHP automatically converts the variable to the correct data type, depending on its value.
In a strongly typed programming language, you have to declare (define) the type and name of
the variable before using it.
PHP Variable Scope

The scope of a variable is the portion of the script in which the variable can be referenced.
PHP has four different variable scopes:
 local
 global
 static
 parameter
Local Scope
A variable declared within a PHP function is local and can only be accessed within that
function. (the variable has local scope):
<?php
$a = 5; // global scope
function myTest()
{
echo $a; // local scope
}
myTest();
?>
The script above will not produce any output because the echo statement refers to the local
scope variable $a, which has not been assigned a value within this scope.
You can have local variables with the same name in different functions, because local
variables are only recognized by the function in which they are declared.
Local variables are deleted as soon as the function is completed.
Global Scope
Global scope refers to any variable that is defined outside of any function.
Global variables can be accessed from any part of the script that is not inside a function.
To access a global variable from within a function, use the global keyword:
<?php
$a = 5;
$b = 10;
function myTest()
{
global $a, $b;
$b = $a + $b;
}
myTest();
echo $b;
?>
The script above will output 15.
PHP also stores all global variables in an array called $GLOBALS[index]. Its index is the
name of the variable. This array is also accessible from within functions and can be used to
update global variables directly.
The example above can be rewritten as this:
<?php
$a = 5;
$b = 10;
function myTest()
{
$GLOBALS['b'] = $GLOBALS['a'] + $GLOBALS['b'];
}
myTest();
echo $b;
?>
Static Scope
When a function is completed, all of its variables are normally deleted. However, sometimes
you want a local variable to not be deleted.
To do this, use the static keyword when you first declare the variable:
static $rememberMe;
Then, each time the function is called, that variable will still have the information it contained
from the last time the function was called.
Note: The variable is still local to the function.
Parameters
A parameter is a local variable whose value is passed to the function by the calling code.
Parameters are declared in a parameter list as part of the function declaration:
function myTest($para1,$para2,...)
{
// function code
}
Parameters are also called arguments. We will discuss them in more detail when we talk
about functions.
A string variable is used to store and manipulate text.
String Variables in PHP

String variables are used for values that contain characters.
In this chapter we are going to look at the most common functions and operators used to
manipulate strings in PHP.
After we create a string we can manipulate it. A string can be used directly in a function or it
can be stored in a variable.
Below, the PHP script assigns the text "Hello World" to a string variable called $txt:
<?php
$txt="Hello World";
echo $txt;
?>
The output of the code above will be:
Hello World
Now, lets try to use some different functions and operators to manipulate the string.
The Concatenation Operator

There is only one string operator in PHP.
The concatenation operator (.) is used to put two string values together.
To concatenate two string variables together, use the concatenation operator:
<?php
$txt1="Hello World!";
$txt2="What a nice day!";
echo $txt1 . " " . $txt2;
?>
Hello World! What a nice day!
If we look at the code above you see that we used the concatenation operator two times. This
is because we had to insert a third string (a space character), to separate the two strings.
The strlen() function

The strlen() function is used to return the length of a string.
Let's find the length of a string:
<?php
echo strlen("Hello world!");
?>
12
The length of a string is often used in loops or other functions, when it is important to know
when the string ends. (i.e. in a loop, we would want to stop the loop after the last character in
the string).
The strpos() function
The strpos() function is used to search for a character/text within a string.
If a match is found, this function will return the character position of the first match. If no
match is found, it will return FALSE.
Let's see if we can find the string "world" in our string:
<?php
echo strpos("Hello world!","world");
?>
The position of the string "world" in the example above is 6. The reason that it is 6 (and not
7), is that the first character position in the string is 0, and not 1.
The assignment operator = is used to assign values to variables in PHP.
The arithmetic operator + is used to add values together.
Arithmetic Operators
The table below lists the arithmetic operators in PHP:
Operator Name Description Example Result

x+y Addition Sum of x and y 2+2 4
x-y Subtraction Difference of x and y 5-2 3
x*y Multiplication Product of x and y 5*2 10
x/y Division Quotient of x and y 15 / 5 3
5%2
Remainder of x divided by 1
x%y Modulus 10 % 8 2
y
10 % 2 0
-x Negation Opposite of x -2
a.b Concatenation Concatenate two strings "Hi" . "Ha" HiHa
Assignment Operators
The basic assignment operator in PHP is "=". It means that the left operand gets set to the
value of the expression on the right. That is, the value of "$x = 5" is 5.
Assignment Same as... Description
The left operand gets set to the value of the expression on the
x=y x=y
right
x += y x=x+y Addition
x -= y x=x-y Subtraction
x *= y x=x*y Multiplication
x /= y x=x/y Division
x %= y x=x%y Modulus
a .= b a=a.b Concatenate two strings
Incrementing/Decrementing Operators
Operator Name Description
++ x Pre-increment Increments x by one, then returns x
x ++ Post-increment Returns x, then increments x by one
-- x Pre-decrement Decrements x by one, then returns x
x -- Post-decrement Returns x, then decrements x by one
Comparison Operators
Comparison operators allows you to compare two values:
Operator Name Description Example

x == y Equal True if x is equal to y 5==8 returns false
True if x is equal to y, and they
x === y Identical 5==="5" returns false
are of same type
x != y Not equal True if x is not equal to y 5!=8 returns true
x <> y Not equal True if x is not equal to y 5<>8 returns true
True if x is not equal to y, or they
x !== y Not identical 5!=="5" returns true
are not of same type
x>y Greater than True if x is greater than y 5>8 returns false
x<y Less than True if x is less than y 5<8 returns true
Greater than or True if x is greater than or equal
x >= y 5>=8 returns false
equal to to y
Less than or equal
x <= y True if x is less than or equal to y 5<=8 returns true
to
Logical Operators
Operator Name Description Example
x=6
x and y And True if both x and y are true y=3
(x < 10 and y > 1) returns
true
x=6
True if either or both x and y are y=3
x or y Or
true (x==6 or y==5) returns
true
x=6
True if either x or y is true, but y=3
x xor y Xor
not both (x==6 xor y==3) returns
false
x=6
x && y And True if both x and y are true y=3
(x < 10 && y > 1) returns
true
True if either or both x and y are x=6
x || y Or y=3
true
(x==5 || y==5) returns false
x=6
!x Not True if x is not true y=3
!(x==y) returns true
Array Operators
Operator Name Description
x+y Union Union of x and y
x == y Equality True if x and y have the same key/value pairs
x === y Identity True if x and y have the same key/value pairs in the same
order and of the same types
x != y Inequality True if x is not equal to y
x <> y Inequality True if x is not equal to y
x !== y Non-identity True if x is not identical to y
Conditional statements are used to perform different actions based on different conditions.
Conditional Statements
Very often when you write code, you want to perform different actions for different
decisions.
You can use conditional statements in your code to do this.
In PHP we have the following conditional statements:
 if statement - use this statement to execute some code only if a specified condition is true
 if...else statement - use this statement to execute some code if a condition is true and
another code if the condition is false
 if...elseif.... else statement - use this statement to select one of several blocks of code to be
executed
 switch statement - use this statement to select one of many blocks of code to be executed
The if Statement
Use the if statement to execute some code only if a specified condition is true.
Syntax
if (condition) code to be executed if condition is true;
The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$d=date("D");
if ($d=="Fri") echo "Have a nice weekend!";
?>
</body>
</html>
Notice that there is no ..else.. in this syntax. The code is executed only if the specified
condition is true.
The if...else Statement

Use the if... else statement to execute some code if a condition is true and another code if a
condition is false.
Syntax
if (condition)
{
code to be executed if condition is true;
}
else
{
code to be executed if condition is false;
}
Example
The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday,
otherwise it will output "Have a nice day!":
<html>
<body>
<?php
$d=date("D");
if ($d=="Fri")
{
echo "Have a nice weekend!";
}
else
{
echo "Have a nice day!";
}
?>
</body>
</html>
The if...elseif....else Statement

Use the if....elseif...else statement to select one of several blocks of code to be executed.
Syntax
if (condition)
{
}
elseif (condition)
{
}
else
{
code to be executed if condition is false;
}
Example
The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday, and
"Have a nice Sunday!" if the current day is Sunday. Otherwise it will output "Have a nice
day!":
<html>
<body>
<?php
$d=date("D");
if ($d=="Fri")
{
echo "Have a nice weekend!";
}
elseif ($d=="Sun")
{
echo "Have a nice Sunday!";
}
else
{
echo "Have a nice day!";
}
?>
</body>
</html>
The PHP Switch Statement

Use the switch statement to select one of many blocks of code to be executed.
Syntax
switch (n)
{
case label1:
code to be executed if n=label1;
break;
case label2:
code to be executed if n=label2;
break;
default:
code to be executed if n is different from both label1 and label2;
}
This is how it works: First we have a single expression n (most often a variable), that is
evaluated once. The value of the expression is then compared with the values for each case in
the structure. If there is a match, the block of code associated with that case is executed. Use
break to prevent the code from running into the next case automatically. The default
statement is used if no match is found.
Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
$x=1;
switch
($x)
{
case 1:
echo "Number 1";
break;
case 2:
echo "Number 2";
break;
case 3:
echo "Number 3";
break;
default:
echo "No number between 1 and 3";
}
?>
</body>
</html>
An array stores multiple values in one single variable.
What is an Array?
A variable is a storage area holding a number or text. The problem is, a variable will hold
only one value.
An array is a special variable, which can store multiple values in one single variable.
If you have a list of items (a list of car names, for example), storing the cars in single
variables could look like this:
$cars1="Saab";
$cars2="Volvo";
$cars3="BMW";
However, what if you want to loop through the cars and find a specific one? And what if you
had not 3 cars, but 300?
The best solution here is to use an array!
An array can hold all your variable values under a single name. And you can access the
values by referring to the array name.
Each element in the array has its own index so that it can be easily accessed.
In PHP, there are three kind of arrays:
 Numeric array - An array with a numeric index

 Associative array - An array where each ID key is associated with a value
 Multidimensional array - An array containing one or more arrays
Numeric Arrays
A numeric array stores each array element with a numeric index.
There are two methods to create a numeric array.
1. In the following example the index are automatically assigned (the index starts at 0):
$cars=array("Saab","Volvo","BMW","Toyota");
2. In the following example we assign the index manually:
$cars[0]="Saab";
$cars[1]="Volvo";
$cars[2]="BMW";
$cars[3]="Toyota";
Example
In the following example you access the variable values by referring to the array name and
index:
<?php
$cars[0]="Saab";
$cars[1]="Volvo";
$cars[2]="BMW";
$cars[3]="Toyota";
echo $cars[0] . " and " . $cars[1] . " are Swedish cars.";
?>
The code above will output:
Saab and Volvo are Swedish cars.
Associative Arrays
An associative array, each ID key is associated with a value.
When storing data about specific named values, a numerical array is not always the best way
to do it.
With associative arrays we can use the values as keys and assign values to them.
Example 1
In this example we use an array to assign ages to the different persons:
$ages = array("Peter"=>32, "Quagmire"=>30, "Joe"=>34);
Example 2
This example is the same as example 1, but shows a different way of creating the array:
$ages['Peter'] = "32";
$ages['Quagmire'] = "30";
$ages['Joe'] = "34";
The ID keys can be used in a script:
<?php
$ages['Peter'] = "32";
$ages['Quagmire'] = "30";
$ages['Joe'] = "34";
echo "Peter is " . $ages['Peter'] . " years old.";

?>
Peter is 32 years old.
Multidimensional Arrays
In a multidimensional array, each element in the main array can also be an array. And each
element in the sub-array can be an array, and so on.
Example
In this example we create a multidimensional array, with automatically assigned ID keys:
$families = array
(
"Griffin"=>arra
y(
"Peter",
"Lois",
"Megan"
),
"Quagmire"=>array
(
"Glenn"
),
"Brown"=>arra
y(
"Cleveland"
, "Loretta",
"Junior"
)
);
The array above would look like this if written to the output:
Arra
y(
[Griffin] =>
Array (
[0] => Peter
[1] => Lois
[2] => Megan
)
[Quagmire] =>
Array (
[0] => Glenn
)
[Brown] =>
Array (
[0] => Cleveland
[1] => Loretta
[2] => Junior
)
)
Example 2
Lets try displaying a single value from the array above:
echo "Is " . $families['Griffin'][2]

. " a part of the Griffin family?";
Is Megan a part of the Griffin family?
Loops execute a block of code a specified number of times, or while a specified condition is
true.
PHP Loops
Often when you write code, you want the same block of code to run over and over again in a
row. Instead of adding several almost equal lines in a script we can use loops to perform a
task like this.
In PHP, we have the following looping statements:
 while - loops through a block of code while a specified condition is true

 do...while - loops through a block of code once, and then repeats the loop as long as a
specified condition is true
 for - loops through a block of code a specified number of times
 foreach - loops through a block of code for each element in an array
The while Loop

The while loop executes a block of code while a condition is true.
Syntax
while (condition)
{
code to be executed;
}
Example
The example below first sets a variable i to 1 ($i=1;).
Then, the while loop will continue to run as long as i is less than, or equal to 5. i will increase
by 1 each time the loop runs:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$i=1;
while($i<=5
)
{
echo "The number is " . $i . "<br>";
$i++;
}
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
The number is 1
The number is 2
The number is 3
The number is 4
The number is 5
The do...while Statement

The do...while statement will always execute the block of code once, it will then check the
condition, and repeat the loop while the condition is true.
Syntax
do
{
}
while (condition);
Example
The example below first sets a variable i to 1 ($i=1;).
Then, it starts the do...while loop. The loop will increment the variable i with 1, and then
write some output. Then the condition is checked (is i less than, or equal to 5), and the loop
will continue to run as long as i is less than, or equal to 5:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$i=1
; do
{
$i++;
}
while ($i<=5);
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
The number is 2
The number is 3
The number is 4
The number is 5
The number is 6
Loops execute a block of code a specified number of times, or while a specified condition is
true.
The for Loop

The for loop is used when you know in advance how many times the script should run.
Syntax
for (init; condition; increment)
{
}
Parameters:
 init: Mostly used to set a counter (but can be any code to be executed once at the beginning
of the loop)
 condition: Evaluated for each loop iteration. If it evaluates to TRUE, the loop continues. If
it evaluates to FALSE, the loop ends.
 increment: Mostly used to increment a counter (but can be any code to be executed at the
end of the iteration)
Note: The init and increment parameters above can be empty or have multiple expressions
(separated by commas).
Example
The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. The loop will continue to run as long
as the variable i is less than, or equal to 5. The variable i will increase by 1 each time the loop
runs:
<html>
<body>
<?php
for ($i=1; $i<=5; $i++)
{
}
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
The number is 1
The number is 2
The number is 3
The number is 4
The number is 5
The foreach Loop

The foreach loop is used to loop through arrays.
Syntax
foreach ($array as $value)
{
}
For every loop iteration, the value of the current array element is assigned to $value (and the
array pointer is moved by one) - so on the next loop iteration, you'll be looking at the next
array value.
Example
The following example demonstrates a loop that will print the values of the given array:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$x=array("one","two","three");
foreach ($x as $value)
{
echo $value . "<br>";
}
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
one
two
three
The real power of PHP comes from its functions.
In PHP, there are more than 700 built-in functions.
PHP Built-in Functions

For a complete reference and examples of the built-in functions, please visit our PHP
Reference.
PHP Functions
In this chapter we will show you how to create your own functions.
To keep the script from being executed when the page loads, you can put it into a function.
A function will be executed by a call to the function.
You may call a function from anywhere within a page.
Create a PHP Function

A function will be executed by a call to the function.
Syntax
function functionName()
{
}
PHP function guidelines:
 Give the function a name that reflects what the function does
 The function name can start with a letter or underscore (not a number)
Example
A simple function that writes my name when it is called:
<html>
<body>
<?php
function writeName()
{
echo "Kai Jim Refsnes";
}
echo "My name is ";

writeName();
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
My name is Kai Jim Refsnes
PHP Functions - Adding parameters

To add more functionality to a function, we can add parameters. A parameter is just like a
variable.
Parameters are specified after the function name, inside the parentheses.
Example 1
The following example will write different first names, but equal last name:
<html>
<body>
<?php
function writeName($fname)
{
echo $fname . " Refsnes.<br>";
}
echo "My name is ";

writeName("Kai Jim");
echo "My sister's name is ";
writeName("Hege");
echo "My brother's name is ";
writeName("Stale");
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
My name is Kai Jim Refsnes.

My sister's name is Hege Refsnes.
My brother's name is Stale Refsnes.
Example 2
The following function has two parameters:
<html>
<body>
<?php
function writeName($fname,$punctuation)
{
echo $fname . " Refsnes" . $punctuation . "<br>";
}
echo "My name is ";

writeName("Kai Jim",".");
echo "My sister's name is ";
writeName("Hege","!");
echo "My brother's name is ";
writeName("Ståle","?");
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
My name is Kai Jim Refsnes.

My sister's name is Hege Refsnes!
My brother's name is Ståle Refsnes?
PHP Functions - Return values
To let a function return a value, use the return statement.
Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
function add($x,$y)
{
$total=$x+$y
; return
$total;
}
echo "1 + 16 = " . add(1,16);

?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
1 + 16 = 17
The PHP $_GET and $_POST variables are used to retrieve information from forms, like
user input.
PHP Form Handling

The most important thing to notice when dealing with HTML forms and PHP is that any form
element in an HTML page will automatically be available to your PHP scripts.
Example
The example below contains an HTML form with two input fields and a submit button:
<html>
<body>
<form action="welcome.php" method="post">

Name: <input type="text" name="fname">
Age: <input type="text" name="age">
<input type="submit">
</form>
</body>
</html>
When a user fills out the form above and clicks on the submit button, the form data is sent to
a PHP file, called "welcome.php":
"welcome.php" looks like this:
<html>
<body>
Welcome <?php echo $_POST["fname"];

?>!<br> You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?>
years old.
</body>
</html>
Output could be something like this:
Welcome John!
You are 28 years old.
The PHP $_GET and $_POST variables will be explained in the next chapters.
Form Validation
User input should be validated on the browser whenever possible (by client scripts). Browser
validation is faster and reduces the server load.
You should consider server validation if the user input will be inserted into a database. A
good way to validate a form on the server is to post the form to itself, instead of jumping to a
different page. The user will then get the error messages on the same page as the form. This
makes it easier to discover the error.
In PHP, the predefined $_GET variable is used to collect values in a form with
method="get".
The $_GET Variable

The predefined $_GET variable is used to collect values in a form with method="get"
Information sent from a form with the GET method is visible to everyone (it will be
displayed in the browser's address bar) and has limits on the amount of information to send.
Example
<form action="welcome.php" method="get">
</form>
When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL sent to the server could look something
like this:
http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php?fname=Peter&age=37
The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_GET variable to collect form data (the names of
the form fields will automatically be the keys in the $_GET array):
Welcome <?php echo $_GET["fname"];

?>.<br> You are <?php echo $_GET["age"]; ?>
years old!
When to use method="get"?

When using method="get" in HTML forms, all variable names and values are displayed in
the URL.
Note: This method should not be used when sending passwords or other sensitive
information!
However, because the variables are displayed in the URL, it is possible to bookmark the
page. This can be useful in some cases.
Note: The get method is not suitable for very large variable values. It should not be used with
values exceeding 2000 characters.
In PHP, the predefined $_POST variable is used to collect values in a form with
method="post".
The $_POST Variable
The predefined $_POST variable is used to collect values from a form sent with
method="post".
Information sent from a form with the POST method is invisible to others and has no limits
on the amount of information to send.
Note: However, there is an 8 MB max size for the POST method, by default (can be changed
by setting the post_max_size in the php.ini file).
Example
<form action="welcome.php" method="post">
</form>
When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL will look like this:
http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php
The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_POST variable to collect form data (the names of
the form fields will automatically be the keys in the $_POST array):
Welcome <?php echo $_POST["fname"];

?>!<br> You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?>
years old.
When to use method="post"?

Information sent from a form with the POST method is invisible to others and has no limits
on the amount of information to send.
However, because the variables are not displayed in the URL, it is not possible to bookmark
the page.
The PHP $_REQUEST Variable

The predefined $_REQUEST variable contains the contents of both $_GET, $_POST, and
$_COOKIE.
The $_REQUEST variable can be used to collect form data sent with both the GET and
POST methods.
Example
Welcome <?php echo $_REQUEST["fname"];
?>!<br> You are <?php echo $_REQUEST["age"];
?> years old.
What is MySQL?
 MySQL is a database server
 MySQL is ideal for both small and large applications
 MySQL supports standard SQL
 MySQL compiles on a number of platforms
 MySQL is free to download and use
The data in MySQL is stored in database objects called tables.
A table is a collection of related data entries and it consists of columns and rows.
Databases are useful when storing information categorically. A company may have a
database with the following tables: "Employees", "Products", "Customers" and "Orders".
PHP + MySQL
 PHP combined with MySQL are cross-platform (you can develop in Windows and
serve on a Unix platform)
Database Tables
A database most often contains one or more tables. Each table is identified by a name (e.g.
"Customers" or "Orders"). Tables contain records (rows) with data.
Below is an example of a table called "Persons":
LastName FirstName Address City

Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
The table above contains three records (one for each person) and four columns (LastName,
FirstName, Address, and City).
Queries
A query is a question or a request.
With MySQL, we can query a database for specific information and have a recordset
returned.
Look at the following query:
SELECT LastName FROM Persons
The query above selects all the data in the "LastName" column from the "Persons" table, and
will return a recordset like this:
LastName
Hansen
Svendson
Pettersen
Download MySQL Database

If you don't have a PHP server with a MySQL Database, you can download MySQL for free
here: http://www.mysql.com/downloads/
Facts About MySQL Database

One great thing about MySQL is that it can be scaled down to support embedded database
applications. Perhaps it is because of this reputation that many people believe that MySQL
can only handle small to medium-sized systems.
The truth is that MySQL is the de-facto standard database for web sites that support huge
volumes of both data and end users (like Friendster, Yahoo, Google).
Look at http://www.mysql.com/customers/ for an overview of companies using MySQL.
The free MySQL database is very often used with PHP.
Create a Connection to a MySQL Database

Before you can access data in a database, you must create a connection to the database.
In PHP, this is done with the mysql_connect() function.
Syntax
mysql_connect(servername,username,password);
Parameter Description
servername Optional. Specifies the server to connect to. Default value is "localhost:3306"
username Optional. Specifies the username to log in with. Default value is the name of the
user that owns the server process
password Optional. Specifies the password to log in with. Default is ""
Note: There are more available parameters, but the ones listed above are the most important.
Visit our full PHP MySQL Reference for more details.
Example
In the following example we store the connection in a variable ($con) for later use in the
script. The "die" part will be executed if the connection fails:
<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
// some code
?>
Closing a Connection
The connection will be closed automatically when the script ends. To close the connection
before, use the mysql_close() function:
<?php
if (!$con)
{
}
// some code
mysql_close($con);
?>
A database holds one or multiple tables.
Create a Database
The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a database in MySQL.
Syntax
CREATE DATABASE database_name
To learn more about SQL, please visit our SQL tutorial.
To get PHP to execute the statement above we must use the mysql_query() function. This
function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL connection.
Example
The following example creates a database called "my_db":
<?php
if (!$con)
{
}
if (mysql_query("CREATE DATABASE my_db",$con))

{
echo "Database created";
}
else
{
echo "Error creating database: " . mysql_error();
}
mysql_close($con);
?>
Create a Table
The CREATE TABLE statement is used to create a table in MySQL.
Syntax
CREATE TABLE
table_name (
column_name1 data_type,
....
)
We must add the CREATE TABLE statement to the mysql_query() function to execute the
command.
Example
The following example creates a table named "Persons", with three columns. The column
names will be "FirstName", "LastName" and "Age":
<?php
if (!$con)
{
}
// Create database
if (mysql_query("CREATE DATABASE my_db",$con))
{
echo "Database created";
}
else
{
echo "Error creating database: " . mysql_error();
}
// Create table
mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);
$sql = "CREATE TABLE
Persons (
FirstName
varchar(15), LastName
varchar(15), Age int
)";
// Execute query
mysql_query($sql,$con);
mysql_close($con);
?>
Important: A database must be selected before a table can be created. The database is
selected with the mysql_select_db() function.
Note: When you create a database field of type varchar, you must specify the maximum
length of the field, e.g. varchar(15).
The data type specifies what type of data the column can hold. For a complete reference of all
the data types available in MySQL, go to our complete Data Types reference.
Primary Keys and Auto Increment Fields

Each table should have a primary key field.
A primary key is used to uniquely identify the rows in a table. Each primary key value must
be unique within the table. Furthermore, the primary key field cannot be null because the
database engine requires a value to locate the record.
The following example sets the personID field as the primary key field. The primary key field
is often an ID number, and is often used with the AUTO_INCREMENT setting.
AUTO_INCREMENT automatically increases the value of the field by 1 each time a new
record is added. To ensure that the primary key field cannot be null, we must add the NOT
NULL setting to the field.
Example
$sql = "CREATE TABLE
Persons (
personID int NOT NULL
AUTO_INCREMENT, PRIMARY
KEY(personID),
FirstName
varchar(15), LastName
varchar(15), Age int
)";
mysql_query($sql,$con);
Insert Data Into a Database Table

The INSERT INTO statement is used to add new records to a database table.
Syntax
It is possible to write the INSERT INTO statement in two forms.
The first form doesn't specify the column names where the data will be inserted, only their
values:
INSERT INTO table_name
VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
The second form specifies both the column names and the values to be inserted:
INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2,

column3,...) VALUES (value1, value2, value3,...)
To get PHP to execute the statements above we must use the mysql_query() function. This
Example
In the previous chapter we created a table named "Persons", with three columns; "Firstname",
"Lastname" and "Age". We will use the same table in this example. The following example
adds two new records to the "Persons" table:
<?php
if (!$con)
{
}
mysql_query("INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName,

Age) VALUES ('Peter', 'Griffin',35)");
mysql_query("INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName,

Age) VALUES ('Glenn', 'Quagmire',33)");
mysql_close($con);
?>
Insert Data From a Form Into a Database

Now we will create an HTML form that can be used to add new records to the "Persons"
table.
Here is the HTML form:
<html>
<body>
<form action="insert.php" method="post">

Firstname: <input type="text" name="firstname">
Lastname: <input type="text" name="lastname">
</form>
</body>
</html>
When a user clicks the submit button in the HTML form in the example above, the form data
is sent to "insert.php".
The "insert.php" file connects to a database, and retrieves the values from the form with the
PHP $_POST variables.
Then, the mysql_query() function executes the INSERT INTO statement, and a new record
will be added to the "Persons" table.
Here is the "insert.php" page:
<?php
if (!$con)
{
}
$sql="INSERT INTO Persons (FirstName, LastName,

Age) VALUES
('$_POST[firstname]','$_POST[lastname]','$_POST[age]')";
if (!mysql_query($sql,$con))
{
die('Error: ' . mysql_error());
}
echo "1 record added";
mysql_close($con);
?>
Select Data From a Database Table

The SELECT statement is used to select data from a database.
Syntax
SELECT
column_name(s) FROM
table_name
Example
The following example selects all the data stored in the "Persons" table (The * character
selects all the data in the table):
<?php
if (!$con)
{
}
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM
Persons"); while($row =
mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
echo $row['FirstName'] . " " . $row['LastName'];
echo "<br />";
}
mysql_close($con);
?>
The example above stores the data returned by the mysql_query() function in the $result
variable.
Next, we use the mysql_fetch_array() function to return the first row from the recordset as an
array. Each call to mysql_fetch_array() returns the next row in the recordset. The while loop
loops through all the records in the recordset. To print the value of each row, we use the PHP
$row variable ($row['FirstName'] and $row['LastName']).
Peter Griffin
Glenn Quagmire
Display the Result in an HTML Table
The following example selects the same data as the example above, but will display the data
in an HTML table:
<?php
if (!$con)
{
}
Persons"); echo "<table border='1'>

<tr>
<th>Firstname</th>
<th>Lastname</th>
</tr>";
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
echo "<tr>";
echo "<td>" . $row['FirstName'] .
"</td>"; echo "<td>" . $row['LastName'] .
"</td>"; echo "</tr>";
}
echo "</table>";
mysql_close($con);
?>
Firstnam Lastnam
e e
Glenn Quagmire
Peter Griffin
The WHERE clause

The WHERE clause is used to extract only those records that fulfill a specified criterion.
Syntax
SELECT
column_name(s) FROM
table_name
WHERE column_name operator value
Example
The following example selects all rows from the "Persons" table where "FirstName='Peter'":
<?php
if (!$con)
{
}

Persons WHERE FirstName='Peter'");
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
echo $row['FirstName'] . " " . $row['LastName'];
echo "<br>";
}
?>
Peter Griffin
The ORDER BY Keyword

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the data in a recordset.
The ORDER BY keyword sort the records in ascending order by default.
If you want to sort the records in a descending order, you can use the DESC keyword.
Syntax
SELECT
column_name(s) FROM
table_name
ORDER BY column_name(s) ASC|DESC
Example
The following example selects all the data stored in the "Persons" table, and sorts the result
by the "Age" column:
<?php
if (!$con)
{
}
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Persons ORDER BY
age"); while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))

{
echo $row['FirstName'];
echo " " . $row['LastName'];
echo " " . $row['Age'];
echo "<br>";
}
mysql_close($con);
?>
Glenn Quagmire 33
Peter Griffin 35
Order by Two Columns

It is also possible to order by more than one column. When ordering by more than one
column, the second column is only used if the values in the first column are equal:
SELECT
column_name(s) FROM
table_name
ORDER BY column1, column2
Update Data In a Database
The UPDATE statement is used to update existing records in a table.
Syntax
UPDATE table_name
SET column1=value,
column2=value2,... WHERE
some_column=some_value
Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the UPDATE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which
record or records that should be updated. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be
updated!
Example
Earlier in the tutorial we created a table named "Persons". Here is how it looks:
FirstName LastName Age
Peter Griffin 35
Glenn Quagmire 33
The following example updates some data in the "Persons" table:
<?php
if (!$con)
{
}
mysql_query("UPDATE Persons SET
Age=36
WHERE FirstName='Peter' AND LastName='Griffin'");
mysql_close($con);
?>
After the update, the "Persons" table will look like this:
Peter Griffin 36
Glenn Quagmire 33
Delete Data In a Database

The DELETE FROM statement is used to delete records from a database table.
Syntax
DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE some_column = some_value
Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the DELETE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which
record or records that should be deleted. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be
deleted!
Example
Look at the following "Persons" table:
Peter Griffin 35
Glenn Quagmire 33
The following example deletes all the records in the "Persons" table where
LastName='Griffin':
<?php
if (!$con)
{
}
mysql_query("DELETE FROM Persons WHERE
LastName='Griffin'"); mysql_close($con);
?>
After the deletion, the table will look like this:
Glenn Quagmire 33
Create an ODBC Connection

With an ODBC connection, you can connect to any database, on any computer in your
network, as long as an ODBC connection is available.
Here is how to create an ODBC connection to a MS Access Database:
1. Open the Administrative Tools icon in your Control Panel.

2. Double-click on the Data Sources (ODBC) icon inside.
3. Choose the System DSN tab.
4. Click on Add in the System DSN tab.
5. Select the Microsoft Access Driver. Click Finish.
6. In the next screen, click Select to locate the database.
7. Give the database a Data Source Name (DSN).
8. Click OK.
Note that this configuration has to be done on the computer where your web site is located. If
you are running Internet Information Server (IIS) on your own computer, the instructions
above will work, but if your web site is located on a remote server, you have to have physical
access to that server, or ask your web host to to set up a DSN for you to use.
Connecting to an ODBC
The odbc_connect() function is used to connect to an ODBC data source. The function takes
four parameters: the data source name, username, password, and an optional cursor type.
The odbc_exec() function is used to execute an SQL statement.
Example
The following example creates a connection to a DSN called northwind, with no username
and no password. It then creates an SQL and executes it:
$conn=odbc_connect('northwind','','');
$sql="SELECT * FROM customers";
$rs=odbc_exec($conn,$sql);
Retrieving Records
The odbc_fetch_row() function is used to return records from the result-set. This function
returns true if it is able to return rows, otherwise false.
The function takes two parameters: the ODBC result identifier and an optional row number:
odbc_fetch_row($rs)
Retrieving Fields from a Record

The odbc_result() function is used to read fields from a record. This function takes two
parameters: the ODBC result identifier and a field number or name.
The code line below returns the value of the first field from the record:
$compname=odbc_result($rs,1);
The code line below returns the value of a field called "CompanyName":
$compname=odbc_result($rs,"CompanyName");
Closing an ODBC Connection

The odbc_close() function is used to close an ODBC connection.
odbc_close($conn);
An ODBC Example
The following example shows how to first create a database connection, then a result-set, and
then display the data in an HTML table.
<html>
<body>
<?php
$conn=odbc_connect('northwind','','');
if (!$conn)
{exit("Connection Failed: " . $conn);}
$sql="SELECT * FROM customers";
$rs=odbc_exec($conn,$sql);
if (!$rs)
{exit("Error in
SQL");} echo
"<table><tr>";
echo "<th>Companyname</th>";
echo "<th>Contactname</th></tr>";
while (odbc_fetch_row($rs))
{
$compname=odbc_result($rs,"CompanyName");
$conname=odbc_result($rs,"ContactName");
echo "<tr><td>$compname</td>";
echo "<td>$conname</td></tr>";
}
odbc_close($conn);
echo "</table>";
?>
</body>
</html>

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Web Technologies

What You Should Already Know

What is a PHP File?

What Can PHP Do?

 Find a web host with PHP and MySQL support

Use a Web Host With PHP Support

You do not need to compile anything or install any extra tools.

Because PHP is free, most web hosts offer PHP support.

Set Up PHP on Your Own PC

 install a web server

Basic PHP Syntax

Variables are "containers" for storing information.

Do You Remember Algebra From School?

Rules for PHP variable names:

Creating (Declaring) PHP Variables

A variable is created the moment you first assign a value to it:

Let's create a variable containing a string, and a variable containing a number:

PHP is a Loosely Typed Language

PHP Variable Scope

PHP has four different variable scopes:

Local variables are deleted as soon as the function is completed.

The script above will output 15.

The example above can be rewritten as this:

Note: The variable is still local to the function.

Parameters are declared in a parameter list as part of the function declaration:

A string variable is used to store and manipulate text.

String Variables in PHP

The output of the code above will be:

The Concatenation Operator

To concatenate two string variables together, use the concatenation operator:

The output of the code above will be:

Hello World! What a nice day!

The strlen() function

Let's find the length of a string:

The output of the code above will be:

Let's see if we can find the string "world" in our string:

The output of the code above will be:

The assignment operator = is used to assign values to variables in PHP.

The arithmetic operator + is used to add values together.

Operator Name Description Example Result

Operator Name Description Example

You can use conditional statements in your code to do this.

In PHP we have the following conditional statements:

The if...else Statement

The if...elseif....else Statement

The PHP Switch Statement

An array stores multiple values in one single variable.

In PHP, there are three kind of arrays:

 Numeric array - An array with a numeric index

There are two methods to create a numeric array.

2. In the following example we assign the index manually:

The code above will output:

Saab and Volvo are Swedish cars.

In this example we use an array to assign ages to the different persons:

$ages = array("Peter"=>32, "Quagmire"=>30, "Joe"=>34);

The ID keys can be used in a script:

echo "Peter is " . $ages['Peter'] . " years old.";

The code above will output:

Peter is 32 years old.