An Advanced PHP Tutorial - March 2010

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This talk demonstrates the tight integration of Apache Web Server, PHP Scripting Language and the MySQL database. I showcase powerful tools available to build web applications and integrate access control, data entry, database access, graphics display, and web design objects.

If you have a personal home page at people.virginia.edu, you can test all this source code except the LDAP functions and the database functions. You can get a personal MySQL database account from ITC to test the MySQL functions.

I demonstrate two great graphing packages (jpgraph and the Google Visualization API).

General Stuff

• Web Templates
  
  
  • Raw Text (will not display with IE5-6 so click on link and then view the source)
  • Result


• Processing Forms - Simple Demo
  
  
• Saving Data Between Pages (Session Handling) - Demo

• Public Information - Cville 10 Miler QUERY
  
• Generic Browse and Edit Program SORT, FILTER, EDIT, ADD
  
• Working Data Entry Form for Race Data EDIT Source
  
  • Program that saves the data back to the database.
  • Program that generates Gender select box.
  • Program that generates Gender Radio Buttons.


• Details of Database Functions for Race Data
  • Table Structure - 10 Miler Race Table Structure     Source
  • Demo of program that automatically creates the
    PHP Class Structure and the web form needed to use this Race Table with PHP    Source
  • Class Source
  
  
• Data Dictionary for coded values
  
  

Graphics Examples

Calling a C++ or Fortran program

Using Objects in Tables

Reading XML Data - Simple Database Info

• W3.ORG Tutorial on XML
• Demo XML Data
• Demo Program
• Demo Program Source
• Professor's Publication List as XML Data.

  I had these requirements for this dataset:

  • A secretary must be able to update it.
  • Each entry can point to a PDF file. How do you verify that the PDF exists and is spelled correctly?
  • Article entries are separated by publication year.
  • You need to be able to jump directly to any year's publications.
  • Formating for each part of the citation had to be consistent. This project started because the professor wanted a new format to his publications list and the old list was stored in a Word file. Someone would have had to manually redone 300+ entries. XML eliminates the manual formatting.
  
  
• First run
  "xmllint --noout file.xml"
  on it to find typos and mismatched XML tags.
• Then run
  "php goodpdf.php"
  on it to see which PDF's are missing or misspelled
• Program to format it to HTML
• Results