100% found this document useful (8 votes)

986 views

PHP Tutorial

The document provides an overview of PHP, a server-side scripting language. It defines PHP, explains that PHP files can contain HTML tags and scripts, and that scripts are executed on the server. It also lists some basic PHP syntax like comments, variables, and data types. The document then discusses strings and functions like strlen() and strpos() that can be used to manipulate strings.

Uploaded by

Muhammad Salman Habib

Available Formats

Download as DOC or read online on Scribd

100% found this document useful (8 votes)

986 views

PHP Tutorial

Uploaded by

Muhammad Salman Habib

Available Formats

Download as DOC or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 77

Muhammad Salman Habib Page 1 1/15/2009

PHP is a powerful server-side scripting language for creating dynamic and

interactive websites.
PHP is the widely-used, free, and efficient alternative to competitors such as
Microsoft's ASP. PHP is perfectly suited for Web development and can be
embedded directly into the HTML code.
The PHP syntax is very similar to Perl and C. PHP is often used together with
Apache (web server) on various operating systems. It also supports ISAPI and
can be used with Microsoft's IIS on Windows.

A PHP file may contain text, HTML tags and scripts. Scripts in a PHP file are
executed on the server.

What You Should Already Know

Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:
HTML / XHTML
Some scripting knowledge
If you want to study these subjects first, find the tutorials on our Home page.

What is PHP?
• PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
• PHP is a server-side scripting language, like ASP
• PHP scripts are executed on the server
• PHP supports many databases (MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid,
PostgreSQL, Generic ODBC, etc.)
• PHP is an open source software (OSS)
• PHP is free to download and use

What is a PHP File?

• PHP files may contain text, HTML tags and scripts
• PHP files are returned to the browser as plain HTML
• PHP files have a file extension of ".php", ".php3", or ".phtml"

What is MySQL?
• MySQL is a database server
• MySQL is ideal for both small and large applications
• MySQL supports standard SQL

1
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 2 1/15/2009

• MySQL compiles on a number of platforms

• MySQL is free to download and use

PHP + MySQL
• PHP combined with MySQL are cross-platform (means that you can
develop in Windows and serve on a Unix platform)

Why PHP?
• PHP runs on different platforms (Windows, Linux, UNIX, etc.)
• PHP is compatible with almost all servers used today (Apache, IIS, etc.)
• PHP is FREE to download from the official PHP resource: www.php.net
• PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server side

Where to Start?
• Install an Apache server on a Windows or Linux machine
• Install PHP on a Windows or Linux machine
• Install MySQL on a Windows or Linux machine

What do you need?

This tutorial will not explain how to install PHP, MySQL, or Apache Server.

If your server supports PHP - you don't need to do anything! You do not need to
compile anything or install any extra tools - just create some .php files in your
web directory - and the server will parse them for you. Most web hosts offer PHP
support.

However, if your server does not support PHP, you must install PHP. Below is a
link to a good tutorial from PHP.net on how to install PHP5:

http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.php

Download PHP
Download PHP for free here: http://www.php.net/downloads.php

Download MySQL Database

Download MySQL for free here: http://www.mysql.com/downloads/index.html

2
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 3 1/15/2009

Download Apache Server

Download Apache for free here: http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi

Basic PHP Syntax

A PHP scripting block always starts with <?php and ends with ?>. A PHP
scripting block can be placed anywhere in the document.
On servers with shorthand support enabled you can start a scripting block with
<? and end with ?>.
However, for maximum compatibility, we recommend that you use the standard
form (<?php) rather than the shorthand form.

<?php
?>

A PHP file normally contains HTML tags, just like an HTML file, and some PHP
scripting code.
Below, we have an example of a simple PHP script which sends the text "Hello
World" to the browser:

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 single-line comment or /* and */ to make a large
comment block.

<html>
<body>
<?php
//This is a comment
/*
This is

3
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 4 1/15/2009

a comment
block
*/
?>
</body>
</html>

Variables in PHP
Variables are used for storing a values, like text strings, numbers or arrays.
When a variable is set it can be used over and over again in your script
All variables in PHP start with a $ sign symbol.
The correct way of setting a variable in PHP:

$var_name = value;

New PHP programmers often forget the $ sign at the beginning of the variable. In
that case it will not work.
Let's try creating a variable with a string, and a variable with a number:

<?php
$txt = "Hello World!";
$number = 16;
?>

PHP is a Loosely Typed Language

In PHP a variable does not need to be declared before being set.
In the example above, you see that you do not have to tell PHP which data type
the variable is.
PHP automatically converts the variable to the correct data type, depending on
how they are set.
In a strongly typed programming language, you have to declare (define) the type
and name of the variable before using it.
In PHP the variable is declared automatically when you use it.

Variable Naming Rules

A variable name must start with a letter or an underscore "_"
A variable name can only contain alpha-numeric characters and underscores (a-
Z, 0-9, and _ )

4
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 5 1/15/2009

A variable name should not contain spaces. If a variable name is more than one
word, it should be separated with underscore ($my_string), or with capitalization
($myString)

Strings in PHP
String variables are used for values that contains character strings.
In this tutorial we are going to look at some of 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 string "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 our
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 variables together, use the dot (.) operator:

<?php
$txt1="Hello World";
$txt2="1234";
echo $txt1 . " " . $txt2;
?>

The output of the code above will be

:
Hello World 1234

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.

5
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 6 1/15/2009

Between the two string variables we added a string with a single character, an
empty space, to separate the two variables.

Using the strlen() function

The strlen() function is used to find the length of a string.
Let's find the length of our string "Hello world!":

<?php
echo strlen("Hello world!");
?>

The output of the code above will be:

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)

Using the strpos() function

The strpos() function is used to search for a string or character within a string.
If a match is found in the string, this function will return the 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 output of the code above will be:

As you see the position of the string "world" in our string is position 6. The reason
that it is 6, and not 7, is that the first position in the string is 0, and not 1.

PHP Operators
This section lists the different operators used in PHP.

Arithmetic Operators

6
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 7 1/15/2009

Operator Description Example Result

+ Addition x=2 4
x+2
- Subtraction x=2 3
5-x
* Multiplication x=4 20
x*5
/ Division 15/5 3
5/2 2.5
% Modulus (division remainder) 5%2 1
10%8 2
10%2 0
++ Increment x=5 x=6
x++
-- Decrement x=5 x=4
x--

Assignment Operators
Operator Example Is The Same As
= x=y x=y
+= x+=y x=x+y
-= x-=y x=x-y
*= x*=y x=x*y
/= x/=y x=x/y
.= x.=y x=x.y
%= x%=y x=x%y
Comparison Operators
Operator Description Example
== is equal to 5==8 returns false
!= is not equal 5!=8 returns true
> is greater than 5>8 returns false
< is less than 5<8 returns true
>= is greater than or equal to 5>=8 returns false
<= is less than or equal to 5<=8 returns true
Logical Operators
Operator Description Example
&& and x=6
y=3

7
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 8 1/15/2009

(x < 10 && y > 1) returns true

|| or x=6
y=3
(x==5 || y==5) returns false
! not x=6
y=3
!(x==y) returns true

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.
if...else statement - use this statement if you want to execute a set of code
when a condition is true and another if the condition is not true
elseif statement - is used with the if...else statement to execute a set of code if
one of several condition are true

The If...Else Statement

If you want to execute some code if a condition is true and another code if a
condition is false, use the if....else statement.

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!":

8
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 9 1/15/2009

If more than one line should be executed if a condition is true/false, the lines
should be enclosed within curly braces:

<html>
<body>
<?php
$d=date("D");
if ($d=="Fri")
{
echo "Hello!<br />";
echo "Have a nice weekend!";
echo "See you on Monday!";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

The ElseIf Statement

If you want to execute some code if one of several conditions are true use the
elseif statement

Syntax
if (condition)
code to be executed if condition is true;
elseif (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, and "Have a nice Sunday!" if the current day is Sunday. Otherwise it will
output "Have a nice day!":

9
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 10 1/15/2009

The Switch Statement

If you want to select one of many blocks of code to be executed, use the Switch
statement.
The switch statement is used to avoid long blocks of if..elseif..else code.

Syntax
switch (expression)
{
case label1:
code to be executed if expression = label1;
break;
case label2:
code to be executed if expression = label2;
break;
default:
code to be executed
if expression is different
from both label1 and label2;
}

Example
This is how it works:
• A single expression (most often a variable) is evaluated once
• The value of the expression is compared with the values for each case in
the structure
• If there is a match, the code associated with that case is executed
• After a code is executed, break is used to stop the code from running into
the next case
• The default statement is used if none of the cases are true

10
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 11 1/15/2009

</html>

What is an array?
When working with PHP, sooner or later, you might want to create many similar
variables.
Instead of having many similar variables, you can store the data as elements in
an array.
Each element in the array has its own ID so that it can be easily accessed.
There are three different kinds of arrays:

• Numeric array - An array with a numeric ID key

• 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 element with a numeric ID key.
There are different ways to create a numeric array.

Example 1

In this example the ID key is automatically assigned:

$names = array("Peter","Quagmire","Joe");

Example 2

In this example we assign the ID key manually:

$names[0] = "Peter";
$names[1] = "Quagmire";
$names[2] = "Joe";

The ID keys can be used in a script:

<?php
$names[0] = "Peter";
$names[1] = "Quagmire";
$names[2] = "Joe";
echo $names[1] . " and " . $names[2] .
" are ". $names[0] . "'s neighbors";
?>

The code above will output:

11
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 12 1/15/2009

Quagmire and Joe are Peter's neighbors

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.";
?>

The code above will output:

Peter is 32 years old.

Multidimensional Arrays

12
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 13 1/15/2009

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"=>array
(
"Peter",
"Lois",
"Megan"
),
"Quagmire"=>array
(
"Glenn"
),
"Brown"=>array
(
"Cleveland",
"Loretta",
"Junior"
)
);

The array above would look like this if written to the output:

Array
(
[Griffin] => Array
(
[0] => Peter
[1] => Lois
[2] => Megan
)
[Quagmire] => Array
(
[0] => Glenn
)
[Brown] => Array
(
[0] => Cleveland
[1] => Loretta
[2] => Junior
)
)

13
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 14 1/15/2009

Example 2

Lets try displaying a single value from the array above:

echo "Is " . $families['Griffin'][2] .

" a part of the Griffin family?";

The code above will output:

Is Megan a part of the Griffin family?

Looping
Very often when you write code, you want the same block of code to run a
number of times. You can use looping statements in your code to perform this.

In PHP we have the following looping statements:

• while - loops through a block of code if and as long as a specified

condition is true
• do...while - loops through a block of code once, and then repeats the loop
as long as a special 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 Statement

The while statement will execute a block of code if and as long as a condition is
true.

Syntax
while (condition)
code to be executed;

Example

The following example demonstrates a loop that will continue to run as long as
the variable i is less than, or equal to 5. i will increase by 1 each time the loop
runs:

<html>
<body>
<?php
$i=1;

14
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 15 1/15/2009

while($i<=5)
{
echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />";
$i++;
}
?>
</body>
</html>

The do...while Statement

The do...while statement will execute a block of code at least once - it then will
repeat the loop as long as a condition is true.

Syntax
do
{
code to be executed;
}
while (condition);

Example

The following example will increment the value of i at least once, and it will
continue incrementing the variable i as long as it has a value of less than 5:

<html>
<body>
<?php
$i=0;
do
{
$i++;
echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />";
}
while ($i<5);
?>
</body>
</html>

The for Statement

The for statement is used when you know how many times you want to execute a
statement or a list of statements.

15
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 16 1/15/2009

Syntax
for (initialization; condition; increment)
{
code to be executed;
}

Note: The for statement has three parameters. The first parameter initializes
variables, the second parameter holds the condition, and the third parameter
contains the increments required to implement the loop. If more than one variable
is included in the initialization or the increment parameter, they should be
separated by commas. The condition must evaluate to true or false.

Example

The following example prints the text "Hello World!" five times:

The foreach Statement

The foreach statement is used to loop through arrays.

For every loop, the value of the current array element is assigned to $value (and
the array pointer is moved by one) - so on the next loop, you'll be looking at the
next element.

Syntax
foreach (array as value)
{
code to be executed;
}

Example

The following example demonstrates a loop that will print the values of the given
array:

16
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 17 1/15/2009

PHP Functions
In this tutorial we will show you how to create your own functions.

Create a PHP Function

A function is a block of code that can be executed whenever we need it.

Creating PHP functions:

• All functions start with the word "function()"

• Name the function - It should be possible to understand what the function
does by its name. The name can start with a letter or underscore (not a
number)
• Add a "{" - The function code starts after the opening curly brace
• Insert the function code
• Add a "}" - The function is finished by a closing curly brace

Example

A simple function that writes my name when it is called:

17
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 18 1/15/2009

Use a PHP Function

Now we will use the function in a PHP script:

<html>
<body>
<?php
function writeMyName()
{
echo "Kai Jim Refsnes";
}
echo "Hello world!<br />";
echo "My name is ";
writeMyName();
echo ".<br />That's right, ";
writeMyName();
echo " is my name.";
?>
</body>
</html>

The output of the code above will be:

Hello world!
My name is Kai Jim Refsnes.
That's right, Kai Jim Refsnes is my name.

PHP Functions - Adding parameters

Our first function (writeMyName()) is a very simple function. It only writes a static
string.

To add more functionality to a function, we can add parameters. A parameter is

just like a variable.

You may have noticed the parentheses after the function name, like:
writeMyName(). The parameters are specified inside the parentheses.

Example 1

The following example will write different first names, but the same last name:

<html>
<body>
<?php
function writeMyName($fname)
{

18
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 19 1/15/2009

echo $fname . " Refsnes.<br />";

}
echo "My name is ";
writeMyName("Kai Jim");
echo "My name is ";
writeMyName("Hege");
echo "My name is ";
writeMyName("Stale");
?>
</body>
</html>

The output of the code above will be:

My name is Kai Jim Refsnes.

My name is Hege Refsnes.
My name is Stale Refsnes.

Example 2

The following function has two parameters:

<html>
<body>
<?php
function writeMyName($fname,$punctuation)
{
echo $fname . " Refsnes" . $punctuation . "<br />";
}
echo "My name is ";
writeMyName("Kai Jim",".");
echo "My name is ";
writeMyName("Hege","!");
echo "My name is ";
writeMyName("Ståle","...");
?>
</body>
</html>

The output of the code above will be:

My name is Kai Jim Refsnes.

My name is Hege Refsnes!
My name is Ståle Refsnes...

PHP Functions - Return values

Functions can also be used to return values.

19
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 20 1/15/2009

Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
function add($x,$y)
{
$total = $x + $y;
return $total;
}
echo "1 + 16 = " . add(1,16);
?>
</body>
</html>

The output of the code above will be:

1 + 16 = 17

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.

Form example:

The example HTML page above contains two input fields and a submit button.
When the user fills in this form and click on the submit button, the form data is
sent to the "welcome.php" file.

The "welcome.php" file looks like this:

<html>
<body>
Welcome <?php echo $_POST["name"]; ?>.<br />
You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old.
</body>
</html>

20
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 21 1/15/2009

A sample output of the above script may be:

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 whenever possible. Client side validation is faster,
and will reduce server load.

However, any site that gets enough traffic to worry about server resources, may
also need to worry about site security. You should always use server side
validation if the form accesses 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.

The $_GET Variable

The $_GET variable is an array of variable names and values sent by the HTTP
GET method.

The $_GET variable is used to collect values from 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 it has limits on the amount of
information to send (max. 100 characters).

Example
<form action="welcome.php" method="get">
Name: <input type="text" name="name" />
Age: <input type="text" name="age" />
<input type="submit" />
</form>

When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL sent could look something like
this:

http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php?name=Peter&age=37

The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_GET variable to catch the form data
(notice that the names of the form fields will automatically be the ID keys in the
$_GET array):

21
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 22 1/15/2009

Welcome <?php echo $_GET["name"]; ?>.<br />

You are <?php echo $_GET["age"]; ?> years old!

Why use $_GET?

Note: When using the $_GET variable all variable names and values are
displayed in the URL. So 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 HTTP GET method is not suitable on large variable values; the value
cannot exceed 100 characters.

The $_REQUEST Variable

The PHP $_REQUEST variable contains the contents of both $_GET, $_POST,
and $_COOKIE.

The PHP $_REQUEST variable can be used to get the result from form data sent
with both the GET and POST methods.

Example
Welcome <?php echo $_REQUEST["name"]; ?>.<br />
You are <?php echo $_REQUEST["age"]; ?> years old!

The $_POST Variable

The $_POST variable is an array of variable names and values sent by the HTTP
POST method.

The $_POST variable is used to collect values from a form 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.

Example
<form action="welcome.php" method="post">
Enter your name: <input type="text" name="name" />
Enter your age: <input type="text" name="age" />
<input type="submit" />
</form>

22
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 23 1/15/2009

When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL will not contain any form data,
and will look something like this:

http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php

The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_POST variable to catch the form data
(notice that the names of the form fields will automatically be the ID keys in the
$_POST array):

Welcome <?php echo $_POST["name"]; ?>.<br />

You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old!

Why use $_POST?

• Variables sent with HTTP POST are not shown in the URL
• Variables have no length limit

However, because the variables are not displayed in the URL, it is not possible to
bookmark the page.

The $_REQUEST Variable

The PHP $_REQUEST variable contains the contents of both $_GET, $_POST,
and $_COOKIE.

The PHP $_REQUEST variable can be used to get the result from form data sent
with both the GET and POST methods.

Example
Welcome <?php echo $_REQUEST["name"]; ?>.<br />
You are <?php echo $_REQUEST["age"]; ?> years old!

The PHP Date() Function

The PHP date() function formats a timestamp to a more readable date and time.

Syntax
date(format,timestamp)

Parameter Description
format Required. Specifies the format of the timestamp

23
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 24 1/15/2009

timestamp Optional. Specifies a timestamp. Default is the current date and time (as
a timestamp)

PHP Date - What is a Timestamp?

A timestamp is the number of seconds since January 1, 1970 at 00:00:00 GMT.
This is also known as the Unix Timestamp.

PHP Date - Format the Date

The first parameter in the date() function specifies how to format the date/time. It
uses letters to represent date and time formats. Here are some of the letters that
can be used:

• d - The day of the month (01-31)

• m - The current month, as a number (01-12)
• Y - The current year in four digits

Other characters, like"/", ".", or "-" can also be inserted between the letters to add
additional formatting:

<?php
echo date("Y/m/d");
echo "<br />";
echo date("Y.m.d");
echo "<br />";
echo date("Y-m-d");
?>

The output of the code above could be something like this:

2006/07/11
2006.07.11
2006-07-11

PHP Date - Adding a Timestamp

The second parameter in the date() function specifies a timestamp. This
parameter is optional. If you do not supply a timestamp, the current time will be
used.

24
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 25 1/15/2009

In our next example we will use the mktime() function to create a timestamp for
tomorrow.

The mktime() function returns the Unix timestamp for a specified date.

Syntax
mktime(hour,minute,second,month,day,year,is_dst)

To go one day in the future we simply add one to the day argument of mktime():

<?php
$tomorrow = mktime(0,0,0,date("m"),date("d")+1,date("Y"));
echo "Tomorrow is ".date("Y/m/d", $tomorrow);
?>

The output of the code above could be something like this:

Tomorrow is 2006/07/12

Server Side Includes

You can insert the content of a file into a PHP file before the server executes it,
with the include() or require() function. The two functions are identical in every
way, except how they handle errors. The include() function generates a warning
(but the script will continue execution) while the require() function generates a
fatal error (and the script execution will stop after the error).

These two functions are used to create functions, headers, footers, or elements
that can be reused on multiple pages.

This can save the developer a considerable amount of time. This means that you
can create a standard header or menu file that you want all your web pages to
include. When the header needs to be updated, you can only update this one
include file, or when you add a new page to your site, you can simply change the
menu file (instead of updating the links on all web pages).

The include() Function

The include() function takes all the text in a specified file and copies it into the file
that uses the include function.

25
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 26 1/15/2009

Example 1

Assume that you have a standard header file, called "header.php". To include the
header file in a page, use the include() function, like this:

<html>
<body>
<?php include("header.php"); ?>
<h1>Welcome to my home page</h1>
<p>Some text</p>
</body>
</html>

Example 2

Now, let's assume we have a standard menu file that should be used on all
pages (include files usually have a ".php" extension). Look at the "menu.php" file
below:

<html>
<body>
<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/default.php">Home</a> |
<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/about.php">About Us</a> |
<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/contact.php">Contact Us</a>

The three files, "default.php", "about.php", and "contact.php" should all include
the "menu.php" file. Here is the code in "default.php":

<?php include("menu.php"); ?>

<h1>Welcome to my home page</h1>
<p>Some text</p>
</body>
</html>

If you look at the source code of the "default.php" in a browser, it will look
something like this:

<html>
<body>
<a href="default.php">Home</a> |
<a href="about.php">About Us</a> |
<a href="contact.php">Contact Us</a>
<h1>Welcome to my home page</h1>
<p>Some text</p>
</body>
</html>

And, of course, we would have to do the same thing for "about.php" and
"contact.php". By using include files, you simply have to update the text in the

26
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 27 1/15/2009

"menu.php" file if you decide to rename or change the order of the links or add
another web page to the site.

The require() Function

The require() function is identical to include(), except that it handles errors
differently.

The include() function generates a warning (but the script will continue execution)
while the require() function generates a fatal error (and the script execution will
stop after the error).

If you include a file with the include() function and an error occurs, you might get
an error message like the one below.

PHP code:

<?php
include("wrongFile.php");
echo "Hello World!";
?>

</body>
</html>

Error message:

Warning: include(wrongFile.php) [function.include]:

failed to open stream:
No such file or directory in C:\home\website\test.php on line 5
Warning: include() [function.include]:
Failed opening 'wrongFile.php' for inclusion
(include_path='.;C:\php5\pear')
in C:\home\website\test.php on line 5
Hello World!

Notice that the echo statement is still executed! This is because a Warning does
not stop the script execution.

Now, let's run the same example with the require() function.

PHP code:

27
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 28 1/15/2009

<?php
require("wrongFile.php");
echo "Hello World!";
?>

</body>
</html>

Error message:

Warning: require(wrongFile.php) [function.require]:

failed to open stream:
No such file or directory in C:\home\website\test.php on line 5
Fatal error: require() [function.require]:
Failed opening required 'wrongFile.php'
(include_path='.;C:\php5\pear')
in C:\home\website\test.php on line 5

The echo statement was not executed because the script execution stopped after
the fatal error.

It is recommended to use the require() function instead of include(), because

scripts should not continue executing if files are missing or misnamed.

Opening a File
The fopen() function is used to open files in PHP.

The first parameter of this function contains the name of the file to be opened
and the second parameter specifies in which mode the file should be opened:

The file may be opened in one of the following modes:

Modes Description
r Read only. Starts at the beginning of the file
r+ Read/Write. Starts at the beginning of the file
w Write only. Opens and clears the contents of file; or creates a

28
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 29 1/15/2009

new file if it doesn't exist

w+ Read/Write. Opens and clears the contents of file; or creates a
new file if it doesn't exist
a Append. Opens and writes to the end of the file or creates a new
file if it doesn't exist
Read/Append. Preserves file content by writing to the end of the
a+
file
x Write only. Creates a new file. Returns FALSE and an error if file
already exists
x+ Read/Write. Creates a new file. Returns FALSE and an error if file
already exists

Note: If the fopen() function is unable to open the specified file, it returns 0 (false).

Example

The following example generates a message if the fopen() function is unable to

open the specified file:

Closing a File
The fclose() function is used to close an open file:

<?php
$file = fopen("test.txt","r");
//some code to be executed
fclose($file);
?>

Check End-of-file

29
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 30 1/15/2009

The feof() function checks if the "end-of-file" (EOF) has been reached.

The feof() function is useful for looping through data of unknown length.

Note: You cannot read from files opened in w, a, and x mode!

if (feof($file)) echo "End of file";

Reading a File Line by Line

The fgets() function is used to read a single line from a file.

Note: After a call to this function the file pointer has moved to the next line.

Example

The example below reads a file line by line, until the end of file is reached:

<?php
$file = fopen("welcome.txt", "r") or exit("Unable to open file!");
//Output a line of the file until the end is reached
while(!feof($file))
{
echo fgets($file). "<br />";
}
fclose($file);
?>

Reading a File Character by Character

The fgetc() function is used to read a single character from a file.

Note: After a call to this function the file pointer moves to the next character.

Example

The example below reads a file character by character, until the end of file is
reached:

<?php
$file=fopen("welcome.txt","r") or exit("Unable to open file!");
while (!feof($file))
{
echo fgetc($file);

30
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 31 1/15/2009

}
fclose($file);
?>

Create an Upload-File Form

To allow users to upload files from a form can be very useful.

Look at the following HTML form for uploading files:

<html>
<body>
<form action="upload_file.php" method="post"
enctype="multipart/form-data">
<label for="file">Filename:</label>
<input type="file" name="file" id="file" />
<br />
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit" />
</form>
</body>
</html>

Notice the following about the HTML form above:

• The enctype attribute of the <form> tag specifies which content-type to

use when submitting the form. "multipart/form-data" is used when a form
requires binary data, like the contents of a file, to be uploaded
• The type="file" attribute of the <input> tag specifies that the input should
be processed as a file. For example, when viewed in a browser, there will
be a browse-button next to the input field

Note: Allowing users to upload files is a big security risk. Only permit trusted
users to perform file uploads.

Create The Upload Script

The "upload_file.php" file contains the code for uploading a file:

<?php
if ($_FILES["file"]["error"] > 0)
{
echo "Error: " . $_FILES["file"]["error"] . "<br />";
}
else
{
echo "Upload: " . $_FILES["file"]["name"] . "<br />";
echo "Type: " . $_FILES["file"]["type"] . "<br />";
echo "Size: " . ($_FILES["file"]["size"] / 1024) . " Kb<br />";

31
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 32 1/15/2009

echo "Stored in: " . $_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"];

}
?>

By using the global PHP $_FILES array you can upload files from a client
computer to the remote server.

The first parameter is the form's input name and the second index can be either
"name", "type", "size", "tmp_name" or "error". Like this:

• $_FILES["file"]["name"] - the name of the uploaded file

• $_FILES["file"]["type"] - the type of the uploaded file
• $_FILES["file"]["size"] - the size in bytes of the uploaded file
• $_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"] - the name of the temporary copy of the file
stored on the server
• $_FILES["file"]["error"] - the error code resulting from the file upload

This is a very simple way of uploading files. For security reasons, you should add
restrictions on what the user is allowed to upload.

Restrictions on Upload
In this script we add some restrictions to the file upload. The user may only
upload .gif or .jpeg files and the file size must be under 20 kb:

32
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 33 1/15/2009

Note: For IE to recognize jpg files the type must be pjpeg, for FireFox it must be
jpeg.

Saving the Uploaded File

The examples above create a temporary copy of the uploaded files in the PHP
temp folder on the server.

The temporary copied files disappears when the script ends. To store the
uploaded file we need to copy it to a different location:

<?php
if ((($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/gif")
|| ($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/jpeg")
|| ($_FILES["file"]["type"] == "image/pjpeg"))
&& ($_FILES["file"]["size"] < 20000))
{
if ($_FILES["file"]["error"] > 0)
{
echo "Return Code: " . $_FILES["file"]["error"] . "<br />";
}
else
{
echo "Upload: " . $_FILES["file"]["name"] . "<br />";
echo "Type: " . $_FILES["file"]["type"] . "<br />";
echo "Size: " . ($_FILES["file"]["size"] / 1024) . " Kb<br />";
echo "Temp file: " . $_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"] . "<br />";
if (file_exists("upload/" . $_FILES["file"]["name"]))
{
echo $_FILES["file"]["name"] . " already exists. ";
}
else
{
move_uploaded_file($_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"],
"upload/" . $_FILES["file"]["name"]);
echo "Stored in: " . "upload/" . $_FILES["file"]["name"];
}
}
}
else
{
echo "Invalid file";
}
?>

The script above checks if the file already exists, if it does not, it copies the file to
the specified folder.

Note: This example saves the file to a new folder called "upload"

33
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 34 1/15/2009

What is a Cookie?
A cookie is often used to identify a user. A cookie is a small file that the server
embeds on the user's computer. Each time the same computer requests a page
with a browser, it will send the cookie too. With PHP, you can both create and
retrieve cookie values.

How to Create a Cookie?

The setcookie() function is used to set a cookie.

Note: The setcookie() function must appear BEFORE the <html> tag.

Syntax
setcookie(name, value, expire, path, domain);

Example

In the example below, we will create a cookie named "user" and assign the value
"Alex Porter" to it. We also specify that the cookie should expire after one hour:

<?php
setcookie("user", "Alex Porter", time()+3600);
?>
<html>
<body>
</body>
</html>

Note: The value of the cookie is automatically URLencoded when sending the
cookie, and automatically decoded when received (to prevent URLencoding, use
setrawcookie() instead).

How to Retrieve a Cookie Value?

The PHP $_COOKIE variable is used to retrieve a cookie value.

In the example below, we retrieve the value of the cookie named "user" and
display it on a page:

<?php
// Print a cookie
echo $_COOKIE["user"];
// A way to view all cookies
print_r($_COOKIE);
?>

34
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 35 1/15/2009

In the following example we use the isset() function to find out if a cookie has
been set:

<html>
<body>
<?php
if (isset($_COOKIE["user"]))
echo "Welcome " . $_COOKIE["user"] . "!<br />";
else
echo "Welcome guest!<br />";
?>
</body>
</html>

How to Delete a Cookie?

When deleting a cookie you should assure that the expiration date is in the past.

Delete example:

<?php
// set the expiration date to one hour ago
setcookie("user", "", time()-3600);
?>

What if a Browser Does NOT Support Cookies?

If your application deals with browsers that do not support cookies, you will have
to use other methods to pass information from one page to another in your
application. One method is to pass the data through forms (forms and user input
are described earlier in this tutorial).

The form below passes the user input to "welcome.php" when the user clicks on
the "Submit" button:

Retrieve the values in the "welcome.php" file like this:

35
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 36 1/15/2009

<html>
<body>
Welcome <?php echo $_POST["name"]; ?>.<br />
You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old.
</body>
</html>

PHP Session Variables

When you are working with an application, you open it, do some changes and
then you close it. This is much like a Session. The computer knows who you are.
It knows when you start the application and when you end. But on the internet
there is one problem: the web server does not know who you are and what you
do because the HTTP address doesn't maintain state.

A PHP session solves this problem by allowing you to store user information on
the server for later use (i.e. username, shopping items, etc). However, session
information is temporary and will be deleted after the user has left the website. If
you need a permanent storage you may want to store the data in a database.

Sessions work by creating a unique id (UID) for each visitor and store variables based on
this UID. The UID is either stored in a cookie or is propagated in the URL.

Starting a PHP Session

Before you can store user information in your PHP session, you must first start
up the session.

Note: The session_start() function must appear BEFORE the <html> tag:

<?php session_start(); ?>

The code above will register the user's session with the server, allow you to start
saving user information, and assign a UID for that user's session.

Storing a Session Variable

The correct way to store and retrieve session variables is to use the PHP
$_SESSION variable:

<?php
session_start();

36
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 37 1/15/2009

// store session data

$_SESSION['views']=1;
?>
<html>
<body>
<?php
//retrieve session data
echo "Pageviews=". $_SESSION['views'];
?>
</body>
</html>

Output:

Pageviews=1

In the example below, we create a simple page-views counter. The isset()

function checks if the "views" variable has already been set. If "views" has been
set, we can increment our counter. If "views" doesn't exist, we create a "views"
variable, and set it to 1:

<?php

session_start();
if(isset($_SESSION['views']))
$_SESSION['views']=$_SESSION['views']+1;

else
$_SESSION['views']=1;
echo "Views=". $_SESSION['views'];
?>

Destroying a Session
If you wish to delete some session data, you can use the unset() or the
session_destroy() function.

The unset() function is used to free the specified session variable:

<?php
unset($_SESSION['views']);
?>

You can also completely destroy the session by calling the session_destroy()
function:

<?php

37
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 38 1/15/2009

session_destroy();
?>

Note: session_destroy() will reset your session and you will lose all your stored
session data.

The PHP mail() Function

The PHP mail() function is used to send emails from inside a script.

Syntax

mail(to,subject,message,headers,parameters)

Parameter Description
to Required. Specifies the receiver / receivers of the email
subject Required. Specifies the subject of the email. Note: This
parameter cannot contain any newline characters
message Required. Defines the message to be sent. Each line should be
separated with a LF (\n). Lines should not exceed 70 characters
headers Optional. Specifies additional headers, like From, Cc, and Bcc.
The additional headers should be separated with a CRLF (\r\n)
parameters Optional. Specifies an additional parameter to the sendmail
program

Note: For the mail functions to be available, PHP requires an installed and
working email system. The program to be used is defined by the configuration
settings in the php.ini file.

The simplest way to send an email with PHP is to send a text email.

In the example below we first declare the variables ($to, $subject, $message,
$from, $headers), then we use the variables in the mail() function to send an e-
mail:

<?php
$to = "[email protected]";
$subject = "Test mail";
$message = "Hello! This is a simple email message.";
$from = "[email protected]";
$headers = "From: $from";
mail($to,$subject,$message,$headers);
echo "Mail Sent.";

38
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 39 1/15/2009

PHP Mail Form

With PHP, you can create a feedback-form on your website. The example below
sends a text message to a specified e-mail address:

<html>
<body>
<?php
if (isset($_REQUEST['email']))
//if "email" is filled out, send email
{
//send email
$email = $_REQUEST['email'] ;
$subject = $_REQUEST['subject'] ;
$message = $_REQUEST['message'] ;
mail( "[email protected]", "Subject: $subject",
$message, "From: $email" );
echo "Thank you for using our mail form";
}
else
//if "email" is not filled out, display the form
{
echo "<form method='post' action='mailform.php'>
Email: <input name='email' type='text' /><br />
Subject: <input name='subject' type='text' /><br />
Message:<br />
<textarea name='message' rows='15' cols='40'>
</textarea><br />
<input type='submit' />
</form>";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

This is how the example above works:

• First, check if the email input field is filled out

• If it is not set (like when the page is first visited); output the HTML form
• If it is set (after the form is filled out); send the email from the form
• When submit is pressed after the form is filled out, the page reloads, sees
that the email input is set, and sends the email

Note: This is the simplest way to send e-mail, but it is not secure. In the next
chapter of this tutorial you can read more about vulnerabilities in e-mail scripts,
and how to validate user input to make it more secure.

39
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 40 1/15/2009

PHP E-mail Injections

First, look at the PHP code from the previous chapter:

<html>
<body>
<?php
if (isset($_REQUEST['email']))
//if "email" is filled out, send email
{
//send email
$email = $_REQUEST['email'] ;
$subject = $_REQUEST['subject'] ;
$message = $_REQUEST['message'] ;
mail("[email protected]", "Subject: $subject",
$message, "From: $email" );
echo "Thank you for using our mail form";
}
else
//if "email" is not filled out, display the form
{
echo "<form method='post' action='mailform.php'>
Email: <input name='email' type='text' /><br />
Subject: <input name='subject' type='text' /><br />
Message:<br />
<textarea name='message' rows='15' cols='40'>
</textarea><br />
<input type='submit' />
</form>";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

The problem with the code above is that unauthorized users can insert data into
the mail headers via the input form.

What happens if the user adds the following text to the email input field in the
form?

[email protected]%0ACc:[email protected]
%0ABcc:[email protected],[email protected],
[email protected],[email protected]
%0ABTo:[email protected]

The mail() function puts the text above into the mail headers as usual, and now
the header has an extra Cc:, Bcc:, and To: field. When the user clicks the submit
button, the e-mail will be sent to all of the addresses above!

PHP Stopping E-mail Injections

40
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 41 1/15/2009

The best way to stop e-mail injections is to validate the input.

The code below is the same as in the previous chapter, but now we have added
an input validator that checks the email field in the form:

<html>
<body>
<?php
function spamcheck($field)
{
//filter_var() sanitizes the e-mail
//address using FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL
$field=filter_var($field, FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL);

//filter_var() validates the e-mail

//address using FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL
if(filter_var($field, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL))
{
return TRUE;
}
else
{
return FALSE;
}
}
if (isset($_REQUEST['email']))
{//if "email" is filled out, proceed
//check if the email address is invalid
$mailcheck = spamcheck($_REQUEST['email']);
if ($mailcheck==FALSE)
{
echo "Invalid input";
}
else
{//send email
$email = $_REQUEST['email'] ;
$subject = $_REQUEST['subject'] ;
$message = $_REQUEST['message'] ;
mail("[email protected]", "Subject: $subject",
$message, "From: $email" );
echo "Thank you for using our mail form";
}
}
else
{//if "email" is not filled out, display the form
echo "<form method='post' action='mailform.php'>
Email: <input name='email' type='text' /><br />
Subject: <input name='subject' type='text' /><br />
Message:<br />
<textarea name='message' rows='15' cols='40'>
</textarea><br />
<input type='submit' />
</form>";
}
?>

41
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 42 1/15/2009

</body>
</html>

In the code above we use PHP filters to validate input:

• The FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL filter removes all illegal e-mail characters

from a string
• The FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL filter validates value as an e-mail address

PHP Error Handling

When creating scripts and web applications, error handling is an important part. If
your code lacks error checking code, your program may look very unprofessional
and you may be open to security risks.

This tutorial contains some of the most common error checking methods in PHP.

We will show different error handling methods:

• Simple "die()" statements

• Custom errors and error triggers
• Error reporting

Basic Error Handling: Using the die() function

The first example shows a simple script that opens a text file:

<?php
$file=fopen("welcome.txt","r");
?>

If the file does not exist you might get an error like this:

Warning: fopen(welcome.txt) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream:

No such file or directory in C:\webfolder\test.php on line 2

To avoid that the user gets an error message like the one above, we test if the file
exist before we try to access it:

<?php
if(!file_exists("welcome.txt"))
{
die("File not found");
}
else

42
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 43 1/15/2009

{
$file=fopen("welcome.txt","r");
}
?>

Now if the file does not exist you get an error like this:

File not found

The code above is more efficient than the earlier code, because it uses a simple
error handling mechanism to stop the script after the error.

However, simply stopping the script is not always the right way to go. Let's take a
look at alternative PHP functions for handling errors.

Creating a Custom Error Handler

Creating a custom error handler is quite simple. We simply create a special
function that can be called when an error occurs in PHP.

This function must be able to handle a minimum of two parameters (error level
and error message) but can accept up to five parameters (optionally: file, line-
number, and the error context):

Syntax
error_function(error_level,error_message,
error_file,error_line,error_context)

Parameter Description
error_level Required. Specifies the error report level for the user-defined
error. Must be a value number. See table below for possible error
report levels
error_message Required. Specifies the error message for the user-defined error
error_file Optional. Specifies the filename in which the error occurred
error_line Optional. Specifies the line number in which the error occurred
error_context Optional. Specifies an array containing every variable, and their
values, in use when the error occurred

Error Report levels

43
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 44 1/15/2009

These error report levels are the different types of error the user-defined error
handler can be used for:

Value Constant Description

2 E_WARNING Non-fatal run-time errors. Execution of the
script is not halted
8 E_NOTICE Run-time notices. The script found something
that might be an error, but could also happen
when running a script normally
256 E_USER_ERROR Fatal user-generated error. This is like an
E_ERROR set by the programmer using the
PHP function trigger_error()
512 E_USER_WARNING Non-fatal user-generated warning. This is like
an E_WARNING set by the programmer using
the PHP function trigger_error()
1024 E_USER_NOTICE User-generated notice. This is like an
E_NOTICE set by the programmer using the
PHP function trigger_error()
4096 E_RECOVERABLE_ERROR Catchable fatal error. This is like an
E_ERROR but can be caught by a user
defined handle (see also set_error_handler())
8191 E_ALL All errors and warnings, except level
E_STRICT (E_STRICT will be part of E_ALL
as of PHP 6.0)

Now lets create a function to handle errors:

function customError($errno, $errstr)

{
echo "<b>Error:</b> [$errno] $errstr<br />";
echo "Ending Script";
die();
}

The code above is a simple error handling function. When it is triggered, it gets
the error level and an error message. It then outputs the error level and message
and terminates the script.

Now that we have created an error handling function we need to decide when it
should be triggered.

Set Error Handler

44
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 45 1/15/2009

The default error handler for PHP is the built in error handler. We are going to
make the function above the default error handler for the duration of the script.

It is possible to change the error handler to apply for only some errors, that way
the script can handle different errors in different ways. However, in this example
we are going to use our custom error handler for all errors:

set_error_handler("customError");

Since we want our custom function to handle all errors, the set_error_handler()
only needed one parameter, a second parameter could be added to specify an
error level.

Example
Testing the error handler by trying to output variable that does not exist:

<?php
//error handler function
function customError($errno, $errstr)
{
echo "<b>Error:</b> [$errno] $errstr";
}
//set error handler
set_error_handler("customError");
//trigger error
echo($test);
?>

The output of the code above should be something like this:

Custom error: [8] Undefined variable: test

Trigger an Error
In a script where users can input data it is useful to trigger errors when an illegal
input occurs. In PHP, this is done by the trigger_error() function.

Example
In this example an error occurs if the "test" variable is bigger than "1":

<?php
$test=2;
if ($test>1)

45
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 46 1/15/2009

{
trigger_error("Value must be 1 or below");
}
?>

The output of the code above should be something like this:

Notice: Value must be 1 or below

in C:\webfolder\test.php on line 6

An error can be triggered anywhere you wish in a script, and by adding a second
parameter, you can specify what error level is triggered.

Possible error types:

• E_USER_ERROR - Fatal user-generated run-time error. Errors that can

not be recovered from. Execution of the script is halted
• E_USER_WARNING - Non-fatal user-generated run-time warning.
Execution of the script is not halted
• E_USER_NOTICE - Default. User-generated run-time notice. The script
found something that might be an error, but could also happen when
running a script normally

Example
In this example an E_USER_WARNING occurs if the "test" variable is bigger
than "1". If an E_USER_WARNING occurs we will use our custom error handler
and end the script:

<?php
//error handler function
function customError($errno, $errstr)
{
echo "<b>Error:</b> [$errno] $errstr<br />";
echo "Ending Script";
die();
}
//set error handler
set_error_handler("customError",E_USER_WARNING);
//trigger error
$test=2;
if ($test>1)
{
trigger_error("Value must be 1 or below",E_USER_WARNING);
}
?>

46
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 47 1/15/2009

The output of the code above should be something like this:

Error: [512] Value must be 1 or below

Ending Script

Now that we have learned to create our own errors and how to trigger them, lets
take a look at error logging.

Error Logging
By default, PHP sends an error log to the servers logging system or a file,
depending on how the error_log configuration is set in the php.ini file. By using
the error_log() function you can send error logs to a specified file or a remote
destination.

Sending errors messages to yourself by e-mail can be a good way of getting

notified of specific errors.

Send an Error Message by E-Mail

In the example below we will send an e-mail with an error message and end the
script, if a specific error occurs:

<?php
//error handler function
function customError($errno, $errstr)
{
echo "<b>Error:</b> [$errno] $errstr<br />";
echo "Webmaster has been notified";
error_log("Error: [$errno] $errstr",1,
"[email protected]","From: [email protected]");
}
//set error handler
set_error_handler("customError",E_USER_WARNING);
//trigger error
$test=2;
if ($test>1)
{
trigger_error("Value must be 1 or below",E_USER_WARNING);
}
?>

The output of the code above should be something like this:

Error: [512] Value must be 1 or below

Webmaster has been notified

And the mail received from the code above looks like this:

47
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 48 1/15/2009

Error: [512] Value must be 1 or below

This should not be used with all errors. Regular errors should be logged on the
server using the default PHP logging system.

What is an Exception
With PHP 5 came a new object oriented way of dealing with errors.

Exception handling is used to change the normal flow of the code execution if a
specified error (exceptional) condition occurs. This condition is called an
exception.

This is what normally happens when an exception is triggered:

• The current code state is saved

• The code execution will switch to a predefined (custom) exception handler
function
• Depending on the situation, the handler may then resume the execution
from the saved code state, terminate the script execution or continue the
script from a different location in the code

We will show different error handling methods:

• Basic use of Exceptions

• Creating a custom exception handler
• Multiple exceptions
• Re-throwing an exception
• Setting a top level exception handler

Note: Exceptions should only be used with error conditions, and should not be
used to jump to another place in the code at a specified point.

Basic Use of Exceptions

When an exception is thrown, the code following it will not be executed, and PHP
will try to find the matching "catch" block.

If an exception is not caught, a fatal error will be issued with an "Uncaught

Exception" message.

Lets try to throw an exception without catching it:

<?php

48
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 49 1/15/2009

//create function with an exception

function checkNum($number)
{
if($number>1)
{
throw new Exception("Value must be 1 or below");
}
return true;
}

//trigger exception
checkNum(2);
?>

The code above will get an error like this:

Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'Exception'

with message 'Value must be 1 or below' in C:\webfolder\test.php:6
Stack trace: #0 C:\webfolder\test.php(12):
checkNum(28) #1 {main} thrown in C:\webfolder\test.php on line 6

Try, throw and catch

To avoid the error from the example above, we need to create the proper code to
handle an exception.

Proper exception code should include:

1. Try - A function using an exception should be in a "try" block. If the

exception does not trigger, the code will continue as normal. However if
the exception triggers, an exception is "thrown"
2. Throw - This is how you trigger an exception. Each "throw" must have at
least one "catch"
3. Catch - A "catch" block retrieves an exception and creates an object
containing the exception information

Lets try to trigger an exception with valid code:

<?php
//create function with an exception
function checkNum($number)
{
if($number>1)
{
throw new Exception("Value must be 1 or below");
}
return true;
}

//trigger exception in a "try" block

49
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 50 1/15/2009

try
{
checkNum(2);
//If the exception is thrown, this text will not be shown
echo 'If you see this, the number is 1 or below';
}

//catch exception
catch(Exception $e)
{
echo 'Message: ' .$e->getMessage();
}
?>

The code above will get an error like this:

Message: Value must be 1 or below

Example explained:
The code above throws an exception and catches it:

1. The checkNum() function is created. It checks if a number is greater than

1. If it is, an exception is thrown
2. The checkNum() function is called in a "try" block
3. The exception within the checkNum() function is thrown
4. The "catch" block retrives the exception and creates an object ($e)
containing the exception information
5. The error message from the exception is echoed by calling $e-
>getMessage() from the exception object

However, one way to get around the "every throw must have a catch" rule is to
set a top level exception handler to handle errors that slip through.

Creating a Custom Exception Class

Creating a custom exception handler is quite simple. We simply create a special
class with functions that can be called when an exception occurs in PHP. The
class must be an extension of the exception class.

The custom exception class inherits the properties from PHP's exception class
and you can add custom functions to it.

Lets create an exception class:

<?php
class customException extends Exception

50
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 51 1/15/2009

{
public function errorMessage()
{
//error message
$errorMsg = 'Error on line '.$this->getLine().' in '.$this->getFile()
.': <b>'.$this->getMessage().'</b> is not a valid E-Mail address';
return $errorMsg;
}
}
$email = "[email protected]";
try
{
//check if
if(filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL) === FALSE)
{
//throw exception if email is not valid
throw new customException($email);
}
}
catch (customException $e)
{
//display custom message
echo $e->errorMessage();
}
?>

The new class is a copy of the old exception class with an addition of the
errorMessage() function. Since it is a copy of the old class, and it inherits the
properties and methods from the old class, we can use the exception class
methods like getLine() and getFile() and getMessage().

Example explained:
The code above throws an exception and catches it with a custom exception
class:

1. The customException() class is created as an extension of the old

exception class. This way it inherits all methods and properties from the
old exception class
2. The errorMessage() function is created. This function returns an error
message if an e-mail address is invalid
3. The $email variable is set to a string that is not a valid e-mail address
4. The "try" block is executed and an exception is thrown since the e-mail
address is invalid
5. The "catch" block catches the exception and displays the error message.

Multiple Exceptions

51
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 52 1/15/2009

It is possible for a script to use multiple exceptions to check for multiple

conditions.

It is possible to use several if..else blocks, a switch, or nest multiple exceptions.

These exceptions can use different exception classes and return different error
messages:

<?php
class customException extends Exception
{
public function errorMessage()
{
//error message
$errorMsg = 'Error on line '.$this->getLine().' in '.$this->getFile()
.': <b>'.$this->getMessage().'</b> is not a valid E-Mail address';
return $errorMsg;
}
}

$email = "[email protected]";

try
{
//check if
if(filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL) === FALSE)
{
//throw exception if email is not valid
throw new customException($email);
}
//check for "example" in mail address
if(strpos($email, "example") !== FALSE)
{
throw new Exception("$email is an example e-mail");
}
}

catch (customException $e)

{
echo $e->errorMessage();
}
catch(Exception $e)
{
echo $e->getMessage();
}
?>

Example explained:
The code above tests two conditions and throws an exception if any of the
conditions are not met:

52
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 53 1/15/2009

1. The customException() class is created as an extension of the old

exception class. This way it inherits all methods and properties from the
old exception class
2. The errorMessage() function is created. This function returns an error
message if an e-mail address is invalid
3. The $email variable is set to a string that is a valid e-mail address, but
contains the string "example"
4. The "try" block is executed and an exception is not thrown on the first
condition
5. The second condition triggers an exception since the e-mail contains the
string "example"
6. The "catch" block catches the exception and displays the correct error
message

If there was no customException catch, only the base exception catch, the
exception would be handled there

Re-throwing Exceptions
Sometimes, when an exception is thrown, you may wish to handle it differently
than the standard way. It is possible to throw an exception a second time within a
"catch" block.

A script should hide system errors from users. System errors may be important
for the coder, but is of no intrest to the user. To make things easier for the user
you can re-throw the exception with a user friendly message:

<?php
class customException extends Exception
{
public function errorMessage()
{
//error message
$errorMsg = $this->getMessage().' is not a valid E-Mail address.';
return $errorMsg;
}
}
$email = "[email protected]";
try
{
try
{
//check for "example" in mail address
if(strpos($email, "example") !== FALSE)
{
//throw exception if email is not valid
throw new Exception($email);
}
}

53
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 54 1/15/2009

catch(Exception $e)
{
//re-throw exception
throw new customException($email);
}
}
catch (customException $e)
{
//display custom message
echo $e->errorMessage();
}
?>

Example explained:
The code above tests if the email-address contains the string "example" in it, if it
does, the exception is re-thrown:

1. The customException() class is created as an extension of the old

exception class. This way it inherits all methods and properties from the
old exception class
2. The errorMessage() function is created. This function returns an error
message if an e-mail address is invalid
3. The $email variable is set to a string that is a valid e-mail address, but
contains the string "example"
4. The "try" block contains another "try" block to make it possible to re-throw
the exception
5. The exception is triggered since the e-mail contains the string "example"
6. The "catch" block catches the exception and re-throws a
"customException"
7. The "customException" is caught and displays an error message

If the exception is not caught in it's current "try" block, it will search for a catch
block on "higher levels".

Set a Top Level Exception Handler

The set_exception_handler() function sets a user-defined function to handle all
uncaught exceptions.

<?php
function myException($exception)
{
echo "<b>Exception:</b> " , $exception->getMessage();
}
set_exception_handler('myException');
throw new Exception('Uncaught Exception occurred');
?>

54
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 55 1/15/2009

The output of the code above should be something like this:

Exception: Uncaught Exception occurred

In the code above there was no "catch" block. Instead, the top level exception
handler triggered. This function should be used to catch uncaught exceptions.

Rules for exceptions

• Code may be surrounded in a try block, to help catch potential exceptions
• Each try block or "throw" must have at least one corresponding catch
block
• Multiple catch blocks can be used to catch different classes of exceptions
• Exceptions can be thrown (or re-thrown) in a catch block within a try block

A simple rule: If you throw something, you have to catch it.

What is a PHP Filter?

A PHP filter is used to validate and filter data coming from insecure sources.

To test, validate and filter user input or custom data is an important part of any
web application.

The PHP filter extension is designed to make data filtering easier and quicker.

Why use a Filter?

Almost all web applications depend on external input. Usually this comes from a
user or another application (like a web service). By using filters you can be sure
your application gets the correct input type.

You should always filter all external data!

Input filtering is one of the most important application security issues.

What is external data?

• Input data from a form

• Cookies
• Web services data
• Server variables
• Database query results

55
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 56 1/15/2009

Functions and Filters

To filter a variable, use one of the following filter functions:

• filter_var() - Filters a single variable with a specified filter

• filter_var_array() - Filter several variables with the same or different filters
• filter_input - Get one input variable and filter it
• filter_input_array - Get several input variables and filter them with the
same or different filters

In the example below, we validate an integer using the filter_var() function:

<?php
$int = 123;
if(!filter_var($int, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT))
{
echo("Integer is not valid");
}
else
{
echo("Integer is valid");
}
?>

The code above uses the "FILTER_VALIDATE_INT" filter to filter the variable.
Since the integer is valid, the output of the code above will be: "Integer is valid".

If we try with a variable that is not an integer (like "123abc"), the output will be:
"Integer is not valid".

Validating and Sanitizing

There are two kinds of filters:

Validating filters:

• Are used to validate user input

• Strict format rules (like URL or E-Mail validating)
• Returns the expected type on success or FALSE on failure

Sanitizing filters:

• Are used to allow or disallow specified characters in a string

• No data format rules
• Always return the string

56
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 57 1/15/2009

Options and Flags

Options and flags are used to add additional filtering options to the specified
filters.

Different filters have different options and flags.

In the example below, we validate an integer using the filter_var() and the
"min_range" and "max_range" options:

<?php
$var=300;
$int_options = array(
"options"=>array
(
"min_range"=>0,
"max_range"=>256
)
);
if(!filter_var($var, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT, $int_options))
{
echo("Integer is not valid");
}
else
{
echo("Integer is valid");
}
?>

Like the code above, options must be put in an associative array with the name
"options". If a flag is used it does not need to be in an array.

Since the integer is "300" it is not in the specified range, and the output of the
code above will be: "Integer is not valid".

Validate Input
Let's try validating input from a form.

The first thing we need to do is to confirm that the input data we are looking for
exists.

Then we filter the input data using the filter_input() function.

In the example below, the input variable "email" is sent to the PHP page:

<?php
if(!filter_has_var(INPUT_GET, "email"))

57
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 58 1/15/2009

{
echo("Input type does not exist");
}
else
{
if (!filter_input(INPUT_GET, "email", FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL))
{
echo "E-Mail is not valid";
}
else
{
echo "E-Mail is valid";
}
}
?>

Example Explained
The example above has an input (email) sent to it using the "GET" method:

1. Check if an "email" input variable of the "GET" type exist

2. If the input variable exists, check if it is a valid e-mail address

Sanitize Input
Let's try cleaning up an URL sent from a form.

First we confirm that the input data we are looking for exists.

Then we sanitize the input data using the filter_input() function.

In the example below, the input variable "url" is sent to the PHP page:

<?php
if(!filter_has_var(INPUT_POST, "url"))
{
echo("Input type does not exist");
}
else
{
$url = filter_input(INPUT_POST,
"url", FILTER_SANITIZE_URL);
}
?>

Example Explained

58
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 59 1/15/2009

The example above has an input (url) sent to it using the "POST" method:

1. Check if the "url" input of the "POST" type exists

2. If the input variable exists, sanitize (take away invalid characters) and
store it in the $url variable

If the input variable is a string like this "http://www.W3ååSchøøools.com/", the

$url variable after the sanitizing will look like this:

http://www.W3Schools.com/

Filter Multiple Inputs

A form almost always consist of more than one input field. To avoid calling the
filter_var or filter_input functions over and over, we can use the filter_var_array or
the filter_input_array functions.

In this example we use the filter_input_array() function to filter three GET

variables. The received GET variables is a name, an age and an e-mail address:

<?php
$filters = array
(
"name" => array
(
"filter"=>FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING
),
"age" => array
(
"filter"=>FILTER_VALIDATE_INT,
"options"=>array
(
"min_range"=>1,
"max_range"=>120
)
),
"email"=> FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL,
);
$result = filter_input_array(INPUT_GET, $filters);
if (!$result["age"])
{
echo("Age must be a number between 1 and 120.<br />");
}
elseif(!$result["email"])
{
echo("E-Mail is not valid.<br />");
}
else
{
echo("User input is valid");
}

59
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 60 1/15/2009

Example Explained
The example above has three inputs (name, age and email) sent to it using the
"GET" method:

1. Set an array containing the name of input variables and the filters used on
the specified input variables
2. Call the filter_input_array() function with the GET input variables and the
array we just set
3. Check the "age" and "email" variables in the $result variable for invalid
inputs. (If any of the input variables are invalid, that input variable will be
FALSE after the filter_input_array() function)

The second parameter of the filter_input_array() function can be an array or a

single filter ID.

If the parameter is a single filter ID all values in the input array are filtered by the
specified filter.

If the parameter is an array it must follow these rules:

• Must be an associative array containing an input variable as an array key

(like the "age" input variable)
• The array value must be a filter ID or an array specifying the filter, flags
and options

Using Filter Callback

It is possible to call a user defined function and use it as a filter using the
FILTER_CALLBACK filter. This way, we have full control of the data filtering.

You can create your own user defined function or use an existing PHP function

The function you wish to use to filter is specified the same way as an option is
specified. In an associative array with the name "options"

In the example below, we use a user created function to convert all "_" to
whitespaces:

<?php
function convertSpace($string)
{
return str_replace("_", " ", $string);

60
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 61 1/15/2009

$string = "Peter_is_a_great_guy!";

echo filter_var($string, FILTER_CALLBACK,

array("options"=>"convertSpace"));
?>

The result from the code above should look like this:

Peter is a great guy!

Example Explained
The example above converts all "_" to whitespaces:

1. Create a function to replace "_" to whitespaces

2. Call the filter_var() function with the FILTER_CALLBACK filter and an
array containing our function

What is MySQL?
MySQL is a database. A database defines a structure for storing information.

In a database, there are tables. Just like HTML tables, database tables contain
rows, columns, and cells.

Databases are useful when storing information categorically. A company may

have a database with the following tables: "Employees", "Products", "Customers"
and "Orders".

Database Tables
A database most often contains one or more tables. Each table has a name (e.g.
"Customers" or "Orders"). Each table contains 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

61
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 62 1/15/2009

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 in 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/index.html

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
that use MySQL.

Connecting to a MySQL Database

Before you can access and work with data in a database, you must create a
connection to the database.

62
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 63 1/15/2009

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 as soon as the script ends. To close the connection
before, use the mysql_close() function.

<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
// some code
mysql_close($con);
?>

63
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 64 1/15/2009

Create a Database
The CREATE DATABASE statement is used to create a database in MySQL.

Syntax
CREATE DATABASE database_name

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
In the following example we create a database called "my_db":
<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
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 database table in MySQL.

Syntax
CREATE TABLE table_name
(
column_name1 data_type,
column_name2 data_type,
column_name3 data_type,
.......
)
We must add the CREATE TABLE statement to the mysql_query() function to
execute the command.

64
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 65 1/15/2009

Example
The following example shows how you can create a table named "person", with
three columns. The column names will be "FirstName", "LastName" and "Age":
<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
// Create database
if (mysql_query("CREATE DATABASE my_db",$con))
{
echo "Database created";
}
else
{
echo "Error creating database: " . mysql_error();
}
// Create table in my_db database
mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);
$sql = "CREATE TABLE person
(
FirstName varchar(15),
LastName varchar(15),
Age int
)";
mysql_query($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).

MySQL Data Types

Below are the different MySQL data types that can be used:
Numeric Data Types Description
int(size) Hold integers only. The maximum number of
smallint(size) digits can be specified in the size parameter
tinyint(size)
mediumint(size)
bigint(size)
decimal(size,d) Hold numbers with fractions. The maximum
double(size,d) number of digits can be specified in the size
float(size,d) parameter. The maximum number of digits to the
right of the decimal is specified in the d
parameter

65
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 66 1/15/2009

Textual Data Types Description

char(size) Holds a fixed length string (can contain letters,
numbers, and special characters). The fixed size
is specified in parenthesis
varchar(size) Holds a variable length string (can contain
letters, numbers, and special characters). The
maximum size is specified in parenthesis
tinytext Holds a variable string with a maximum length of
255 characters
text Holds a variable string with a maximum length of
blob 65535 characters
mediumtext Holds a variable string with a maximum length of
mediumblob 16777215 characters
longtext Holds a variable string with a maximum length of
longblob 4294967295 characters

Date Data Types Description

date(yyyy-mm-dd) Holds date and/or time
datetime(yyyy-mm-dd
hh:mm:ss)
timestamp(yyyymmddhhmmss)
time(hh:mm:ss)

Misc. Data Types Description

enum(value1,value2,ect) ENUM is short for ENUMERATED list. Can store
one of up to 65535 values listed within the ( )
brackets. If a value is inserted that is not in the
list, a blank value will be inserted
set SET is similar to ENUM. However, SET can have
up to 64 list items and can store more than one
choice

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.

66
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 67 1/15/2009

The primary key field is always indexed. There is no exception to this rule! You
must index the primary key field so the database engine can quickly locate rows
based on the key's value.
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
$sql = "CREATE TABLE person
(
personID int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
PRIMARY KEY(personID),
FirstName varchar(15),
LastName varchar(15),
Age int
)";
mysql_query($sql,$con);

Insert Data Into a Database Table

The INSERT INTO statement is used to add new records to a database table.

Syntax
INSERT INTO table_name
VALUES (value1, value2,....)

You can also specify the columns where you want to insert the data:

INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2,...)

VALUES (value1, value2,....)

Note: SQL statements are not case sensitive. INSERT INTO is the same as insert
into.
To get PHP to execute the statements above we must use the mysql_query()
function. This function is used to send a query or command to a MySQL
connection.

Example
In the previous chapter we created a table named "Person", 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 "Person" table:

<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");

67
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 68 1/15/2009

if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);
mysql_query("INSERT INTO person (FirstName, LastName, Age)
VALUES ('Peter', 'Griffin', '35')");
mysql_query("INSERT INTO person (FirstName, LastName, Age)
VALUES ('Glenn', 'Quagmire', '33')");
mysql_close($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
"Person" 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" />
Age: <input type="text" name="age" />
<input type="submit" />
</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 database table.

Below is the code in the "insert.php" page:

<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);
$sql="INSERT INTO person (FirstName, LastName, Age)
VALUES
('$_POST[firstname]','$_POST[lastname]','$_POST[age]')";
if (!mysql_query($sql,$con))
{

68
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 69 1/15/2009

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

Note: SQL statements are not case sensitive. SELECT is the same as select.

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 selects all the data stored in the "Person" table (The *
character selects all of the data in the table):

<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM person");
while($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 subsequent 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']).

69
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 70 1/15/2009

The output of the code above will be:

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
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}

mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);

$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM person");

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);
?>

The output of the code above will be:

Firstname Lastname
Glenn Quagmire
Peter Griffin

The WHERE clause

To select only data that matches a specific criteria, add a WHERE clause to the
SELECT statement.

70
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 71 1/15/2009

Syntax
SELECT column FROM table
WHERE column operator value

The following operators can be used with the WHERE clause:

Operator Description
= Equal
!= Not equal
> Greater than
< Less than
>= Greater than or equal
<= Less than or equal
BETWEEN Between an inclusive range
LIKE Search for a pattern

Note: SQL statements are not case sensitive. WHERE is the same as where?

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 will select all rows from the "Person" table, where
FirstName='Peter':

<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}

mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);

$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM person

WHERE FirstName='Peter'");

while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
echo $row['FirstName'] . " " . $row['LastName'];
echo "<br />";
}

71
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 72 1/15/2009

The output of the code above will be:

Peter Griffin

The ORDER BY Keyword

The ORDER BY keyword is used to sort the data in a recordset.

Syntax
SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column_name

Note: SQL statements are not case sensitive. ORDER BY is the same as order
by.

Example

The following example selects all the data stored in the "Person" table, and sorts
the result by the "Age" column:

<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}

mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);

$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM person ORDER BY age");

while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
echo $row['FirstName'];
echo " " . $row['LastName'];
echo " " . $row['Age'];
echo "<br />";
}
mysql_close($con);
?>

The output of the code above will be:

Glenn Quagmire 33
Peter Griffin 35

72
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 73 1/15/2009

Sort Ascending or Descending

If you use the ORDER BY keyword, the sort-order of the recordset is ascending
by default (1 before 9 and "a" before "p").

Use the DESC keyword to specify a descending sort-order (9 before 1 and "p"
before "a"):

SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column_name DESC

Order by Two Columns

It is 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
identical:

SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column_name1, column_name2

Update Data in a Database

The UPDATE statement is used to modify data in a database table.

Syntax
UPDATE table_name
SET column_name = new_value
WHERE column_name = some_value

Note: SQL statements are not case sensitive. UPDATE is the same as update.

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

Earlier in the tutorial we created a table named "Person". Here is how it looks:

FirstName LastName Age

73
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 74 1/15/2009

Peter Griffin 35
Glenn Quagmire 33

The following example updates some data in the "Person" table:

<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);

mysql_query("UPDATE Person SET Age = '36'

WHERE FirstName = 'Peter' AND LastName = 'Griffin'");
mysql_close($con);
?>

After the update, the "Person" table will look like this:

FirstName LastName Age

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 column_name = some_value

Note: SQL statements are not case sensitive. DELETE FROM is the same as
delete from.

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

Earlier in the tutorial we created a table named "Person". Here is how it looks:

74
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 75 1/15/2009

FirstName LastName Age

Peter Griffin 35
Glenn Quagmire 33

The following example deletes all the records in the "Person" table where
LastName='Griffin':

<?php
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","peter","abc123");
if (!$con)
{
die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());
}
mysql_select_db("my_db", $con);

mysql_query("DELETE FROM Person WHERE LastName='Griffin'");

mysql_close($con);
?>

After the deletion, the table will look like this:

FirstName LastName Age

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 set up a DSN for you to use.

75
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 76 1/15/2009

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

76
Muhammad Salman Habib Page 77 1/15/2009

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>

W3Schools PHP
No ratings yet
W3Schools PHP
111 pages
PHP Programming For Beginners: The Simple Guide to Learning PHP Fast!
From Everand
PHP Programming For Beginners: The Simple Guide to Learning PHP Fast!
Tim Warren
No ratings yet
Introduction to PHP Web Services: PHP, JavaScript, MySQL, SOAP, RESTful, JSON, XML, WSDL
From Everand
Introduction to PHP Web Services: PHP, JavaScript, MySQL, SOAP, RESTful, JSON, XML, WSDL
Imran Ghani
No ratings yet
PHP for Beginners: Your Guide to Easily Learn PHP In 7 Days
From Everand
PHP for Beginners: Your Guide to Easily Learn PHP In 7 Days
i Code Academy
4.5/5 (5)
PHP Tutorial
No ratings yet
PHP Tutorial
131 pages
Learn PHP in 5 Days by Darshan Sanandiya
100% (1)
Learn PHP in 5 Days by Darshan Sanandiya
238 pages
What You Should Already Know: Previous Next Chapter
No ratings yet
What You Should Already Know: Previous Next Chapter
51 pages
PHP Tutorial From Beginner To Master
No ratings yet
PHP Tutorial From Beginner To Master
28 pages
Introduction To PHP: What You Should Already Know
No ratings yet
Introduction To PHP: What You Should Already Know
50 pages
What You Should Already Know: PHP Is A Server-Side Scripting Language
No ratings yet
What You Should Already Know: PHP Is A Server-Side Scripting Language
125 pages
PHP Module
No ratings yet
PHP Module
65 pages
PHP Tutorial: W3Schools Home Next Chapter
No ratings yet
PHP Tutorial: W3Schools Home Next Chapter
31 pages
PHP Tutorial: What You Should Already Know
No ratings yet
PHP Tutorial: What You Should Already Know
189 pages
What You Should Already Know: Home Page
No ratings yet
What You Should Already Know: Home Page
29 pages
PHP Tutorial PDF
No ratings yet
PHP Tutorial PDF
128 pages
PHP Tutorial
No ratings yet
PHP Tutorial
143 pages
Introduction To PHP
No ratings yet
Introduction To PHP
76 pages
Phpcoursematerial1 240603092914 0c4a151c
No ratings yet
Phpcoursematerial1 240603092914 0c4a151c
123 pages
PHP Tutorial (W3schools) PDF
93% (60)
PHP Tutorial (W3schools) PDF
187 pages
What You Should Already Know: PHP Is A Server-Side Scripting Language
No ratings yet
What You Should Already Know: PHP Is A Server-Side Scripting Language
58 pages
Introduction To PHP: What You Should Already Know
No ratings yet
Introduction To PHP: What You Should Already Know
116 pages
What You Should Already Know: PHP Is A Server-Side Scripting Language
No ratings yet
What You Should Already Know: PHP Is A Server-Side Scripting Language
42 pages
What You Should Already Know: Home Page
No ratings yet
What You Should Already Know: Home Page
31 pages
What You Should Already Know: PHP Is A Server-Side Scripting Language
No ratings yet
What You Should Already Know: PHP Is A Server-Side Scripting Language
71 pages
PHP Is A Server
No ratings yet
PHP Is A Server
60 pages
PHP Tutorials
No ratings yet
PHP Tutorials
143 pages
Php Tutorialw3schoolspdf
No ratings yet
Php Tutorialw3schoolspdf
198 pages
PHP Tutorial
No ratings yet
PHP Tutorial
62 pages
PHP
No ratings yet
PHP
139 pages
What Is PHP?
No ratings yet
What Is PHP?
37 pages
PHP Notes by Vikas Kadakkal
No ratings yet
PHP Notes by Vikas Kadakkal
141 pages
PHP Introduction: What You Should Already Know
No ratings yet
PHP Introduction: What You Should Already Know
24 pages
Php-Web Designing
No ratings yet
Php-Web Designing
63 pages
Server Side Scripting PHP
No ratings yet
Server Side Scripting PHP
99 pages
PHP Tutorial Guide
No ratings yet
PHP Tutorial Guide
24 pages
What Is PHP
No ratings yet
What Is PHP
27 pages
Basic: PHP Exception
No ratings yet
Basic: PHP Exception
132 pages
PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (Lecture) Steffanie D. Maglasang
No ratings yet
PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (Lecture) Steffanie D. Maglasang
26 pages
Wta Manual 1
No ratings yet
Wta Manual 1
60 pages
Unit 4: PHP: Web Programming
No ratings yet
Unit 4: PHP: Web Programming
47 pages
PHP Tutorial: Easy Learning With "Show PHP"
No ratings yet
PHP Tutorial: Easy Learning With "Show PHP"
46 pages
Lec 1what Is PHP
No ratings yet
Lec 1what Is PHP
52 pages
Tutorial PHP
No ratings yet
Tutorial PHP
122 pages
PHP for Beginners
From Everand
PHP for Beginners
Rony Mehta
No ratings yet
Reference to PHP, Second Edition
From Everand
Reference to PHP, Second Edition
Adam Majczak
No ratings yet
Introduction to PHP
From Everand
Introduction to PHP
Adam Majczak
3/5 (5)
Introduction to PHP, Part 1, Second Edition
From Everand
Introduction to PHP, Part 1, Second Edition
Adam Majczak
No ratings yet
Learn PHP Programming in 7Days: Ultimate PHP Crash Course For Beginners
From Everand
Learn PHP Programming in 7Days: Ultimate PHP Crash Course For Beginners
Austin Myers
3/5 (11)
Learn PHP in 24 Hours
From Everand
Learn PHP in 24 Hours
Alex Nordeen
No ratings yet
Mastering PHP: Web Development Practices
From Everand
Mastering PHP: Web Development Practices
William Smith
No ratings yet
PHP B L U E P R I N T: Advanced Guide to Learn the Realms of PHP Programming
From Everand
PHP B L U E P R I N T: Advanced Guide to Learn the Realms of PHP Programming
David Mitchell
No ratings yet
Getting started with php & mysql: Professional training
From Everand
Getting started with php & mysql: Professional training
Rémy Lentzner
No ratings yet
P.H.P Simple C.R.U.D Design
From Everand
P.H.P Simple C.R.U.D Design
Rohaya Mohamad
4/5 (1)
Simplified PHP
From Everand
Simplified PHP
James Blanchette
No ratings yet
Python Reference: An Alphabetical Guide
From Everand
Python Reference: An Alphabetical Guide
Jo Foster
No ratings yet
PHP: Expertise in PHP: A Step-by-Step Guide to Advanced PHP Programming Concepts Ananya Gupta
From Everand
PHP: Expertise in PHP: A Step-by-Step Guide to Advanced PHP Programming Concepts Ananya Gupta
Ananya Gupta
No ratings yet
PHP & MySQL Practice It Learn It
From Everand
PHP & MySQL Practice It Learn It
Jitendra Patel
3/5 (2)
Learning PHP 7 High Performance
From Everand
Learning PHP 7 High Performance
Altaf Hussain
No ratings yet
Learn PHP: Learn PHP Programming in 4 hours! PHP for Beginners - Smart and Easy Ways to learn PHP & MySQL
From Everand
Learn PHP: Learn PHP Programming in 4 hours! PHP for Beginners - Smart and Easy Ways to learn PHP & MySQL
Barry Page
3.5/5 (2)
Introduction to PHP, Part 5, Second Edition
From Everand
Introduction to PHP, Part 5, Second Edition
Adam Majczak
No ratings yet