Firebird, Dreamweaver, PHP & Phakt

Introduction
Release
Version 1.5 This document is to provide a thorough example of how to get Dreamweaver MX, the Phakt PHP server model working with
17.10.03 Firebird on a Linux server. These steps should work with other systems (Apple desktops and other versions of Linux like
Debian or Red Hat). This document will get you to a database connection in Dreamweaver MX, after that it up to you.

Server Side Requirements Client Side Requirements

Linux (Slackware) http://www.slackware.org Version 9.1 Windows (2000 or XP) http://www.microsoft.com Version XP
Firebird Database http://www.firebirdsql.Org Version 1.03 Dreamweaver MX http://www.macromedia.com Version MX
Apache Web Server http://www.apache.org Version 1.3.29 Firebird Client http://www.firebirdsql.com Version 1.03
PHP4 http://www.php.net Version 4.3.4 Phakt http://www.interakt.ro Version 2.71

Installation Instructions
This document assumes you have a working Windows desktop with Dreamweaver MX (DMX) installed and experience using
Dreamweaver for website design. A base Linux server, with Samba or FTP services, should also be setup. Since most Linux
installations don't support Firebird when they compile PHP, we will need to do this. If Apache and PHP are pre-installed it
would be best to remove them and follow this document to get a working configuration. Our Windows client IP address will
be 192.168.0.1 and the server address is 192.168.0.2
The first step is to download the source files for Apache and PHP and put them in a directory (i.e. /usr/src). Next download
Firebird tar.gz package and put it in the same directory. Dowload Phakt to your Windows system and we are ready to go.

Step One Step Two Step Three

Install Phakt on Windows Install Firebird on the Linux Server Configure Apache on the Server
1. Unzip the Phakt package into a folder For this step the prepackaged Firebird PHP requires that you have Apache
2. Launch the DMX Extension Manager files will work for this step. You can pre-configured so that it knows where
3. Select File | Install Extension compile it if you wish. where everything is, so configure your
4. Locate the phakt-2_7_1.mxp file Apache server as follows:
1. Change directory to /usr/src/
5. Select the file and click Install
2. Execute tar -zxvf FirebirdCS-1.0.3... 1. cd /usr/src/
6. Follow on-screen instructions
3. This will create a Firebird directory 2. tar -zxvf apache-1.3.29.tar.gz
4. Change to the new directory 3. cd apache-1.3.29
Once the installation is complete you will
5. To install execute ./install.sh 4. ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apache
see the Phakt extensioin in the
6. Firebird is installed in /opt/interbase
Dreamweaver Extention Manager. We will install Apache in Step 5, this
step is to allow PHP to be configured
At this point you should have a working
If you are having problems please see and installed properly, then configure
install Firebird Database. If not see the
the Phakt website (www.interakt.com) Apache to work with PHP properly.
troubleshooting section this document.
www.methyl.ca

Step Four Step Five Step Six

Install PHP4 on the Server Install Apache on the Server Configure Dreamweaver
To configue PHP to work with Apache 1. cd /usr/src/apache-1.3.29 Now that we have the server up we can
and Firebird do the following: 2. ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apache setup DMX to connect to Firebird.
--enable-module=so \
1. cd /usr/src 1. Start Dreamweaver
--enable-module=most \
2. tar -zxvf php-4.3.4.tar.gz 2. Configure a new site (Site | New Site)
--enable-cgi
3. cd php-4.3.4 3. Set up your testing server (Fig 1.0)
3. Run 'make' and 'make install'
4. ./configure --enable-track-vars \ 4. Create a new file (test.php)
4. vi /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf
--with-interbase=/opt/interbase \ 5. Open Database panel Ctrl+Shift+F10
5. Uncomment / Add the following lines
--with-gd --with-zlib --with-xml \ 6. Click the + and select ADODB Conn...
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
--with-apache=../apache_1.3.29 7. Fill in the form (Fig 1.1)*
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps
5. Run 'make' and then 'make install' 8. Click the 'Test' button to test connect
6. Save the new config file
6. cp php.ini-dist /usr/local/lib/php.ini * Do not use the Select button for the
7. Start Apache
database, it only works with MySQL, you
/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl start
need to enterthe complete network path
 path. A full network path would be the directory from the
root directory (192.168.0.2). i.e. /home/www/fire

Checking the Systems

1. Make sure Fir ebird is running: In Linux issue the
following command to check that Firebird is listening
on port 3050: netstat -an | grep 3050
You should receive the following response and if not
check your Firebird installation and startup scripts.
tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:3050 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
2. Check that Apache i s Running: Point a browser
at 192.168.0.2 and see if the Apache start page is
available. On the server run ./apachectl configtest and if
the message 'Syntax OK' is returned Apache is working.
3. Ensure P HP is Running: Create test php file by
placing <? echo("Nothing to write"); ?> in a text file and
Figure 1.0: Testing Server Configuration Dialogue save as test.php. Point a browser at this file and if a page is
displayed with only the text "Nothing to write" then PHP
is working properly.

Troubleshooting Guide
This is a short list of troubleshooting techniques to make
sure that the components required are functioning.
Q: Trying to connect to Firebird I get this error:
'Fatal error: Call to undefined function: ibase_timefmt()...’
A: You didn't compiled php with Interbase support
properly. Please edit your php.ini and uncomment
the line: extension=php_interbase.dll(delete ; sign)
Restart your web server and it should work.
Resources:
Figure 1.1: ADODB Connection Dialogue
IBPhoenix (www.ibphoenix.com ) provides support for
Succesful Connection Firebird and Interbase databases and their site has an
excellent library of user documents and How To’s...
If after you press the 'Test' button and you receive a
"Connection was made Succesfully" then you are ready to News Groups
develop your PHP based website, congradulations!
news.atkin.com Server hosts the firebird news groups.
And if not, I have included some troubleshooting tips and
other resources below. Additional Tools for Firebird Development:
Special Notes: IB Manager (http://ems-hitech.com/ibmanager)
This is an excellent tool to manage Firebird (or Interbase)
For the ADOBD connection, the databse location has to databases. Create, modify and update almost every aspect
be a full network path, not a Samba path (mounted of your database. A free version is available at:
directory). In this example, my remote host uses http://ems-hitech.com/ibmanager/download.phtml
\\192.168.0.2\web\ as the file location, this is the Samba

Copyright (c) 2001 by Darcy S. O'Neil ([email protected])

Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/fdl.html)
Please feel free to copy and distribute this document in any format. It is requested that corrections and/or comments be forwarded to the
document maintainer (Darcy O’Neil).You may create a derivative work and distribute it provided that you:
1. Send your derivative work (in the most suitable format such as rtf) to Darcy O’Neil at [email protected] or post changes on the Internet.
2. License the derivative work under the GNU Free Documentation License. Include a copyright notice and at least a pointer to the license used
3. Give due credit to previous authors and major contributors.
If you're considering making a derived work other than a translation, it is requested that you discuss your plans with the current maintainer(s).