Vinayakphp 1
Vinayakphp 1
Vinayakphp 1
In our PHP tutorial you will learn about PHP, and how to execute
scripts on your server
Pre-requisites
Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:
HTML/XHTML
JavaScript
What is PHP?
What is MySQL?
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MySQL is free to download and use
PHP + MySQL
Why PHP?
Where to Start?
Install Apache (or IIS) on your own server, install PHP, and MySQL
Or find a web hosting plan with PHP and MySQL support
PHP Installation
http://www.wampserver.com/en/
Just create some .php files in your web directory, and the server will parse them
for you. Because it is free, most web hosts offer PHP support. However, if your
server does not
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support PHP, you must install PHP. Here 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
http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
PHP Syntax
PHP code is executed on the server, and the plain HTML result is sent to the browser.
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 ?>.
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:
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<html>
<body>
<?php
echo "Hello World";
?>
</body>
</html>
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".
Note: The file must have a .php extension. If the file has a .html extension, the PHP
code will not be executed.
Comments in PHP
<html>
<body>
<?php
//This is a comment
/*
This
is
a comment
block
*/
?>
</body>
</html>
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PHP Variables
Variables in PHP
Variables are used for storing a values, like text strings, numbers or arrays.
When a variable is declared, it can be used over and over again in your script.
$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 containing a string, and a variable containing a number:
<?php
$txt="Hello World!";
$x=16;
?>
In PHP, a variable does not need to be declared before adding a value to it.
In the example above, you see that you do not have to tell PHP which data type the variable is.
PHP automatically converts the variable to the correct data type, depending on its value.
In a strongly typed programming language, you have to declare (define) the type and name of the
variable before using it.
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A variable name should not contain spaces. If a variable name is more than one word, it should
be separated with an underscore ($my_string), or with capitalization ($myString)
In this chapter we are going to look at the most common functions and operators used to manipulate
strings in PHP.
After we create a string we can manipulate it. A string can be used directly in a function or it can be
stored in a variable.
Below, the PHP script assigns the text "Hello World" to a string variable called $txt:
<?php
$txt="Hello World";
echo $txt;
?>
Hello World
Now, lets try to use some different functions and operators to manipulate the string.
The concatenation operator (.) is used to put two string values together.
<?php
$txt1="Hello World!";
$txt2="What a nice day!";
echo $txt1 . " " . $txt2;
?>
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The output of the code above will be:
If we look at the code above you see that we used the concatenation operator two times. This is because
we had to insert a third string (a space character), to separate the two strings.
<?php
echo strlen("Hello world!");
?>
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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).
If a match is found, this function will return the position of the first match. If no match is found, it will
return FALSE.
<?php
echo strpos("Hello world!","world");
?>
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.
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Complete PHP String Reference
For a complete reference of all string functions, go to our complete PHP String Reference.
The reference contains a brief description, and examples of use, for each function!
PHP Operators
PHP Operators
Arithmetic Operators
+ 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
Assignment Operators
= x=y x=y
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+= 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
Logical Operators
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PHP If...Else Statements
Conditional Statements
Very often when you write code, you want to perform different actions for different decisions.
if statement - use this statement to execute some code only if a specified condition is true
if...else statement - use this statement to execute some code if a condition is true and
another code if the condition is false
if...elseif ... else statement - use this statement to select one of several blocks of code to be
executed
switch statement - use this statement to select one of many blocks of code to be executed
The if Statement
Use the if statement to execute some code only if a specified condition is true.
Syntax
if (condition) code to be executed if condition is true;
The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$d=date("D");
if ($d=="Fri") echo "Have a nice weekend!";
?>
</body>
</html>
Notice that there is no ..else.. in this syntax. You tell the browser to execute some code only if the
specified condition is true.
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The if...else Statement
Use the if ... else statement to execute some code if a condition is true and another code if a condition is
false.
Syntax
if (condition)
code to be executed if condition is true;
else
code to be executed if condition is false;
Example
The following example will output "Have a nice weekend!" if the current day is Friday, otherwise it will
output "Have a nice day!":
<html>
<body>
<?php
$d=date("D");
if ($d=="Fri")
echo "Have a nice weekend!";
else
echo "Have a nice day!";
?>
</body>
</html>
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>
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The if...elseif. . else Statement
Use the if....elseif .. else statement to select one of several blocks of code to be executed.
Syntax
if (condition)
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!":
<html>
<body>
<?php
$d=date("D");
if ($d=="Fri")
echo "Have a nice weekend!";
elseif ($d=="Sun")
echo "Have a nice Sunday!";
else
echo "Have a nice day!";
?>
</body>
</html>
Use the switch statement to select one of many blocks of code to be executed.
Syntax
switch (n)
{
case label1:
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code to be executed if n=label1;
break;
case label2:
code to be executed if n=label2;
break;
default:
code to be executed if n is different from both label1 and label2;
}
This is how it works: First we have a single expression n (most often a variable), that is evaluated once.
The value of the expression is then compared with the values for each case in the structure. If there is a
match, the block of code associated with that case is executed. Use break to prevent the code from
running into the next case automatically. The default statement is used if no match is found.
Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
switch ($x)
{
case 1:
echo "Number 1";
break;
case 2:
echo "Number 2";
break;
case 3:
echo "Number 3";
break;
default:
echo "No number between 1 and 3";
}
?>
</body>
</html>
PHP Arrays
What is an Array?
A variable is a storage area holding a number or text. The problem is, a variable will hold only one
value.
An array is a special variable, which can store multiple values in one single variable.
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If you have a list of items (a list of car names, for example), storing the cars in single variables could
look like this:
$cars1="Saab";
$cars2="Volvo";
$cars3="BMW";
However, what if you want to loop through the cars and find a specific one? And what if you had not 3
cars, but 300?
An array can hold all your variable values under a single name. And you can access the values by
referring to the array name.
Each element in the array has its own index so that it can be easily accessed.
Numeric Arrays
1. In the following example the index are automatically assigned (the index starts at 0):
$cars=array("Saab","Volvo","BMW","Toyota");
$cars[0]="Saab";
$cars[1]="Volvo";
$cars[2]="BMW";
$cars[3]="Toyota";
Example
In the following example you access the variable values by referring to the array name and index:
<?php
$cars[0]="Saab";
$cars[1]="Volvo";
$cars[2]="BMW";
$cars[3]="Toyota";
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echo $cars[0] . " and " . $cars[1] . " are Swedish cars.";
?>
Associative Arrays
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
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";
<?php
$ages['Peter'] = "32";
$ages['Quagmire'] = "30";
$ages['Joe'] = "34";
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Multidimensional Arrays
In a multidimensional array, each element in the main array can also be an array. And each element in
the sub-array can be an array, and so on.
Example
$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
)
)
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Example 2
For a complete reference of all array functions, go to our complete PHP Array Reference.
The reference contains a brief description, and examples of use, for each function!
Loops execute a block of code a specified number of times, or while a specified condition
is true.
PHP Loops
Often when you write code, you want the same block of code to run over and over again in a row.
Instead of adding several almost equal lines in a script we can use loops to perform a task like this.
Syntax
while (condition)
{
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code to be executed;
}
Example
The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. The loop will continue to run as long as i is less
than, or equal to 5. i will increase by 1 each time the loop runs:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$i=1;
while($i<=5)
{
echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />";
$i++;
}
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
The number is 1
The number is 2
The number is 3
The number is 4
The number is 5
The do...while statement will always execute the block of code once, it will then check the condition, and
repeat the loop while the condition is true.
Syntax
do
{
code to be executed;
}
while (condition);
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Example
The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. It will then increment i with 1, and write some
output. Then the condition is checked, and the loop will continue to run as long as i is less than, or equal
to 5:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$i=1;
do
{
$i++;
echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />";
}
while ($i<=5);
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
The number is 2
The number is 3
The number is 4
The number is 5
The number is 6
The for loop and the foreach loop will be explained in the next section
Loops execute a block of code a specified number of times, or while a specified condition
is true.
The for loop is used when you know in advance how many times the script should run.
Syntax
for (init; condition; increment)
{
code to be executed;
}
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Parameters:
init: Mostly used to set a counter (but can be any code to be executed once at the beginning of
the loop)
condition: Evaluated for each loop iteration. If it evaluates to TRUE, the loop continues. If it
evaluates to FALSE, the loop ends.
increment: Mostly used to increment a counter (but can be any code to be executed at the end
of the loop)
Note: Each of the parameters above can be empty, or have multiple expressions (separated by
commas).
Example
The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. The loop will continue to run as long as i is less
than, or equal to 5. i will increase by 1 each time the loop runs:
<html>
<body>
<?php
for ($i=1; $i<=5; $i++)
{
echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />";
}
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
The number is 1
The number is 2
The number is 3
The number is 4
The number is 5
Syntax
foreach ($array as $value)
{
code to be executed;
}
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For every loop iteration, the value of the current array element is assigned to $value (and the array
pointer is moved by one) - so on the next loop iteration, you'll be looking at the next array value.
Example
The following example demonstrates a loop that will print the values of the given array:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$x=array("one","two","three");
foreach ($x as $value)
{
echo $value . "<br />";
}
?>
</body>
</html>
Output:
one
two
three
PHP Functions
For a complete reference and examples of the built-in functions, please visit our PHP Reference.
PHP Functions
In this chapter we will show you how to create your own functions.
To keep the browser from executing a script when the page loads, you can put your script into a
function.
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You may call a function from anywhere within a page.
Syntax
function functionName()
{
code to be executed;
}
Give the function a name that reflects what the function does
The function name can start with a letter or underscore (not a number)
Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
function writeName()
{
echo "Kai Jim Refsnes";
}
</body>
</html>
Output:
To add more functionality to a function, we can add parameters. A parameter is just like a variable.
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Parameters are specified after the function name, inside the parentheses.
Example 1
The following example will write different first names, but equal last name:
<html>
<body>
<?php
function writeName($fname)
{
echo $fname . " Refsnes.<br />";
}
</body>
</html>
Output:
Example 2
<html>
<body>
<?php
function writeName($fname,$punctuation)
{
echo $fname . " Refsnes" . $punctuation . "<br />";
}
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</body>
</html>
Output:
Example
<html>
<body>
<?php
function add($x,$y)
{
$total=$x+$y;
return $total;
}
</body>
</html>
Output:
1 + 16 = 17
The PHP $_GET and $_POST variables are used to retrieve information from forms, like
user input.
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PHP Form Handling
The most important thing to notice when dealing with HTML forms and PHP is that any form element in
an HTML page will automatically be available to your PHP scripts.
Example
The example below contains an HTML form with two input fields and a submit button:
<html>
<body>
</body>
</html>
When a user fills out the form above and click on the submit button, the form data is sent to a PHP file,
called "welcome.php":
<html>
<body>
</body>
</html>
Welcome John!
You are 28 years old.
The PHP $_GET and $_POST functions will be explained in the next chapters.
Form Validation
User input should be validated on the browser whenever possible (by client scripts). Browser validation
is faster and reduces the server load.
You should consider server validation if the user input will be inserted into a database. A good way to
validate a form on the server is to post the form to itself, instead of jumping to a different page. The
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user will then get the error messages on the same page as the form. This makes it easier to discover the
error.
The built-in $_GET function is used to collect values in a form with method="get".
The built-in $_GET function is used to collect values from a form sent with method="get".
Information sent from a form with the GET method is visible to everyone (it will be displayed in the
browser's address bar) and has limits on the amount of information to send (max. 100 characters).
Example
<form action="welcome.php" method="get">
Name: <input type="text" name="fname" />
Age: <input type="text" name="age" />
<input type="submit" />
</form>
When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL sent to the server could look something like this:
http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php?fname=Peter&age=37
The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_GET function to collect form data (the names of the form
fields will automatically be the keys in the $_GET array):
When using method="get" in HTML forms, all variable names and values are displayed in the URL.
Note: This method should not be used when sending passwords or other sensitive information!
However, because the variables are displayed in the URL, it is possible to bookmark the page. This can
be useful in some cases.
Note: The get method is not suitable for large variable values; the value cannot exceed 100 characters.
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The built-in $_POST function is used to collect values in a form with
method="post".
The built-in $_POST function is used to collect values from a form sent with method="post".
Information sent from a form with the POST method is invisible to others and has no limits on
the amount of information to send.
Note: However, there is an 8 Mb max size for the POST method, by default (can be changed by
setting the post_max_size in the php.ini file).
Example
<form action="welcome.php" method="post">
Name: <input type="text" name="fname" />
Age: <input type="text" name="age" />
<input type="submit" />
</form>
When the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL will look like this:
http://www.w3schools.com/welcome.php
The "welcome.php" file can now use the $_POST function to collect form data (the names of the
form fields will automatically be the keys in the $_POST array):
Information sent from a form with the POST method is invisible to others and has no limits on
the amount of information to send.
However, because the variables are not displayed in the URL, it is not possible to bookmark the
page.
The PHP built-in $_REQUEST function contains the contents of both $_GET, $_POST, and
$_COOKIE.
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The $_REQUEST function can be used to collect form data sent with both the GET and POST
methods.
Example
Welcome <?php echo $_REQUEST["fname"]; ?>!<br />
You are <?php echo $_REQUEST["age"]; ?> years old.
http://myphpform.com/php-form-
tutorial.php
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