PHP and SQL database

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely used server-side scripting language for web development. It is
commonly used to interact with SQL databases such as MySQL to store, retrieve, and manipulate data
dynamically.

PHP and LDAP

LDAP is a protocol used to access and maintain directory information services. It is often used for
authentication and user management in enterprise applications.

Connecting PHP with LDAP

To use LDAP in PHP, the ldap extension must be enabled.

Basic PHP LDAP Connection Example:

<?php

$ldap_server = "ldap://example.com";

$ldap_conn = ldap_connect($ldap_server) or die("Could not connect to LDAP server.");

if ($ldap_conn) {

ldap_set_option($ldap_conn, LDAP_OPT_PROTOCOL_VERSION, 3);

$bind = ldap_bind($ldap_conn, "cn=admin,dc=example,dc=com", "password");

if ($bind) {

echo "LDAP bind successful.";

} else {

echo "LDAP bind failed.";

?>

PHP Connectivity with MySQL

PHP connectivity refers to how PHP interacts with databases like MySQL to store, retrieve, and
manipulate data dynamically. This is essential for building web applications such as login systems, online
shopping carts, content management systems, etc.
PHP provides two main ways to connect with MySQL:

1. MySQLi (MySQL Improved) – Supports both procedural and object-oriented approaches.

2. PDO (PHP Data Objects) – Supports multiple databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, etc.).

Steps for Connecting PHP with MySQL using MySQLi

1. Create a MySQL Database and Table.

2. Connect PHP to MySQL Database.
3. Perform CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete).
4. Close the Database Connection.

1. Create a MySQL Database and Table

Before connecting PHP to MySQL, create a database and a table.

Create Database (Run in MySQL Terminal or phpMyAdmin)

CREATE DATABASE my_database;

Create Table

USE my_database;

CREATE TABLE users (

id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,

name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,

email VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL UNIQUE,

password VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL

);

2. Connecting PHP to MySQL Database

We use the mysqli_connect() function to connect PHP with MySQL.

PHP Code for Database Connection (Procedural Approach)

<?php

$servername = "localhost"; // Server name (default: localhost)

$username = "root"; // Database username (default: root)

$password = ""; // Database password (default: empty for local)

$dbname = "my_database"; // Database name

// Create connection

$conn = mysqli_connect($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Check connection

if (!$conn) {

die("Connection failed: " . mysqli_connect_error());

echo "Connected successfully";

?>

 mysqli_connect($servername, $username, $password, $dbname); establishes the connection.

 if (!$conn) { die("Connection failed: " . mysqli_connect_error()); } checks if the connection is
successful.

3. Closing the Database Connection

Always close the connection after executing queries to free up resources.

<?php

mysqli_close($conn);

?>

Sending and Receiving Emails

PHP provides built-in functions and external libraries to send and receive emails. The mail() function is
the simplest way to send emails, while external libraries like PHPMailer offer more advanced features
such as attachments, SMTP authentication, and HTML formatting.

1. Sending Emails Using PHP mail() Function

PHP has a built-in mail() function to send emails. However, this function only works if the server is
properly configured to send emails (like with Sendmail on Linux servers). Many shared hosting services
allow this, but it won’t work in local environments like XAMPP unless configured.

Basic Example of Sending an Email

<?php

$to = "recipient@example.com"; // Receiver's email address

$subject = "Test Email from PHP"; // Email subject

$message = "Hello, this is a test email sent from PHP!"; // Email body

$headers = "From: sender@example.com"; // Sender's email address

// Send Email

if (mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers)) {

echo "Email sent successfully!";

} else {

echo "Failed to send email.";

?>

2. Receiving Emails in PHP

PHP cannot directly receive emails, but it can fetch emails from an email server using IMAP or POP3.

Fetching Emails Using IMAP (Example with Gmail)

Use PHP's IMAP extension to fetch emails from a mailbox.

<?php

$hostname = '{imap.gmail.com:993/imap/ssl}INBOX'; // IMAP server

$username = 'your-email@gmail.com'; // Your email

$password = 'your-email-password'; // Your email password

// Connect to mailbox

$inbox = imap_open($hostname, $username, $password) or die('Cannot connect: ' . imap_last_error());

// Fetch emails

$emails = imap_search($inbox, 'ALL');

if ($emails) {

rsort($emails); // Sort emails newest to oldest

foreach ($emails as $email_number) {

 $header = imap_headerinfo($inbox, $email_number);

$subject = $header->subject;

$from = $header->fromaddress;

$body = imap_body($inbox, $email_number);

echo "From: $from <br>";

echo "Subject: $subject <br>";

echo "Message: $body <br><br>";

} else {

echo "No emails found.";

// Close connection

imap_close($inbox);

?>

Manipulating data in MySQL using PHP

Manipulating data means performing CRUD operations in MySQL using PHP. CRUD stands for:

C - Create (Insert data)

R - Read (Retrieve data)

U - Update (Modify existing data)

D - Delete (Remove data)

After successfully connecting, we can perform Create, Read, Update, and Delete operations.

(A) Insert Data into MySQL

Inserting data means adding new records into a MySQL database table using PHP.

<?php

$sql = "INSERT INTO users (name, email, password) VALUES ('John Doe', 'john@example.com', '12345')";
if (mysqli_query($conn, $sql)) {

echo "New record inserted successfully";

} else {

echo "Error: " . mysqli_error($conn);

?>

 INSERT INTO users (name, email, password) VALUES (...) adds new data to the table.
 mysqli_query($conn, $sql); executes the query.

(B) Retrieve Data from MySQL

Retrieving data from MySQL means fetching stored records from a database table using SQL's SELECT
statement and displaying them using PHP.

<?php

$sql = "SELECT id, name, email FROM users";

$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);

if (mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0) {

while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {

echo "ID: " . $row["id"] . " - Name: " . $row["name"] . " - Email: " . $row["email"] . "<br>";

} else {

echo "No records found";

?>

 SELECT id, name, email FROM users; fetches all user records.
 mysqli_fetch_assoc($result); fetches rows one by one.
 (C) Update Data in MySQL

The UPDATE statement in MySQL is used to modify existing records in a table. You can update one or
multiple columns based on a specific condition using the WHERE clause.

<?php

$sql = "UPDATE users SET email='john.doe@example.com' WHERE name='John Doe'";

if (mysqli_query($conn, $sql)) {

echo "Record updated successfully";

} else {

echo "Error updating record: " . mysqli_error($conn);

?>

 UPDATE users SET email='john.doe@example.com' WHERE name='John Doe'; modifies existing

data.

(D) Delete Data from MySQL

The DELETE statement in MySQL is used to remove specific records from a table. It is commonly used
when data is no longer needed or needs to be replaced with updated information.

<?php

$sql = "DELETE FROM users WHERE name='John Doe'";

if (mysqli_query($conn, $sql)) {

echo "Record deleted successfully";

} else {

echo "Error deleting record: " . mysqli_error($conn);

?>

 DELETE FROM users WHERE name='John Doe'; removes a record from the table.