PHP PHRASEBOOK: ESSENTIAL CODE AND COMMANDS

Overview

If you were traveling in Spain, but couldn't speak Spanish very well, you'd probably carry a Spanish dictionary with you. If you are a PHP developer who needs a portable reference guide for frequent use in your job, the PHP Phrasebook is perfect for you. The PHP Phrasebook is actually a pocket guide that is jam-packed with useful and essential PHP code "phrases" for the PHP developer's everyday use. The code is flexible, so it can be easily adapted to your needs and mulitple situations, and your time isn't wasted wading through chapters of tutorial lessons and extraneous information. The phrasebook covers PHP 5 and is relevant for PHP 4.

Table of Contents | Index

Chapter 1. Manipulating Strings

Comparing Strings

Checking Usernames and Passwords

Converting Strings into Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

Using Line Breaks

Encrypting Strings

Checksumming Strings

Extracting Substrings

Protecting Email Addresses Using ASCII Codes

Scanning Formatted Strings

Getting Detailed Information About Variables

Searching in Strings

Using POSIX Regular Expressions

Using Perl-Compatible Regular Expressions

Finding Tags with Regular Expressions

Validating Mandatory Input

Validating Numbers (and Other Data Types)

Validating Email Addresses

Search and Replace

Chapter 2. Working with Arrays

Accessing All Elements of Numerical Arrays

Accessing All Elements of Associative Arrays

Accessing All Array Elements in Nested Arrays

Turning an Array into Variables

Converting Strings to Arrays

Converting Arrays to Strings

Sorting Arrays Alphabetically

Sorting Associative Arrays Alphabetically

Sorting Nested Arrays

Sorting Nested Associative Arrays

Sorting IP Addresses (as a Human Would)

Sorting Anything

Sorting with Foreign Languages

Applying an Effect to All Array Elements

Filtering Arrays

Getting Random Elements Out of Arrays

Chapter 3. Date and Time

Using Text Within date()

Automatically Localizing Dates

Manually Localizing Dates

Using the Current Date the U.S./U.K./European Way

Formatting a Specific Date

Validating a Date

Calculating a Relative Date

Creating a Sortable Time Stamp

Converting a String into a Date

Determining Sunrise and Sunset

Using Date and Time for Benchmarks

Using Form Fields for Date Selection

Create Self-updating Form Fields for Date Selection

Calculating the Difference Between Two Dates

Using GMT Date/Time Information

Chapter 4. Interacting with Web Forms

Sending Form Data Back to the Current Script

Reading Out Form Data

Coping with "Magic Quotes"

Checking Whether a Form Has Been Submitted

Saving Form Data into a Cookie

Prefilling Text Fields and Password Fields

Prefilling Multiline Text Fields

Preselecting Radio Buttons

Preselecting Check Boxes

Preselecting Selection Lists

Preselecting Multiple Selection Lists

Processing Graphical Submit Buttons

Checking Mandatory Fields

Checking Selection Lists

Writing All Form Data into a File

Sending All Form Data Via Email

Getting Information About File Uploads

Moving Uploaded Files to a Safe Location

Chapter 5. Remembering Users (Cookies and Sessions)

Understanding Cookies

Creating a Cookie

Reading Out Cookies

Getting Rid of "Magic Quotes" in Cookies

Setting a (Reasonable) Expiry Date

Setting a Client-Specific Expiry Date

Deleting a Cookie

Making Cookies Accessible for Several Domains

Checking Whether the Client Supports Cookies

Saving Multiple Data in One Cookie

Saving the User's Language Preference

Understanding Sessions

Where to Store the Sessions

How to Maintain the Session State

Activating Sessions

Reading and Writing Sessions

Closing Sessions

Changing the Session ID

Creating Dynamic, Session-Aware Links

Implementing a Custom Session Management

Creating a Secured Area with Sessions

Creating a Secured Area Without Sessions

Chapter 6. Using Files on the Server File System

Opening and Closing Files

Reading from Files

Writing to Files

Using Relative Paths for File Access

Avoiding Security Traps with File Access

Working with CSV Data

Parsing INI Files

Retrieving File Information

Copying, Moving, and Deleting Files

Browsing the File System

Using PHP Streams

Using Bzip2 Archives

Returning Files with an HTTP Request

Chapter 7. Making Data Dynamic

Connecting to MySQL

Connecting to MySQLi

Sending SQL to MySQL

Prepared Statements with MySQL

Retrieving Results of a Query to MySQL

Connecting to SQLite

Sending SQL to SQLite

Retrieving Results of a Query to SQLite

Connecting to PostgreSQL

Sending SQL to PostgreSQL

Updating Data in PostgreSQL

Retrieving Results of a Query to PostgreSQL

Connecting to Oracle

Sending SQL to Oracle

Retrieving Results of a Query to Oracle

Connecting to MSSQL

Sending SQL to MSSQL

Retrieving Results of a Query to MSSQL

Connecting to Firebird

Sending SQL to Firebird

Retrieving Results of a Query to Firebird

Connecting Via PDO

Sending SQL Via PDO

Retrieving Results of a Query Via PDO

Chapter 8. Using XML

Parsing XML with SAX

Using DOM in PHP 4 to Read XML

Using DOM in PHP 5 to Read XML

Using DOM in PHP 4 to Write XML

Using DOM in PHP 5 to Write XML

Using SimpleXML

Transforming XML with XSL and PHP 4

Transforming XML with XSL and PHP 5

Chapter 9. Communicating with Others

Connecting with HTTP Servers

Connecting with FTP Servers

Checking Whether a Server Is Still Reacting

Creating a Web Service with PEAR::XML-RPC

Consuming a Web Service with PEAR::XML-RPC

Creating a Web Service with NuSOAP

Automatically Generating WSDL with NuSOAP

Consuming a Web Service with NuSOAP

Creating a Web Service with PEAR::SOAP

Automatically Generating WSDL with PEAR::SOAP

Consuming a Web Service with PEAR::SOAP

Creating a Web Service with PHP 5's SOAP Extension

Consuming a Web Service with PHP 5's SOAP Extension