Hi all,
Just found this site - hope you can help this newbi out.
I am just learning (or trying to) PHP. I have installed apache, php5, etc on my machine, and when i bring up a browser (firefox or ie) nothing seems to work.
Here is the simple code i copied from a tutorial...
<?php
$site_name = "This is the site name area";
$paragraph_text = "Welcome to my site";
$email = 'type me@email.com';
?>
<html>
<body>
<h2><?php echo $site_name; ?></h2>
<p><?php echo $paragraph_text; ?></p>
<p>Email me: <a href="mailto:<?php echo $email; ?>"><?php echo $email; ?></a>
</body>
</html>====================================================
When i try to run it, the only thing displayed is "Email me:" - without the quotes.
===========================================
When i display the page source (and correct me if i'm wrong, but the php code should not show up - it displays the following....
<?php
$site_name = "This is the site name area";
$paragraph_text = "Welcome to my site";
$email = 'type me@email.com';
?>
<html>
<body>
<h2><?php echo $site_name; ?></h2>
<p><?php echo $paragraph_text; ?></p>
<p>Email me: <a href="mailto:<?php echo $email; ?>"><?php echo $email; ?></a>
</body>
</html>========================================
I'm sure there's a very simple explanation for this, but it's my first ever try at doing anything on the web (been an application / system programmer for 35 years) and I'm at a loss.
Thanks in advance,
Q
Well, if the PHP code is not being processed you must be a victim of one of the following:
A) Not have the right file extension (make sure it is "name.php" and not "name.php.txt" or "name.html"
B) Not have the PHP file in the root of the server (so PHP can process it)
C) Not have PHP set to process .php files.
Also, I recomend installing WAMP as it is a GREAT OS system for running multiple versions of PHP4-5, MySQL 4-5, and Apache 1-2 with no added headaches. A lot easyer than installing them on your own - plus it is pre-configured.
Thanks for the reply.
My files are names something.php, but i did check to make sure.
I used the wamp distribution as you suggested, and have put the files in D:\xampp\htdocs\LearningPHP --- is this ok?
About setting php to process php files - haven't a clue how to do this - or if it's already been set - any info on this would surely be appreciated.
I have also installed joomla - which works beautifully - it does use lots of php code, so i think my settings re: php are maybe correct?
Here's a dumb question for you - if you embed php code in html, shouldn't the file extension be something.html for the html code to work? Again, any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Jay
PHP will only be processed in files that the server (apache or IIS) gives it to process. The default is that only .php or .php3 files are given to the PHP core for processing. However, you can change it so that .html or even .txt are also given to the PHP core to be processed (but there is no reason to).
HTML code in .asp, .php, .html, etc will always be processed by the browser. You don't need a file to be .HTML for html code to work.
I don't have more than 2-3 html files in all 10+ of my sites.
Also, xampp is just like wamp so you are fine. I just thought you did your own install of L.A.M.P. Still, you need to go to tools->folder options->view and uncheck "hide extensions for known file types". I bet you are saving php files as name.php.txt but all you see is "name.php"
Again, thanks for the answer.
The file I am trying to get to work is a ".php" file.
Extensions for know file types are not hidden.
I understand now about mixing html and php - just put all of the stuff in a ".php" file, and, in theory, all should work just file. ---- except in my dumb machine.
I'm at a complete loss here - I know I must be doing something so very simple wrong that I can't see it - but for the life of me, haven;t a clue.
Jay
If you could see how red my face is.
I have been dragging and dropping the php file into my browser.
I changed (ok, so I'm really lazy) and typed in localhost....... and imagine what happened - yup - works
Boy am I ever ashamed
Quadlo
lol, I know what you mean.
I spent all day on a problem only to find that I miss-spelled a variable name and so the whole script kept crashing!
