Build Your Own DatabaseDriven Website Using PHP amp;amp; MySQL [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

"Installation"

Before you can start building your database-driven Web presence, you
must first ensure that you have the right tools for the job. In this first
chapter, I'll tell you where to obtain the two essential components you'll
need: the PHP scripting language and the MySQL database management system.
I'll step you through the setup procedures on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X,
and show you how to test that PHP is operational on your Web server.

"Getting Started with MySQL"

Although I'm sure you'll be anxious to get started building dynamic
Web pages, I'll begin with an introduction to databases in general, and the
MySQL relational database management system in particular. If you've never
worked with a relational database before, this should definitely be an enlightening
chapter that will whet your appetite for things to come! In the process, we'll
build up a simple database to be used in later chapters.

"Getting Started with PHP"

Here's where the fun really starts. In this chapter, I'll introduce
you to the PHP scripting language, which can be easily used to build dynamic
Web pages that present up-to-the-moment information to your visitors. Readers
with previous programming experience will probably be able to get away with
a quick skim of this chapter, as I explain the essentials of the language
from the ground up. This is a must-read chapter for beginners, however, as
the rest of this book relies heavily on the basic concepts presented here.

"Publishing MySQL Data on the Web"

In this chapter we bring together PHP and MySQL, which you'll have seen
separately in the previous two chapters, to create some of your first database-driven
Web pages. We'll explore the basic techniques of using PHP to retrieve information
from a database and display it on the Web in real time. I'll also show you
how to use PHP to create Web-based forms for adding new entries to, and modifying
existing information in, a MySQL database on-the-fly.

"Relational Database Design"

Although we'll have worked with a very simple sample database in the
previous chapters, most database-driven Websites require the storage of more
complex forms of data than we'll have dealt with so far. Far too many database-driven
Website designs are abandoned midstream, or are forced to start again from
the beginning, because of mistakes made early on, during the design of the
database structure. In this critical chapter, I'll teach the essential principles
of good database design, emphasizing the importance of data normalization.
If you don't know what that means, then this is definitely an important chapter
for you to read!

"A Content Management System"

In many ways the climax of the book, this chapter is the big payoff
for all you frustrated site builders who are tired of updating hundreds of
pages whenever you need to make a change to a site's design. I'll walk you
through the code for a basic content management system that allows you to
manage a database of jokes, their categories, and their authors. A system
like this can be used to manage simple content on your Website, and with a
few modifications you should be able to build a Web administration system
that will have your content providers submitting content for publication on
your site in no time - all without having to know a shred of HTML!

"Content Formatting and Submission"

Just because you're implementing a nice, easy tool to allow site administrators
to add content to your site without their knowing HTML, doesn't mean you have
to restrict that content to plain, unformatted text. In this chapter, I'll
show you some neat tweaks you can make to the page that displays the contents
of your database—tweaks that allow it to incorporate simple formatting
such as bold or italicized text, among other things. I'll also show you a
simple way to safely make a content submission form directly available to
your content providers, so that they can submit new content directly into
your system for publication, pending an administrator's approval.

"MySQL Administration"

While MySQL is a good, simple database solution for those who don't
need many frills, it does have some complexities of its own that you'll need
to understand if you're going to rely on a MySQL database to store your content.
In this section, I'll teach you how to perform backups of, and manage access
to, your MySQL database. In addition to a couple of inside tricks (like what
to do if you forget your MySQL password), I'll explain how to repair a MySQL
database that has become damaged in a server crash.

"Advanced SQL"

In "Relational Database Design" we saw what was involved
in modelling complex relationships between pieces of information in a relational
database like MySQL. Although the theory was quite sound, putting these concepts
into practice requires that you learn a few more tricks of Structured Query
Language. In this chapter, I'll cover some of the more advanced features of
this language to get you juggling complex data like a pro.

"Advanced PHP"

PHP lets you do a lot more than just retrieve, display, insert, and
update information stored in a MySQL database. In this chapter, I'll give
you a peek at some other interesting things you can do with PHP, such as server-side
includes, handling file uploads, and sending email. As we'll see, these features
are really useful for improving the performance and security of your database-driven
site, as well as sending feedback to your visitors.

"Storing Binary Data in MySQL"

Some of the most interesting applications of database-driven Web design
include some juggling of binary files. Online file storage services like the
now-defunct iDrive, are prime examples, but a system
as simple as a personal photo gallery can benefit from storing binary files
(e.g. pictures) in a database for retrieval and management on the fly. In
this chapter, we develop a simple online file storage and viewing system and
learn the ins and outs of working with binary data in MySQL.

"Cookies and Sessions in PHP"

One of the most hyped new features in PHP 4.0 was built-in support for
sessions. But what are sessions? How are they related to cookies, a long-suffering
technology for preserving stored data on the Web? What makes persistent data
so important in current ecommerce systems and other Web applications? This
chapter answers all those questions by explaining how PHP supports both cookies
and sessions, and exploring the link between the two. At the end of this chapter,
we'll develop a simple shopping cart system to demonstrate their use.