Testing MySQL: Installing MySQL, configuring php.ini and removing deprecated tags.

Previously, I was testing MySQL and could not get a page to load at all. I was receiving the error message:

PHP Fatal error: Call to undefined function mysql_connect()

I added a couple extensions in php.ini and just now found a new error message appeared.

PHP Warning: PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library './php_mysql.dll'
- The specified module could not be found.\r\n in Unknown on line 0

It was not looking in the right directory, rather I never specified where to look. Now I have tried setting the extension directory with extension_dir = "c:\php\ext" in php.ini, I have received a new error message. (I'm getting somewhere!)

PHP Fatal error: Call to undefined function mysql_create_db() in
C:\\myserver\\test_mysql.php on line 33

I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of php.ini configuring. After searching for the previous error in google I came across a list of emails in the archives of Neohapsis.com where someone mentioned that mysql_create_db() is deprecated. So much for using older tutorials. I searched for mysql_create-db() deprecated on Google and came across a comment on the manual that says mysql_query() should be used instead.

I went back into my test file and changed the two instances of mysql_create_db to mysql_query and finally something appears on the page. Unfortunately the variables are not appearing to be saved. Oh error looooog!,

PHP Warning: mysql_fetch_array(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL
result resource in C:\\myserver\\test_mysql.php on line 66

Fetch doesn't have anything to fetch so it is reporting an error. I think I'll find someone elses file to test MySQL with (ignores the little voice saying "Make one yourself you lazy oaf")

Installing MySQL

So I began by unzipping zip file into a folder of the same name. It really doesn't matter where it is unzippped. I now have setup.exe ready to run.

After it goes through a little song and dance preparing installation files and preparing to install it shows me a window, MySQL Server 5.0 - Setup Wizard

I click next> select custom (because I want to install in in c:/mysql instead of the default directory in Program Files)> click next> click change directory> enter c:/mysql under Folder name: > Click OK> click Next> click Install

After installation "Configure the MySQL Server Now" should be checked and I'll just click Finish and move on.

PHP, The Eternal Struggle

I've always wanted to set up a dynamic site but whenever I tried to create a local server for testing I would fall flat on my face. For the last few weeks after browsing through the thousands of pages of the manuals for Apache 2.2, PHP, and MySQL 5.0 I tried to installing PHP to run on Apache.

The first snag I ran into (and I should have seen it at the beginning) was my attempt to install PHP 5.1 with Apache 2.2.

It turns out that PHP 5.1 does not have "php5apache2_2.dll" which is needed to run Apache as a module for enhanced security. After downloading PHP 5.2 and adding the lines

LoadModule php5_module "c:/php/php5apache2_2.dll"
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
PHPIniDir "C:/php"

I was finally able to start the Apache server without an error message. (c:/php was my choice of where I installed php. It might be different depending on where you unzipped your php file)

So I entered localhost and immediately became of forgetting a step. The Apache configuration file (httpd.conf) was still pointing at "C:/Program Files/Apache Software Foundation/Apache2.2/htdocs" even though I had my root folder set up on the desktop. So I went into the file and found "DocumentRoot" where I promptly entered my desktop directory.

So I go to type in localhost and get the error message: 403 Forbidden You don't have permission to access / on this server. *frowns impatiently*

I go back into the httpd.conf file and scour through it line by line. Soon after DocumentRoot I encounter the problem:

# This should be changed to whatever you set DocumentRoot to.
#

About 26 lines after DocumentRoot it told me to change another line. So I pointed the directory to my desktop directory where all my files were located taking great care to use forward slashes (/) instead of backward slashes (\) and...

Htm files load perfectly but my test.php file comes up blank!