PHP Hacks

When it comes to creating dynamic web sites, the open source PHP language is a red-hot property: used on more 19 million web sites today, PHP is now more popular than Microsoft's ASP.NET technology. This new Hacks book contains useful tips, tricks, and techniques for working with PHP that will appeal to a broad range of developers, from newcomers to experts. Author Jack Herrington is a software engineer and author with 20 years of experience developing applications using a diverse set of languages and tools. His prolific output ranges from scientific real-time applications to web applications for business. He is an expert in the use of code generation techniques from very simple code maintenance to code generators, and author of 'Code Generation in Action' (Manning) and 'Podcasting Hacks' for O'Reilly.

Jack Herrington is an engineer, author and presenter who lives and works in the Bay Area. His mission is to expose his fellow engineers to new technologies. That covers a broad spectrum, from demonstrating programs that write other programs in the book Code Generation in Action. Providing techniques for building customer centered web sites in PHP Hacks. All the way writing a how-to on audio blogging called Podcasting Hacks. All of which make great holiday gifts and are available online here, and at your local bookstore. Jack also writes articles for O'Reilly, DevX and IBM Developerworks.

Jack lives with his wife, daughter and two adopted dogs. When he is not writing software, books or articles you can find him on his bike, running or in the pool training for triathlons. You can keep up with Jack's work and his writing at http://jackherrington.com.

Credits

xi

Preface

xv

Chapter 1. Installation and Basics

1

(15)

1. Install PHP

1

(11)

2. Install PEAR Modules

12

(4)

Chapter 2. Web Design

16

(28)

3. Create a Skinnable Interface

16

(4)

4. Build a Breadcrumb Trail

20

(4)

5. Create HTML Boxes

24

(5)

6. Add Tabs to Your Web Interface

29

(4)

7. Give Your Customers Formatting Control with XSL

33

(2)

8. Build Lightweight HTML Graphs

35

(3)

9. Properly Size Image Tags

38

(2)

10. Send HTML Email

40

(4)

Chapter 3. DHTML

44

(57)

11. Put an Interactive Spreadsheet on Your Page

44

(3)

12. Create Pop-Up Hints

47

(2)

13. Create Drag-and-Drop Lists

49

(3)

14. Build Dynamic HTML Graphs

52

(6)

15. Section Your Content with Spinners

58

(3)

16. Create Drop-Down Stickies

61

(3)

17. Create Dynamic Navigation Menus

64

(3)

18. Obscure JavaScript Dynamically

67

(2)

19. Build a DHTML Binary Clock

69

(4)

20. Tame Ajax with JSON

73

(3)

21. Make a DHTML Slideshow

76

(3)

22. Add Vector Graphics with PHP

79

(2)

23. Build a Color Selector

81

(4)

24. Create Link Graphs

85

(3)

25. Create an Interactive Calendar

88

(5)

26. Create the Google Maps Scrolling Effect

93

(8)

Chapter 4. Graphics

101

(41)

27. Create Thumbnail Images

101

(3)

28. Create Beautiful Graphics with SVG

104

(3)

29. Simplify Your Graphics with Objects

107

(8)

30. Split One Image into Multiple Images

115

(5)

31. Create Graphs with PHP

120

(3)

32. Create Image Overlays

123

(3)

33. Access Your iPhoto Pictures with PHP

126

(16)

Chapter 5. Databases and XML

142

(74)

34. Design Better SQL Schemas

142

(5)

35. Create Bulletproof Database Access

147

(2)

36. Create Dynamic Database Access Objects

149

(6)

37. Generate CRUD Database Code

155

(10)

38. Read XML on the Cheap with Regular Expressions

165

(3)

39. Export Database Schema as XML

168

(2)

40. Create a Simple XML Query Handler for Database Access

170

(2)

41. Generate Database SQL

172

(3)

42. Generate Database Select Code

175

(5)

43. Convert CSV to PHP

180

(4)

44. Scrape Web Pages for Data

184

(6)

45. Suck Data from Excel Uploads

190

(4)

46. Load Your Database from Excel

194

(5)

47. Search Microsoft Word Documents

199

(3)

48. Create RTF Documents Dynamically

202

(5)

49. Create Excel Spreadsheets Dynamically

207

(4)

50. Create a Message Queue

211

(5)

Chapter 6. Application Design

216

(70)

51. Create Modular Interfaces

216

(5)

52. Support Wiki Text

221

(3)

53. Turn Any Object into an Array

224

(3)

54. Create XML the Right Way

227

(3)

55. Fix the Double Submit Problem

230

(4)

56. Create User-Customizable Reports

234

(3)

57. Create a Login System

237

(4)

58. Apply Security by Role

241

(8)

59. Migrate to MD5 Passwords

249

(4)

60. Make Usable URLs with mod rewrite

253

(5)

61. Build an Ad Redirector

258

(4)

62. Add a Buy Now Button

262

(9)

63. Find Out Where Your Guests Are Coming From

271

(2)

64. Import Information from vCards

273

(2)

65. Create vCard Files from Your Application's Data

275

(2)

66. Create a Shopping Cart

277

(9)

Chapter 7. Patterns

286

(43)

67. Observe Your Objects

287

(3)

68. Create Objects with Abstract Factories

290

(4)

69. Flexible Object Creation with Factory Methods

294

(2)

70. Abstract Construction Code with a Builder

296

(4)

71. Separate What from How with Strategies

300

(3)

72. Link Up Two Modules with an Adapter

303

(4)

73. Write Portable Code with Bridges

307

(2)

74. Build Extensible Processing with Chains

309

(5)

75. Break Up Big Classes with Composites

314

(2)

76. Simplify APIs Using a Facade

316

(5)

77. Create Constant Objects with Singletons

321

(3)

78. Ease Data Manipulation with Visitors

324

(5)

Chapter 8. Testing

329

(26)

79. Test Your Code with Unit Tests

329

(2)

80. Generate Your Unit Tests

331

(4)

81. Check for Broken Links

335

(2)

82. Test Your Application with Simulated Users

337

(5)

83. Test Your Application with Robots

342

(5)

84. Spider Your Site

347

(4)

85. Generate Documentation Automatically

351

(4)

Chapter 9. Alternative Uls

355

(51)

86. Create Custom Maps with MapServer

355

(10)

87. Build GUI Interfaces with GTk

365

(4)

88. Send RSS Feeds to Your IM Application Using Jabber

369

(7)

89. IRC Your Web Application

376

(3)

90. Read RSS Feeds on Your PSP

379

(3)

91. Search Google by Link Graph

382

(6)

92. Create a New Interface for Amazon.com

388

(4)

93. Send SMS Messages from Your IM Client

392

(4)

94. Generate Flash Movies on the Fly

396

(10)

Chapter 10. Fun Stuff

406

(27)

95. Create Custom Google Maps

406

(6)

96. Create Dynamic Playlists

412

(3)

97. Create a Media Upload/Download Center

415

(4)

98. Check Your Network Game with PHP

419

(3)

99. Put Wikipedia on Your PSP

422

(8)

100. Create a Weather Showdown

430

(3)

Index

433

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Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials