Posted by Erwin Moller on 10/07/05 15:34

Elric1 wrote:

Hi Eric,

Next time try a better more descriptive subject. :-)

> 1) Which is the best ng?
>
> alt.comp.lang.php
> alt.php
> alt.php.sql
> comp.lang.php


comp.lang.php in my humble opinion is the best.
All questions get a fast answer.



>
> or can you suggest a good web forum?

For what?
Just Google.
If you want to search newsgroups for questions (99% of the questions asked
here were asked before by somebody else), be sure to search the 'groups' in
Google instead of the default 'web'.
It really answers a LOT of things you want to know and it saves you the time
to post here and wait for an answer.

A few places to start if looking for ready-to-classes and less-ready-to-go
classes is www.phpclasses.org, but it is not a forum.


>
> 2) My PHP installation is not properly installed. I have it
> running under Win XP SP2 using IIS. When the computer first
> boots I get an error:
>
> PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library
> './php_mysql.dll' - The specified file could not
> be found.

These kind of questions are almost impossible to answer.
It all depends on what you did, where you installed, what modifications you
made to the windows PATH environment, etc etc.

BUT..... did you follow the installinstruction on www.php.net?
Do it.
If you use one of the many 'preconfigured installers' that can be found on
the internet, you might easily end up with a corrupt, difficult to repair
installation.

Just go to www.php.net, and read carefully. If it take you a day to get it
going, nevermind, you learn a few important thing while you do that.
It is well worth your time and concentration.

Pay attention to permissions (IUSR_machinename on win XP I think).
Pay attention to php.ini.
Make a decission if you want to run ISAPI or EXE.
(ISAPI has better performance I understand)


>
> Can I just find that file 'php_mysql.dll' and copy it to c:\php?
> Does it need to be regestered as well?

Did you uncomment the corresponding line in the php.ini file?

Warning: Some 'php-installers' screw up so seriously that you end up with a
php that cannot be extended anymore!
Do it by hand, following the (obscure) instruction on www.php.net.

>
> 3) Running http://localhost/phpinfo.php indicates that I am
> running PHP 5.0.4

cool. :-)

>
> Should I upgrade to a more recent version and will that upgrade
> sort out the missing php_mysql.dll file?

More recent? PHP5 is extremely recent. :-)
No need to upgrade, but if you are going to do a full fresh install, you
might as well get the latest.

>
> Is it sensible to continue using PHP with windows - given that
> any sites I eventually write will be hosted under
> linux/apache/mySQL? In other words should I be developing under
> Linux instead of Windows?

Yes and No.

No because:
PHP runs under Windows.
Apache runs under windows
MySQL runs under windows, which is by the way the main explanation for its
popularity. :P

So you can stick to Windows.

Yes because:
M$ is evil.
Linux is a lot more stable and secure.

But if you like your current windowssetup and don't feel like learning *nix
right now, you can stick with it.
If you need one day to switch to *nix, you can easily export the mySQL data
and just copy your PHP scripts.

Maybe you need to change a few paths, but a switch from W$ to *nix should be
almost painless when using MySQL, Apache, and PHP.

Good luck.

Regards,
Erwin Moller

Disclaimer: The ranting on W$ security/stableness is completely 100% just my
opinion.

[Back to original message]