PHP Hacks

by Herrington, Jack D.

• ISBN13: 9780596101398
• ISBN10: 0596101392
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-01
• Publisher: Oreilly & Associates Inc

Summary

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.

Author Biography

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.

Table of Contents

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