ANNOUNCE: New Version of PHP/FI
Rasmus Lerdorf
http://www.vex.net/php
PHP/FI is a server-side scripting environment which lets you write
simple cgi programs right in your .html files. The main features are:
Access Logging
--------------
With the access logging capabilities of PHP/FI, users can maintain
their own hit counting and logging. It does not use the system's
central access log files in any way, and it provides real-time
access monitoring. The Log Viewer Script provides a quick
summary of the accesses to a set of pages owned by an individual
user. In addition to that, the package can be configured to generate
a footer on every page which shows access information.
Access Control
--------------
A built-in web-based configuration screen handles access control
configuration. It is possible to create rules for all or some web
pages owned by a certain person which place various restrictions
on who can view these pages and how they will be viewed. Pages
can be password protected, completely restricted, logging disabled
and more based on the client's domain, browser, e-mail address
or even the referring document.
mSQL Support
------------
mSQL is a simple and lightweight SQL Engine for Unix systems.
PHP/FI provides support for embedded SQL right from a .html file.
There is no simpler way of building a database-enabled web page
system than with the combination of mSQL and PHP/FI.
DBM Support
-----------
DBM files are heavily used in Unix environments and provides a
simple mechanism for storing hash key - content pair
combinations that can then quickly be looked up. PHP/FI supports
the standard set of dbm access functions.
RFC-1867 File Upload Support
----------------------------
File Upload is a new feature in Netscape 2.0. It lets users upload
files to a web server. PHP/FI provides the actual Mime decoding
to make this work and also provides the additional framework to
do something useful with the uploaded file once it has been
received.
Variables, Arrays, Associative Arrays
-------------------------------------
PHP/FI supports typed variables, arrays and even Perl-like
associative arrays. These can all be passed from one web page to
another using either GET or POST method forms.
Conditionals, While Loops
-------------------------
PHP/FI supports a full-featured C-like scripting language. You
can have if/then/elseif/else/endif conditions as well as while loops
and switch/case statements to guide the logical flow of how the
html page should be displayed.
Extended Regular Expressions
----------------------------
Regular expressions are heavily used for pattern matching, pattern
substitutions and general string manipulation. PHP/FI supports all
common regular expression operations.
Raw HTTP Header Control
-----------------------
The ability to have web pages send customized raw HTTP headers
based on some condition is essential for high-level web site
design. A frequent use is to send a Location: URL header to
redirect the calling client to some other URL. It can also be used to
turn off cacheing or manipulate the last update header of pages.
On-the-fly GIF image creation
-----------------------------
PHP/FI has support for Thomas Boutell's GD image library which
makes it possible to generate GIF images on the fly.
It's Free!
----------
One final essential feature. The package is completely free. It is
licensed under the GPL which allows you to use the software for
any purpose, commercial or otherwise. The only thing it doesn't let
you do is sell this package to someone else. Read the full GNU
Public License document for complete details.
--
Rasmus Lerdorf
ras...@madhaus.utcs.utoronto.ca