Entropy.ch Discussion Forums

[liyanage]

OK, here's your chance to play with some new stuff

I am currently working on a new version of the PHP module. I am however not just simply updating from version 4.3.1 to 4.3.2:

There will be some radical changes, so I'd appreciate it if a few power users could check it out first and provide some feedback here under this topic. This is why it took a bit longer this time, it's quite a bit of work to change over to the new build style.

Please power users only at this time, I will not be able to provide any help. Don't put this onto production servers yet.

I'd like to get this finished asap, as I leave for a trip to the US soon and I won't be able to work on it during that time.


A few details:

- The new module will no longer consist of one huge, simple, single module file, it will be an installer package on a .dmg file which installs the module along with its supporting libraries into the directory /usr/local/php. This .dmg is quite big, currently about 22MB.

- It installs a pile of stuff into /usr/local/php, but it is still designed so it can be removed from the system by trashing just that one single directory. The package will not mess with any other place on the disk.

- The package includes all required libraries, so there are still *zero* dependencies on other packages, i.e. the user does not have to worry about getting any other stuff installed first. The package is still completely self-contained and expects only the software components which Apple includes in OS X Client.

- I would especially appreciate any comments on the directory and file layout I have chosen, especially if anybody sees a possible conflict with any other package out there.

- It will also include its own .conf file snippet for Apache with the needed configuration directives. This file can simply be "Include"d in Apple's main httpd.conf file, no more fiddling with AddType and LoadModule etc. needed.

- Because of the previous point, users of the current module will need to disable the LoadModule and AddModule directives in their /etc/httpd/httpd.conf file and include this line instead, usually at the very bottom of the file:



Code:

Include /usr/local/php/httpd.conf.php



- The CLI version is included, at /usr/local/php/bin/php

- I'm still thinking about providing automation scripts as part of the installer package which would activate the module automatically. There are good and bad things about this. Let me know what you would prefer. Does it bother you to type a few commands on the terminal, or does it bother you more to have a script running as part of the installer process which could possibly mess with your httpd.conf or your php.ini file?

- I'm looking for suggestions as to how package upgrades should be handled. The interesting question is, will many people install additional PEAR stuff, or make changes to their php.ini files?

- The module currently includes support for all extensions which were enabled in my older builds, plus a few new ones which were requested by users very often, among them:



- gettext (Yay! Finally for all you Horde fans out there )
- XML-DOM (with XSLT and exslt support)
- MCVE



The complete list of extensions is at the end of this message.
Note that I was unable to test most of the extensions, except for GD and PDFLib. I'd appreciate confirmation that the newer extensions like gettext work.

- Also, all libraries have been updated to the very latest releases

- PEAR is now included, also in /usr/local/php/ (I don't know much about it though, so don't ask me anything about it...)

The benefits of the new build style:

- The old way was a huge hack which was a pain to rebuild for new versions and extend with new features. It also prevented me from creating the CLI version.

- It will be much easier in the future to add new extensions to the distribution because it is now built in a clean way

- It will be possible for other people to rebuild the module from scratch. This was impossible until now because there was a lot of undocumented voodoo going on to 1.) get all the libraries to build at all and 2.) to get them to play together nicely...
I will publish all information needed to rebuild the module from source.

OK, enough blah, here's that download link:

http://www2.entropy.ch/download/Entropy-PHP-4.3.2-1.dmg

Important: You will need to click "Go Back" and "Continue" in the installer screen where you can choose the disk. You'll see the error message "You cannot install this software on this disk. (null)". Seems to be a bug in Apple's Installer, I'm working on a work-around... (I'll slap everyone who doesn't read this and comes back here asking for help with this issue


Some information about the directory layout:

in /usr/local/php, there is:

- The module file libphp4.so
- the directory "lib" with all supporting libraries
- the directory "bin" which includes most tools which came with the libraries
- the file "httpd.conf.php" with the required directives to load and activate the module.
- the file /lib/php.ini which is the recommended php.ini file by the PHP developers
- lots of other assorted directories and files belonging to the libraries

Included extensions:

[mattgardlik]

i will download the installer and give it a try, and let you know about my experience. unfortunately, i won't be able to do so until later next week when my final exams are over for the quarter.

matt

[deepthought]

I am downloading the installer now... I will be testing it and playing with it and trying to break it today and over the weekend. I will let you know how it all turns out. I am also doing this on a "fairly" clean system that has not had php on it yet so it should be a good test of making sure everything that is needed is there.

l8r

[liyanage]

Great, thanks...

FYI, my Laptop and the entropy.ch website are already running with the new package, both are working fine.

[sev]

and yes: marc did it again!!

installing php couldn't be easier and works beautifully on my system. no probs at all. just great!

and now it's even better than before, especially with being able to execute php script on the command line.

thanks for a fantastic job!
you are my personal php hero!

[MeCool]

No probs whatsover.. good thing too considering i wouldnt have known what to do *IF* something actually did go wrong

[rob]

hey, it worked.


marc=guru

rob

[Lanette]

Thanks again! This worked great.
In another area on this forum I asked if you could include Java support. It would be great to see the instructions on how to compile this so I could do it myseld and not bother you.


Thanks

Lanette

[liyanage]

Well it's not finished yet, but if you want you can try with the stuff here:

http://www.entropy.ch/horde/chora/cvs.php/php-module?login=2

I can give *zero* support for building your own however...

[miiikal]

What do you mean "power users"...?

This was the smoothest package so far! Works like a charm!

Thanks!

Michael - Stockholm, Sweden

[mhawkshaw]

Installed the new module and have not found any problems... yet! Will try out the XML support, something I was planning on getting round to looking at, and if I find any problems, I'll let you know.

[escale]

I'll give it a try. For sure I let you know if something good comes from this new release.

José Luis Escalante
Guadalajara, México

[Guest]

I was a bit cautious in installing the package since I have an important workshop to my clients on Wednesday in Kalamazoo, MI while connecting to my box in Boston. But with everyone else saying good things about the package, I figured I'd give it a go.

And it works great!

A few comments:
There needs to be some form of automated process with the httpd.conf file. Is the include file really needed if you already have PHP installed? I simply changed the LoadModule entry for php to the new directory. But I had already installed the previous modules so the other entries were existing.

I would like to have the choice of the installer to make the modifications. The following options are my suggestions:

* Do nothing (I wish to modify on my own).
* Modify my httpd.conf file and restart Apache when done.

Other than that, I'm a happy camper! Thanks a lot for this! I'd buy you a drink since I will be back home (Dearborn) around MacHack, but my sister's wedding on the 20th is a higher priority. I would suggest that you go to Miller's Bar on Michigan Ave. near Telegraph. The best burgers in the Detroit Metro area!

[AnamanFan]

Arg... That last post was mine BTW. System loged me out for some reason...

[aphid]

is the gdlib in this module going to be the "built in" gd, which enables some of the new image functions like imagerotate() or an external one? I haven't been able to use these functions with the previous 4.3.x module.