can't get php_oci8.dll to work

ruski

I am trying to connect php to an Oracle database using the php_oci8.dll extenstion. Here's my environment:

php 4.3
oracle 8.1.7
windows 2000
IIS

The database works fine. I can access it via SQLPlus with the test userid scott, pw=tiger without any problem.

Based on the php documentation, I see that I'm supposed to set up the the dll file in an extenstion directory. I've placed php_oci8.dll into c:\PHP\extensions (and have also place this file into c:\winnt\system32 after many failed atempts) and have changed my php.ini file as follows:

extension_dir = "c:\PHP\extensions\"

I have also uncommented the line:

extension=php_oci8.dll

When I access a .php file via the browser, I get an error that says:

unable to located c:\PHP\extensions\php_oci8.dll

I also have read in the php documentation that this dll file needs the 'Oracle8 client library to run'. Does this have anything to do with the error message? What is the client libary? Where do you get a copy of it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

ruski

tsinka

Hi,

if Oracle is installed on the same server as Apache then the client is already there. Just make sure that at least the ORACLE_HOME environment variable is set correctly. If Oracle is installed on another server you have to do a little bit more. Install the Oracle client on the web server. The oracle client comes on the oracle cd's. Start the installer and choose to install just the client. Then make sure that ORACLE_HOME is set to the directory where the bin, network, lib ... directories are in the oracle install directory.

You might also have to set the environment variables:

ORA_NLS33
NLS_LANG
ORACLE_BASE

Thomas

ruski

Thanks for the info.

Are the environment variables you mention, such as ORALCE_HOME, php environment variables or Oracle environment variables? I'm guessing they are Oracle variables, but just want to make sure.

ruski

tsinka

Oracle environment variables. But php needs them (you can set them with php also).

ruski

Thomas,

Based on examples found on the PHP website, I added a putenv() function to the top of my test file. Here's what my test file looks like (my database name is qlr):

<?php
putenv("ORACLE_SID=qlr");
phpinfo();
?>

I am still getting a php message that says:

Unknown(): Unable to load dynamic library 'c:\php\extensions\php_oci8.dll' - The specified procedure could not be found.

The directory and php_oci8.dll file is in the directory that is referenced above.

It seems to be blowing up as it tries to find the .dll file.

tsinka

I think you should set the ORACLE_HOME environment variable also if it isn't already set as a global windows environment variable.

I think the problem is that php_oci8.dll can't find the oracle library or something like that. Download dependency walker from www.dependencywalker.com (free). This tool will show you which dlls are used by php_oci8.dll. Any of them marked red could not be found. You might then try to add the lib path of the Oracle client installation to the PATH environment variable.

Thomas

tsinka

Another point:

Did you upgrade php some time ago ? Maybe some kind of version conflict between new and old versions of dlls. PHP should work without copying php_???.dll to the system32 folder.

tsinka

Ok,

some new information:

I did a clean Oracle client and Apache/PHP install to try to reproduce your problem. I finally managed to do so by copying a php_oci8.dll of an older version of php to the windows and the system32 directories.

After that I restarted Apache without any problems. But whenever I tried to execute any php script I got exactly the same problem like you.

I think that you most probably have an old php_oci8.dll somewhere. I'd suggest to remove all php_???.dll files from system32 and windows/winnt and to recopy php4ts.dll and the contents of the dlls folder to system32. Also remove any php4ts.dll or dll of the dlls directory from the windows/winnt directory and any other directory set in the PATH environment variable (and c:\ also).

ruski

Thomas,

Thanks for your advice.

I downloaded the lastest version of php and did a manual load (Iv'e always used the windows installer in the past, since I've never had a need for advanced configuring).

Success: I'm not getting any errors in regards to not finding the php_oci8.dll file! I'm fairly certain I had a .dll file that did not match my php release, since I downloaded the .dll files well after I did my php install.

Now I can move onto actually accessing Oracle. I'm sure there will be more hurdles here, but I'm moving forward.

Thanks again for your help.

ruski

ps - If you're ever looking for a fun to use php / MySQL reporting tool, try QLR manager. It was recommended to me on this forum.