PHP vs JavaScript

tonyh

I know this is a futile question, but is it possible to use PHP to manipulate HTML events, CSS and XSL?

I know that the general answer is no, that to manipulate the browser Java/JavaScript is necessary, but I hate JS and would like to avoid it if at all possible. If not PHP, is there an alternative to JS?

Ultimately I want to create a vertical navigation system, like this, but using PHP, XML and XSL. How would I go about doing this? Or would it be a waste of time to try?

Am I stuck having to rewrite code a half dozen+ times for cross-platform compatibility?

On a seperate note: when will PHP5 be available, will it be compatible with PHP4, and how long does it usually take for webhosting companies to upgrade?

mmilano

to answer your first question, PHP will not run client side.

think of php like something that generates text. think of javascript and dhtml as the text that php prints.

you can make php control the style sheet of the page by making the values of the style sheet php variables, but for them to change again, the page would have to re-fresh or be re-submitted so it runs through the php engine again.

i believe php5 is in the last stages of beta. your scripts most likely will still run on php5. for more info, go to www.php.net

usually hosting companies take a LONG time to upgrade. i use Vilitas since they are very good about keeping up to date yet in a responsible manner.

hope this helps.

tonyh

Well, you answered pretty much as I thought you would.

I understand that it is not possible to force the browser to refresh, but using header can make a refresh request. Is it possible to make the requests time period short enough that it would allow HTML events to appear has handled by JS? Like a simple image swap for example or an inline style change? Or is it just not efficient enough?

I believe it was here that I read a thread regarding menu styles, but I don't recall seeing any menu's like the one linked above. Could anyone suggest how to build it with PHP or should I just hang my gloves now?

What is a LONG time? Six months? A year? I couldn't find any documentation on PHP5 at php.net, so other than more OOP and XML support, how can I find out the major differences between PHP4 and 5?

mmilano

PHP 5.0 Beta 4 released!
[12-Feb-2004] PHP 5.0 Beta 4 has been released. This fourth beta of PHP 5 is also scheduled to be the last one .

that is what i was referring to.

no, you can't emulate a JS image swap. javascript runs on the client and in the browser. theoretically the php engine would have to be embedded in the browser ( how cool would that be! )

there is NO WAY you can build menues like that without client side scripting. PHP is not client side scripting... but again how cool would that be!

hate to say but hang up the gloves on this one .. 🙁

tonyh

no, you can't emulate a JS image swap. javascript runs on the client and in the browser. theoretically the php engine would have to be embedded in the browser ( how cool would that be! )

PHP Beta5 is still a beta, even though it's intended to be the final release changes may still occur. So the question is: how much time elapsed between Beta3 and 4? Cause then we could estimate the date of the official release, but that still doesn't answer the question about webhosting....

I'm assuming that the reason a PHP equivalent of JS hasn't been created is because of the embedded browser problem? Is this why PHP-GTK is designed as non-browser compliant client side scripting? PHP developers don't want to spend their time developing a standardized client-side scripting language if Microsoft, Netscape and others aren't willing to support it?

Because I'm sure that I'm not the first to suggest it. What would be needed for such a project to be undertaken?

Weedpacket

Originally posted by mmilano
theoretically the php engine would have to be embedded in the browser ( how cool would that be! )

Cool enough that someone thought they'd try it: http://www.thomas-schilz.de/MozPHP/ 😃

Shrike

What exactly are the benefits of that? 🙂

saidbakr

To remove any confusing and troublshooting. You should know the following two terms:
1) Client Side
2) Server Side
The majority of web application and all websites you have seen work to applay the previouse to terms.
For Example:
Right Now! Your web broswer in which you read this web page on phpbuilder.com is regarded as a Client. While The phpbuilder.com is regarded as the Server.
All of this mean that there are some tasks is done on the Server Side and the rest is done on the Client Side.
PHP Works only on The Server Side. Its work produce HTML output which is sent to your requesting Web Browser. The Web Browser (Client) process the HTML to display this page as you are seeing it now.
JavaScript works on The Client Side, so when your browser (let we say) see in JavaScript Code nested in the HTML code it process It will run using the scripter of JavaScript Built in inside it.
So you should to know that, While you are seeing this page now, The PHP which produced it (let we say) is sleeping on the server till another new request to run it again.