two questions, please HELP!

[alrave]

hi, ive got two questions... im starting to use php today, and im kinda lost here...

the first question i think should be a dumb one, but here it goes..

what does the "->" means? ive seen it a¡in many tutorials and i dont know what its for... (ej: $rs->Close(); )

i dont know if the other question should be in this thread, but its also a newbie question... how do i connect to a sql server database, without having to configure the DSN from the control pael.....

thanks

[drew010]

the -> is sometimes called the dereference and select operator if you are from c++, not sure what they call it in php, but in the case of your example what it does is tell php you want to call the Close() function that belongs to the object $rs.
When you get into php classes and objects it will make some more sense.
Also you may see it being used like $this->xxx. In that context you are usually inside a class and it is referring to the member of the class (either a function or class variable.

for example

class x {
  var $something;

  function x() {
    $this->something = 99;  //access the class var $something
    $something = 88;  //this doesnt access the variable above
  }
}

and for windows, php comes built with mysql and also has mssql dlls with it prebuilt, so there is no need to set a dsn in the control panel. it will be automatic by calling functions like [man]mysql_connect[/man] or [man]mssql_connect[/man]

[alrave]

thanks for the help.

ive tried using mssql_connect but it isnt working, heres the code:

<?php
$sqlserver = 'localhost';
$sqluser = 'sa';
$sqlpass = '';
$connex = mssql_connect(&sqlserver, &sqluser, &sqlpass);
if ($connex)
{
echo 'im in';
}
?>

it gives me the following error
Parse error: parse error, expecting T_VARIABLE' or'$'' in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\test\test1.php on line 15

line 15 would be :
$connex = mssql_connect(&sqlserver, &sqluser, &sqlpass);

any help would be appreciated

[drew010]

$connex = mssql_connect(&sqlserver, &sqluser, &sqlpass);

change the &'s to $'s
ALL php variables (besides constants [which arent truly variables]) begin with $

$connex = mssql_connect($sqlserver, $sqluser, $sqlpass);

that should do the trick

[alrave]

thanks, i had missed the & instead of the $.....
but now i get another error....

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: mssql_connect()

im having a rough start with php.....

[drew010]

in your php.ini file make sure
;extension=php_mssql.dll
is uncommented ( remove the ; )
extension=php_mssql.dll

after that restart the server. if you dont get any startup errors about locating the dll then it should now work.
otherwise if you do, try putting that dll in C:\php4 if you are using php4 or C:\php5 for version 5

[alrave]

thanks drew, its working!!!!