a few completely noobish questions

newb_in_need

before i get started, i would just like to thank anyone who takes the time to answer the following questions, i really appreciate your time.

well here goes...i have php, mysql, apache and all that good stuff installed and configured properly (i think)...now i want things set up on my local machine so i can test dynamic sites before i upload them to my host. anyway here are my questions.

where do i put my scripts...lol dumbest question ever i know...do they go in my site root, or my like htdocs or w/e it is...because i made my test.php file and that goes in the htdocs folder...so yeah where do my scripts go...
i bought a big book that deals w/ php5, i'm running php4 becaues thats what my host has. now this book came w/ a cd with examples pre coded and implemented into html pages... any the output is usually just the original php code...not what it says should be returned...could this be because i'm using a different version and maybe the code is different?
this is discouraging for me beacuse like i just want to get everything working smoothly so i can actually learn php, i know i can learn the coding part of it because i can write html, css, python, and some c++ quite well. anyway this question is about really simple examples i can do to start understanding and stop feeling incompetent...like a really simple thing, like a site with a super simple form...how would i do that? where would the script go, all of that...if anyone knows of a site with total noobtactular tutorials in stupifying detail i would really appreciate that...

i'm sure i have more questions that just escape me right now, once again, thanks for your patience, and thanks in advance for any help you can offer

bradgrafelman

Depends on your webserver. 'htdocs' sounds like Apache, so yes, all of your scripts go in there. That would be your "website's" root folder.
Well, if it's made for PHP5 it might try to use functions/classes that aren't supported/implemented in PHP4, so you'll probably get some errors, but the actual PHP code? You should never see the PHP code. If you do... the PHP parser would have caught it and at the very least thrown out fatal errors and stopped the script. What is the extension of the file you tried to run that spit out PHP code? What 'AddType' and 'AddHandler' line(s) did you add to the Apache .conf file?
I know it can be discouraging. Don't forget, you have us to turn to for support, but PHP.net's wonderful manual, too. Have a look at the Installation on Windows systems page and see if you can't figure it out from there, too.

newb_in_need

alright thanks a lot for your help, yeah i'm running apache, where do you think i could find some high quality beginners tutorials?

bradgrafelman

What kind of tuts? Installation, or actual PHP coding?

At any rate, Google and The Manual are two great resources to use.

Ever want to know what a function does? Just go to http://www.php.net/FunctionNameHere and you'll find a descriptive manual page, complete with user notes.

newb_in_need

i'm looking for tuts that assume you know nothing, zero, zilch, nada. The type of tut the goes into detail about lots of things, like basic coding tuts that explain how to use php to make dynamic web pages, i need them to be in php 4, thanks a lot

bradgrafelman

Sorry that I can't give any specifics.. I've never used any tuts. Bought a book, but it's been gathering dust since.

I don't know what to say, other than give yourself a mini-project. Keep it simple. Use the manual/pre-made scripts to figure out how to go about solving that task. Start increasing the complexity/length/time-consumption of your projects.

newb_in_need

ok well i figured all that stuff out, now i'm actually starting to try to use php in a site with a form. once the form is filled out you are directed to a sendmail.php page this page is written in html and then in one table i put the php code that says basically "thank you for this comment we'll reply to you at" and then it substitutes the variables in there...my problem is when i do this it works fine, but all the html after the ?> tag ends is completely ignored by my browser...what do i do?

thorpe

post your code, and well take a look.

michaeljoe

post your code?

michaeljoe

oops, 'thorpe' beat me to it. what he said 🙂

newb_in_need

<?php
$yourmail = "binaryforce@gmail.com"; // put your e-mail here

$t1 = $POST['name'];
$t2 = $POST['mail'];
$t3 = $_POST['comment'];

$data = "This is an automated mail. Someone submited the form and this is what he had to say:\nHis Name: $t1\nHis mail: $t2\nComment: $t3\n";

mail ($yourmail, "The Form", $data); // The Form mean subject of mail you will receive

die ("Thank you $t1 for the following comments: <br /><br /><tt> $t3</tt> <br /><br /> We will reply to you at: $t2\n");

</td>
<td width="32"> </td>
<td width="154"> </td>
<td width="17"> </td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img src="images/divide.gif" width="750" height="9"></td>
</tr>
</table>

bradgrafelman

Did you by chance look at the last (non-empty) line of your code? No? Here, I'll show you what I'm talking about:

die ("Thank you $t1 for the following comments: <br /><br /><tt> $t3</tt> <br /><br /> We will reply to you at: $t2\n");

Did you know, the [man]die/man command is very accurately named. :p

Rodney_H_

newb_in_need wrote:
i'm looking for tuts that assume you know nothing, zero, zilch, nada. The type of tut the goes into detail about lots of things, like basic coding tuts that explain how to use php to make dynamic web pages, i need them to be in php 4, thanks a lot

If you are still looking for tutorials, from one newbie to another, this helped me: http://www.zend.com/php/beginners/index.php

newb_in_need

so i would be better off using print, or return?

edit: print worked

bradgrafelman

Returning a value would not output anything, so yes, you needed to print/echo() the string as you discovered.

So, does that solve your problem(s)? If so, don't forget to mark this thread resolved!