Green as grass could use some help

[bbsmfg3]

I've been programming relational databases for over 30 years, and now have a need to learn PHP/Mysql. I have an application that I hired done, but the programmer is very hard to get ahold of and I need to make some changes. I have all of the code. Here's a sample of the three lines of code I could use some help with.

echo "<td align=left><span class=maintext>\$$rates</td>\n";
echo "</tr>\n";

what does the $$ mean, I know $ is for a variable, but what does this mean. I assumed it was just another variable defined somewhere else. I've done a complete search of the code and $$rate is not listed anywhere else.

echo "<span class=maintext>Enter Your First Name:</span><input type=text name=ccfname><br>\n";

what does the "text name=ccfname" mean, ccfname is not listed anywhere else but here.

$sql->connect();

 or

$sql->query

What does the -> mean in the two statements above.

I'll get there but even after search all the help sites, it still can not find this code.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[YAOMK]

Hi, your first two questions deal with HTML:

a - Here you are escaping the dollar sign with the back slash like \$
b- This statement sets the attributes of a html tag for a text input field

Now your last question refers to the -> php operator that allows you to access an objects properties and functions:

objectInstance = new ObjectClass;

objectInstance->property = "setProperty";

objectInstance->callFunction();

[bbsmfg3]

Thank you very much, really appreciated.