http://www.programmerkingdom.com/categories/182/tips-and-tricks.html Programmer Kingdom http://www.programmerkingdom.com/images/logo.jpg http://www.programmerkingdom.com/ http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/675/build-a-php-link-scraper-with-curl.html You heard me! We're going to build a robot that scrapes links from web pages and dumps them in a database. Then it reads those links from the database and follows them, scraping up the links on those pages, and so on ad infinitum (or until your server times out or your database fills up, whichever comes first).  Build a PHP Link Scraper with cURL We're going to do WHAT...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/676/php-enabled-stylesheets.html CSS Stylesheets are a major improvement in the World Wide Web, allowing HTML to come back to its roots: a language to structure and publish content on the web, not to apply a visual formatting to that content. PHP Enabled Stylesheets Introduction CSS Stylesheets are a major improvement in the World Wide Web, allowing HTML to come back to its roots: a language to structure an...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/677/a-first-look-at-html-5.html Officially, HTML 4.1 was supposed to be the last word on HTML. According to the W3C, HTML 4.1 was complete and concise, and required no further work. But that was not good enough for the HTML user community, who formed the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG). A First Look at HTML 5 Officially, HTML 4.1 was supposed to be the last word on HTML. According to t...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/681/expressionengine-enhances-php-content-management-with-framework-flexibility.html Over the years , I've used quite a few of these content management systems, in addition to building a variety of custom solutions using tools such as the Zend Framework. ExpressionEngine Enhances PHP Content Management with Framework Flexibility Over the years , I've used quite a few of these content management systems, in addition to building a variety of custom solutions using to...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/683/a-template-framework-for-static-sites.html Templates can bring order and structure to a web site. In this article I describe how templates can be used to control the page layout for a site that is currently composed of many pages of static HTML, using a popular template class and a new feature of PHP4. A Template Framework for Static Sites Templates can bring order and structure to a web site. In this article I describe...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/685/foundations-of-pear:-authentication.html Many Internet sites have at least some form of authentication, requiring a username and password that allows a user to be able to view content on the site or to post comments and edit content. Foundations of Pear: Authentication Many Internet sites have at least some form of authentication, requiring a username and password that allows a user to be able to view content on the site...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/686/arrays-101.html If you've ever created large scripts that require many variables (sometimes nearly 100), you know what it's like trying to keep track of what each variable contains and what it's used for. Trust me, I've been there. Arrays 101 If you've ever created large scripts that require many variables (sometimes nearly 100), you know what it's like trying to keep track of what eac...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/688/spell-checking-and-url-tricks.html I needed a simple little example that I could use to show how Apache's ForceType directive can be put to good use with PHP. I chose a URL-based spell checker since one of the newer features of PHP is built-in spell checking and I thought this would interest people as well. Spell Checking and URL Tricks I needed a simple little example that I could use to show how Apache's ...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/690/on-user-defined-timezones-in-php.html PHP provides some nice date manipulation functions that work very well in combination with each other. However, they only handle dealing with the server's timezone.  On User-Defined Timezones in PHP ABSTRACT   PHP provides some nice date manipulation functions that work very well in combination with each other. However, they only handle dealing with the se...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/692/a-twist-in-namespaces.html With PHP5.3--which is in itself a precursor and somewhat of a teaser for PHP 6--comes something rather new to PHP: Namespaces. As object-oriented developers well know, the point of object-oriented development is to remove ambiguity from development and data access items. A New Revolution in PHP With PHP5.3--which is in itself a precursor and somewhat of a teaser for PHP 6--com...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/693/building-an-error-handling-mechanism.html I have found that most developers are really unaware of the power of error handling in PHP. Some developers I have talked with recently, simply set error_reporting to 0 and carry on regardless.  Building an Error-Handling Mechanism  Introduction   I have found that most developers are really unaware of the power of error handling in PHP. Some dev...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/694/building-a-php-calender.html Today we are going to build a functional calender using PHP. About a year ago I was given the task of implementing an events calender on a website. The customer was not a fan of javascript or ajax, and insisted on a PHP-only implementation. Building a PHP Calender Introduction   Today we are going to build a functional calender using PHP. About a year ag...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/695/advanced-string-processing---how-regular-are-your-expressions.html Hello hello hello, and welcome back. We've looked at strings, and numbers and all sorts of types of data, but we've not yet seen how to do something really important, and that's to look for and pull interesting parts out of the data we have, to do that where going to use some magic from the Perl world called "Regular Expressions"  Advanced String Processing - How Reg...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/696/date-manipulation-in-php.html I was sitting writing a kind of helpdesk call management program in PHP and found that I needed to work out how much time had elapsed since somebody had last bothered to contact the client about their problem.  Date manipulation in PHP I was sitting writing a kind of helpdesk call management program in PHP and found that I needed to work out how much time had elaps...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/697/how-to-upload-images-using-php.html One of the most frequently asked questions about PHP is "how can I use PHP to upload an image". In this article we'll discuss the details of how you can do just that!  How to Upload Images Using PHP One of the most frequently asked questions about PHP is "how can I use PHP to upload an image". In this article we'll discuss the details of how you can do...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/698/com-functions-in-php4-(windows).html This short article will explain how to use COM in real PHP4 programming with three examples using MS office 2000 Word and Excel programs and the Adobe Distiller program. COM Functions in PHP4 (Windows)   Introduction   The built-in COM functionality of PHP4 is quite attractive for some of us programming in the win32 environment. So far, there is no...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/699/php-4.0-overview.html A lot of you were probably wondering about the recent announcements and discussions about the future of the PHP scripting language. You’ve probably heard the word ‘Zend’ at some point, a few shreds of information about new features and functionalities, and that’s about it.  PHP 4.0 Overview   A lot of you were probably wondering about the re...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/701/a-quick-php-xmlwriter-class-tutorial:-xml-&-rss.html Since there is absolutely no documentation on how to use PHP5's XMLWriter class, here is a very simple example of how to use the class to create an RSS feed.  A Quick PHP XMLWriter Class Tutorial: XML & RSS Since there is absolutely no documentation on how to use PHP5's XMLWriter class, here is a very simple example of how to use the class to create an RSS feed. ...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/702/using-xml:-a-php-developer's-primer.html This articles will focus on XML, its applications in modern day web development and how PHP fits into this niche. In this article, we will focus specifically on the tools provided to us by PHP which enable us to manipulate XML data sources. Using XML: A PHP Developer's Primer This articles will focus on XML, its applications in modern day web development and how PHP fits into t...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/703/converting-xml-into-a-php-data-structure.html In the last few years, XML has received great media attention, and most languages support the parsing and extraction of data from XML documents.  Converting XML Into A PHP Data Structure Does It Taste As Good As It XMLs? In the last few years, XML has received great media attention, and most languages support the parsing and extraction of data from XML documents. Bes...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/704/php-and-xml:-using-expat-functions.html The Extensible Markup Language is definitely something that most developers will want to add to their toolbox. XML is a W3C standard that is open, language neutral, API-neutral, streamable, textual, human-readable and is a way of bringing structured data to the web. PHP and XML: using expat functions The Extensible Markup Language is definitely something that most develop...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/705/using-php-and-xml-with-apache-cocoon.html Cocoon is a suite of Java Servlets that sit on your server waiting for .xml pages and then - if applicable - it applies the relevant XSL transformations.  Using PHP and XML with Apache Cocoon Cocoon is a suite of Java Servlets that sit on your server waiting for .xml pages and then - if applicable - it applies the relevant XSL transformations. With one XML page and ...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/706/php-development:-getting-started.html It's been a few years since I echo'd my first HELLO WORLD script. PHP has developed and evolved and yes, it has changed since it was first devised as little Perl extensions on Rasmus Lerdorf's localhost. PHP Development: Getting Started PHP or DIE()   It's been a few years since I echo'd my first HELLO WORLD script. PHP has developed and evolved and yes, it has ...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/708/caching-web-page-output-for-server-optimization.html Often PHP is used to generate pages that do not change all that often. It isn’t that PHP is used to make every page different for every user but that the page is simply built dynamically.  Caching Web Page Output for Server Optimization Often PHP is used to generate pages that do not change all that often. It isn’t that PHP is used to make every page differen...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/709/making-php-applications-cache-friendly.html With the rather small number of new postings, it is obvious that Phorum and its underlying DBMS (in our case, PostgreSQL) have to repeatedly generate lots of identical responses to identical queries. Making PHP Applications Cache-Friendly With the rather small number of new postings, it is obvious that Phorum and its underlying DBMS (in our case, PostgreSQL) have to repeated...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00 http://www.programmerkingdom.com/view/710/building-dynamic-pages-with-search-engines-in-mind.html When I first wrote this column back in January 1999, I had no clue that it was going to be so wildly popular, and I had even less of a clue that PHPBuilder was going to take off and become as widely-used as it is today. Building Dynamic Pages With Search Engines in Mind When I first wrote this column back in January 1999, I had no clue that it was going to be so wildly popula...........]]> 2010-04-07T00:00:00-07:00