BorlandTalk.com Borland discussion newsgroups   Archives   FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Goto page 1, 2  Next          BorlandTalk.com Forum Index -> Delphi Internet Winsock View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message Peter Richards Guest Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2004 2:13 am    Post subject: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Hi, I need a 'local' web server, that will be able to parse/interpret PHP web pages, and make them viewable/updatable from Delphi. I notice there is a product called 'PHP4Delphi" by Serge Perevoznyk, at http://users.chello.be/ws36637/php4delphi.html "PHP4Delphi is a Delphi interface to PHP for Delphi 5, 6 and 7. PHP4Delphi allows to execute the PHP scripts within the Delphi program directly without a WebServer. PHP4Delphi also contains PHP API and ZEND API and PHP extension visual development framework." So it seems this product will 'act' like a 'web server' (Apache for instance), but only needs Delphi and the PHP4Delphi components, libraries,etc, which include the Zend scripting engine (which is needed to run PHP). This is probably about 90% of what I need for a special project. At present, a client uses another product, which is (sort of) like a "website builder". You specify your products, categories, company parameters, specify images, etc,etc in an (Access) db, then select a template, press a few buttons, and your 'website' is built locally, on your Win box. Then after reviewing/changing, you can upload the changed 'parts' to your website. The client likes it because he can change stuff locally (like product decsriptions, he can insert html tags,etc), review it, change it some more, and _then_ when he is happy, upload it. Also, if a person rings up about a product, he just has to go to his computer, and not the internet to check. That said, there are many things he doesn't like, like the high hosting fees, and the product cannot be run on a *nix box, and to run it on a Win server, you need to also run their 'speciallly built' web server. The same web server runs locally and remotely, so there are not many web hosting companies that would agree to run such a 'server'. In summary, the product is way too much of a proprietary nature, and has users locked into a corner. Considering what I have said about the current product (i.e. what the person does like), and the fact that PHP4Delphi appears like a definite step in the right direction, what would be required to create/build a similar tool/product for this person to use locally ?? There would be PHP scripts to 'interpret', and there also may be a MySQL db. I would want the Delphi application to be able to: * Act like a web server, parsing the PHP and returning the html output * Also be able to 'run' the PHP , which updates the db * Have addition functions to change things on the website and upload (SFTP) the changed 'parts' It is not necessary to have this bundled into one product, possibly easier to have: * The 'server' as the stock/std 'PHP4Delphi' * Build a small Delphi app to do any other features and handle the FTP side,etc Your advise would be appreciated, please. :) Peter Peter Richards [email]peter_j_richards (AT) nospamplease (DOT) com[/email] (but use hotmail to email) Back to top Remy Lebeau (TeamB) Guest Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2004 3:44 am    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? "Peter Richards" <peter_j_richards (AT) nospamplease (DOT) com> wrote Quote: I need a 'local' web server, that will be able to parse/interpret PHP web pages, and make them viewable/updatable from Delphi. PHP itself is just an executable. Whatever server you decide to make, all you have to do when you receive an HTTP request for executing a PHP script is to spawn an instance of php.exe, passing it the appropriate script filename as a command-line parameter. Also, you would have to provide your own STDIN and STDOUT handles for the spawned process so that you can pipe the client's request data to php.exe and pipe its response data back to the client. You can use CreateProcess(), CreatePipe(), ReadFile(), and WriteFile() for that task. Quote: So it seems this product will 'act' like a 'web server' That is not what that page was saying at all. PHP itself is just an executable application. What that page is saying is that your Delphi application can executable PHP directly with the appropriate parameters and such. That has nothing to do with whether it will act as a web server or not, because it doesn't do that. If you need to provide web access to your program, you still have to provide one yourself. Quote: Considering what I have said about the current product (i.e. what the person does like), and the fact that PHP4Delphi appears like a definite step in the right direction, what would be required to create/build a similar tool/product for this person to use locally ?? If his local program requires a local web server to view local web content, then you still need to provide an actual web server for his program to connect to and send requests to. Whether you use PHP4Delphi to execute PHP scripts or not in a server you create yourself, that does not really matter as that is simply an internal implementation detail on the server's part. Quote: * The 'server' as the stock/std 'PHP4Delphi' Rather than write your own server for that, there are already plenty of third-party servers, both freeware and shareware, that do that. I myself use Omni HTTPd, http://www.omnicron.ca. It is a freeware light-weight server that supports both Perl and PHP. Gambit Back to top Ben Hochstrasser [FF] Guest Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2004 11:30 am    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Remy Lebeau (TeamB) wrote: Quote: Rather than write your own server for that, there are already plenty of third-party servers, both freeware and shareware, that do that. I myself use Omni HTTPd, http://www.omnicron.ca. It is a freeware light-weight server that supports both Perl and PHP. The page says that the free version runs on win95 only. Better get BRS WebWeaver ([url]http://www.brswebweaver.com/)[/url]. It's a lightweight HTTP and FTP server which supports cgi, php, perl and isapi. -- Ben Back to top Dennis Landi Guest Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2004 3:38 pm    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? -- Find a BUG? Think its Borland's? Ask your peers in the news groups? Still think its Borlands? http://qc.borland.com "Peter Richards" <peter_j_richards (AT) nospamplease (DOT) com> wrote Quote: Hi, I need a 'local' web server, that will be able to parse/interpret PHP web pages, and make them viewable/updatable from Delphi. I notice there is a product called 'PHP4Delphi" by Serge Perevoznyk, at http://users.chello.be/ws36637/php4delphi.html "PHP4Delphi is a Delphi interface to PHP for Delphi 5, 6 and 7. PHP4Delphi allows to execute the PHP scripts within the Delphi program directly without a WebServer. PHP4Delphi also contains PHP API and ZEND API and PHP extension visual development framework." So it seems this product will 'act' like a 'web server' (Apache for instance), No you still need an http server. You can either find one that you can compile in Delphi, or you can go the delphi/ISAPI route. Either way, you should be able to embed the PHP4Delphi component directly into your code. That's the point. Back to top Remy Lebeau (TeamB) Guest Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2004 11:04 pm    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? "Ben Hochstrasser [FF]" <bhoc@tiscali123^H^H^H.ch> wrote Quote: The page says that the free version runs on win95 only. You are looking at the old old version. I use the Pro version myself. It is fully functional other than it expires once a year, but Omni has always posted a new release prior to the expiration, so it is just a matter of a single download once a year to reset the expiration, and it is free otherwise. Of course, you can pay extra to remove the expiration. Gambit Back to top Peter Richards Guest Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 3:47 am    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Hi, On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 19:44:14 -0800, "Remy Lebeau (TeamB)" <gambit47.no.spam (AT) no (DOT) spam.yahoo.com> wrote: Quote: "Peter Richards" <peter_j_richards (AT) nospamplease (DOT) com> wrote in message news:1sj310lmb85ufhiomio7d53gepr748j803 (AT) 4ax (DOT) com... I need a 'local' web server, that will be able to parse/interpret PHP web pages, and make them viewable/updatable from Delphi. PHP itself is just an executable. Whatever server you decide to make, all you have to do when you receive an HTTP request for executing a PHP script is to spawn an instance of php.exe, passing it the appropriate script filename as a command-line parameter. Yes, I understand that a PHP script cannot be 'inperpreted' by a HTTP request without php.exe, however, as the author has converted the scipting engine (Zend) to a .PAS, then it would also seem possible to include this (.pas) scripting engine in a Delphi executable, as long as you have php4ts.dll included ? Quote: Also, you would have to provide your own STDIN and STDOUT handles for the spawned process so that you can pipe the client's request data to php.exe and pipe its response data back to the client. You can use CreateProcess(), CreatePipe(), ReadFile(), and WriteFile() for that task. Okay, thanks, there may also already be some method of handing this withiin the PHP4Delphi package. Quote: So it seems this product will 'act' like a 'web server' That is not what that page was saying at all. PHP itself is just an executable application. What that page is saying is that your Delphi application can executable PHP directly with the appropriate parameters and such. That has nothing to do with whether it will act as a web server or not, because it doesn't do that. If you need to provide web access to your program, you still have to provide one yourself. I may not need a web server, as such, after looking at PHP4Delphi. What I do need to do, is to develop a Delphi application, that can display PHP pages, that is, interpret them (Zend engine), and pass it back to a browser (maybe some Indy components ?), so that a user can see and use (add/update to a MySQl db , using the PHP application) the dynamic html pages. This will only be needed locally, on a PC. Quote: Considering what I have said about the current product (i.e. what the person does like), and the fact that PHP4Delphi appears like a definite step in the right direction, what would be required to create/build a similar tool/product for this person to use locally ?? If his local program requires a local web server to view local web content, then you still need to provide an actual web server for his program to connect to and send requests to. The only reason his local program needs a local web server, is because there are embedded 'tags' within the .html pages, that are, like many scripting languages (VBS,PHP,etc) interpreted by the local web server, for one purpose only, to be able to view the 'website'. These embedded tags are only used by the product, so all the users are 'locked into' the product. Quote: Whether you use PHP4Delphi to execute PHP scripts or not in a server you create yourself, that does not really matter as that is simply an internal implementation detail on the server's part. Yes, I may not need a 'server' as such, I remember when I first got Delphi 6, and there were some examples of viewing html in a 'delphi/browser', using Indy components possibly. That was though, static html, not dynamic, like that produced by PHP or ASP,etc. Quote: * The 'server' as the stock/std 'PHP4Delphi' Rather than write your own server for that, there are already plenty of third-party servers, both freeware and shareware, that do that. I myself use Omni HTTPd, http://www.omnicron.ca. It is a freeware light-weight server that supports both Perl and PHP. Ok, thanks for your help, Peter Peter Richards [email]peter_j_richards (AT) nospamplease (DOT) com[/email] (but use hotmail to email) Back to top Peter Richards Guest Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 3:48 am    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Hi, On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 12:30:07 +0100, "Ben Hochstrasser [FF]" <bhoc@tiscali123^H^H^H.ch> wrote: Quote: The page says that the free version runs on win95 only. Well, I only have Win95, so maybe I'm in luck. :) Quote: Better get BRS WebWeaver ([url]http://www.brswebweaver.com/)[/url]. It's a lightweight HTTP and FTP server which supports cgi, php, perl and isapi. Thanks, I'll check that out. Peter Peter Richards [email]peter_j_richards (AT) nospamplease (DOT) com[/email] (but use hotmail to email) Back to top Peter Richards Guest Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 3:53 am    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Hi Dennis, On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 10:38:32 -0500, "Dennis Landi" <none[at]none.com> wrote: Quote: So it seems this product will 'act' like a 'web server' (Apache for instance), No you still need an http server. You can either find one that you can compile in Delphi, or you can go the delphi/ISAPI route. Either way, you should be able to embed the PHP4Delphi component directly into your code. That's the point. Not too sure if I _really_ need a (local) web server, simply to view/review the PHP pages, assuming I can include the Zend scripting engine from PHP4Delphi, within the Delphi application. Peter Peter Richards [email]peter_j_richards (AT) nospamplease (DOT) com[/email] (but use hotmail to email) Back to top Ben Hochstrasser [FF] Guest Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 7:47 am    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Peter Richards wrote: Quote: Not too sure if I _really_ need a (local) web server, simply to view/review the PHP pages, assuming I can include the Zend scripting engine from PHP4Delphi, within the Delphi application. Unless the scripts need the environment variables usually supplied by the web server. Personally I don't see a fundamental gain in using PHP4Delphi plus a .dll versus using PHP.exe. PHP does no miracles, it's "simply" a Hypertext preprocessor (a very good one, I might add). But it doesn't do any rendering etc for you - you'd still need a browser component. Personally I'd go and install the very same PHP that the web server too would need, run it in .cgi mode and catch its output from within delphi. With specially crafted APIs and .dlls you always are in danger of forking code (where your special version is always one or two releases behind) -- Ben Back to top Serhiy Perevoznyk Guest Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 8:26 pm    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Quote: PHP itself is just an executable. You are completely wrong. PHP itself is an engine (php4ts.dll in case of Windows) and set of special SAPI (server API) modules for different HTTP servers. PHP executable is just one particular case for CGI scripting. For example, IIS uses php4isapi.dll as an interface to PHP engine, Apache uses php4apache.dll, etc Quote: Also, you would have to provide your own STDIN and STDOUT handles for the spawned process If you want to use PHP within your application you can use Indy idHTTPServer and idISAPIRunner + php4Isapi, idCGIRunner + php.exe or just idPHPRunner component. You will have exactly the same results as using IIS or Apache All these components available from the same page http://users.chello.be/ws36637/ Quote: That is not what that page was saying at all. PHP itself is just an executable application. What that page is saying is that your Delphi application can executable PHP directly with the appropriate parameters and such. The page is saying that you can use PHP as a scripting language in your application. For example, you can execute script like : Button1.Caption = 'I am button'; It means that psvPHP component uses PHP engine directly using PHP API and not PHP.EXE It means also than psvPHP is not a component for server -side development. It is a scripting for applications (like VBA for Office). It is a PHP extension that enables you to write client-side _GUI_ applications. One of the goals behind it was to prove that PHP is a capable general-purpose scripting language that is suited for more than just Web applications. It is intended for creating standalone GUI applications. Quote: That has nothing to do with whether it will act as a web server or not, because it doesn't do that. Indeed, php4Delphi is not a web-server at all. I already explained what is real purpose of the psvPHP component. php4Delphi aslo contains a visual framework for development of PHP extensions (special modules for PHP) using Delphi. But in this case Delphi is used for PHP development, but not PHP for Delphi development. More information about php4Delphi you can find in "International PHP magazine" http://www.php-mag.net/itr/ausgaben/psecom,id,177,nodeid,112.html and about using psvPHP component in very nice PowerPoint presentation made by Colin Nelson http://www.waycyber.com/att1p.zip Serhiy Perevoznyk http://users.chello.be/ws36637/ Back to top Serhiy Perevoznyk Guest Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 8:40 pm    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Quote: Yes, I understand that a PHP script cannot be 'inperpreted' by a HTTP request without php.exe, Yes, php script can be interpreted by HTTP server perfectly _without_ php.exe Quote: scipting engine (Zend) to a .PAS, then it would also seem possible to include this (.pas) scripting engine in a Delphi executable, as long as you have php4ts.dll included ? You are right. Try idPHPRunner component, for example Quote: Okay, thanks, there may also already be some method of handing this withiin the PHP4Delphi package. executution of php script using psvPHP looks like: var st : string; .... st := psvPHP.RunCode('phpinfo();'); Quote: I may not need a web server, as such, after looking at PHP4Delphi. http://www.toflidium.com/weblog/articles/phparch.html http://www.phparch.com/issue.php?mid=16 Serhiy Perevoznyk http://users.chello.be/ws36637/ Back to top Serhiy Perevoznyk Guest Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 8:53 pm    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Quote: Unless the scripts need the environment variables usually supplied by the web server. Personally I don't see a fundamental gain in using PHP4Delphi plus a .dll versus using PHP.exe. I don't see it either. But using php4isapi.dll and Indy HTTP server for certain gives big advantage versus php.exe Quote: PHP does no miracles, it's "simply" a Hypertext preprocessor (a very good one, I might add). But it doesn't do any rendering etc for you And what is php-gtk in this case? Quote: With specially crafted APIs and .dlls you always are in danger of forking code (where your special version is always one or two releases behind) SAPI (server API) is quite stable and provides all nessesary functionality. For you information, php.exe is also written using exacltly the same PHP API as php4isapi, for example. Serhiy Perevoznyk Back to top Ben Hochstrasser [FF] Guest Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 9:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Serhiy Perevoznyk wrote: Quote: SAPI (server API) is quite stable and provides all nessesary functionality. For you information, php.exe is also written using exacltly the same PHP API as php4isapi, for example. I didn't mean to say there's imminent forking danger in php4delphi etc. I remember that eg for SQLite someone rewrote the C++ api to use STDCALL rather than CDECL. Of course, that version always lagged behind... As long as one and the same developer team takes care of various flavours of interfaces - no problem. -- Ben Back to top Peter Richards Guest Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2004 1:24 am    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Hi Serhiy, On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 21:40:16 +0100, "Serhiy Perevoznyk" <serge_perevoznyk (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote: Quote: Yes, I understand that a PHP script cannot be 'inperpreted' by a HTTP request without php.exe, Yes, php script can be interpreted by HTTP server perfectly _without_ php.exe Thanks for clarifying that for me. That is good news, because when deploying the Delphi application for use on a local computer, the less I have to 'bundle together' the better, also there may be OS issues with php.exe (which I have already found out with Win95, the highest version I can use is 4.2.3 (. Quote: scipting engine (Zend) to a .PAS, then it would also seem possible to include this (.pas) scripting engine in a Delphi executable, as long as you have php4ts.dll included ? You are right. Try idPHPRunner component, for example Okay, I noticed that on your website. Quote: Okay, thanks, there may also already be some method of handing this withiin the PHP4Delphi package. executution of php script using psvPHP looks like: var st : string; ... st := psvPHP.RunCode('phpinfo();'); Will give that a try. I do now already have PWS installed, and it can return (most) PHP scripts in a browser, but those few lines compiled in a Delphi app will sure make it easier. Quote: I may not need a web server, as such, after looking at PHP4Delphi. http://www.toflidium.com/weblog/articles/phparch.html http://www.phparch.com/issue.php?mid=16 I would like to read that article, sounds interesting. Thanks, Peter Peter Richards [email]peter_j_richards (AT) nospamplease (DOT) com[/email] (but use hotmail to email) Back to top Peter Richards Guest Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2004 1:34 am    Post subject: Re: Delphi/PHP as a (local) web server ?? Hi, On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 21:26:37 +0100, "Serhiy Perevoznyk" <serge_perevoznyk (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote: Quote: More information about php4Delphi you can find in "International PHP magazine" http://www.php-mag.net/itr/ausgaben/psecom,id,177,nodeid,112.html I notice that the Jan 2004 edition has an article on PHP4Delphi "PHP4Delphi Framework Writing Extension Modules with Borland Delphi By Milan Petrovic An in-depth review of the PHP4Delphi framework that can be used to write your own PHP extensions in Delphi instead of C(++)." Peter Peter Richards [email]peter_j_richards (AT) nospamplease (DOT) com[/email] (but use hotmail to email) Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         BorlandTalk.com Forum Index -> Delphi Internet Winsock All times are GMT Goto page 1, 2  Next Page 1 of 2   Jump to: Select a forum C++ Builder Newsgroups----------------C++ BuilderC++ Builder (ActiveX)C++ Builder (Announcements)C++ Builder (Command Line Tools)C++ Builder DatabasesC++ Builder Databases (ADO)C++ Builder Databases (Desktop)C++ Builder Databases (InterBase Express)C++ Builder Databases (Multi-Tier)C++ Builder Databases (SQL Servers)C++ Builder (Graphics)C++ Builder (IDE)C++ Builder (Internet)C++ Builder (Internet Socket)C++ Builder (Internet Web)C++ Builder (Jobs)C++ Builder (Language)C++ Builder (Language C++)C++ Builder (Compatibility with MFC)C++ Builder (Native API)C++ Builder (Non-Technical)C++ Builder (Students)C++ Builder (Third Party Tools)C++ Builder (Upgrade)C++ Builder (VCL)C++ Builder (VCL Components Usage)C++ Builder (VCL Components Development)C++ Builder (VCL Usage)C++ Builder (WinAPI)C++ Builder Installation Delphi Newsgroups----------------Delphi (General)Delphi ActiveX Controls UsageDelphi ActiveX Controls DevelopmentDelphi As400Delphi DatabasesDelphi Databases (ADO)Delphi Databases (dbExpress)Delphi Databases (Desktop)Delphi Databases (InterBase Express)Delphi Databases (Multi-Tier)Delphi Databases (SQL Servers)Delphi DeploymentDelphi GraphicsDelphi IDEDelphi InternationalizationDelphi InternetDelphi Internet Isapi-WebBrokerDelphi Internet WebSnapDelphi Internet WinsockDelphi JobsDelphi Language BASMDelphi Language ObjectPascalDelphi Model Driven Architecture (General)Delphi Model Driven Architecture (Third Party)Delphi MultimediaDelphi Native APIDelphi Non-TechnicalDelphi ObjectPascalDelphi OLE AutomationDelphi OO designDelphi OpenToolsAPIDelphi Reporting-ChartingDelphi RTLDelphi StudentsDelphi TeamSourceDelphi Thirdparty ToolsDelphi Thirdparty Tools (General)Delphi Thirdparty Tools (IntraWeb)Delphi Thirdparty Tools (RaveReports)Delphi UpgradeDelphi VCLDelphi VCL ComponentsDelphi VCL Components UsingDelphi VCL Components WritingDelphi WebServices SOAPDelphi WinAPIDelphi XMLDelphi Installationcomp.lang.pascal.delphi.components.misccomp.lang.pascal.delphi.components.usagecomp.lang.pascal.delphi.components.writingcomp.lang.pascal.delphi.databasescomp.lang.pascal.delphi.misccomp.sources.delphi JBuilder Newsgroups----------------JBuilderJBuilder AnnouncementsJBuilder Applet IssuesJBuilder As400JBuilder CompilerJBuilder CORBA/RMIJBuilder DatabasesJBuilder DB SwingJBuilder DebuggerJBuilder DeploymentJBuilder DocumentationJBuilder EnterpriseJBuilder HandheldJBuilder IDEJBuilder JavaJBuilder JavaAPIJBuilder Java LanguageJBuilder Java SwingJBuilder Java BeansJBuilder Java Beans UsageJBuilder Java Beans DevelopmentJBuilder JBCLJBuilder JDataStoreJBuilder JobsJBuilder LinuxJBuilder MacintoshJBuilder & MobileSetJBuilder MultiLingual AppsJBuilder Non-TechnicalJBuilder OpenToolsJBuilder Servlets (JSP)JBuilder StudentsJBuilder Team DevelopmentJBuilder Thirdparty ToolsJBuilder UpgradeJBuilder Installation InterBase Newsgroups----------------InterBaseInterBase Bug DiscussionInterBase GeneralInterBase IBConsoleInterBase OpenSourceInterBase ReplicationInterBase SQLInterBase ThirdpartyInterBase Installation Miscellaneous Borland Newsgroups----------------AppCenterAppServerEnteraVisiBroker  You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2006 phpBB Group SEO toolkit © 2004-2006 webmedic.