Reich Consulting
28May/092

PHP On Windows 7

Last week I decided to take the plunge and install the release candidate of Windows 7 on my office workstation where I happen to do a lot of web development and testing.  My development stack consists of Netbeans IDE, PHP 5.2.8, and IIS 7.  There are plenty of other quality tutorials out there explaining how to get PHP working on IIS 7 so I won't bother beating that particular dead horse.  However there was one quirky difference between installing PHP on Vista and installing PHP on IIS 7 that developers may want to be aware of before they follow my lead.

The Problem : Editing php.ini as a Standard User

During the process of installing PHP on Windows 7 you will be required to copy php.ini into the C:\Windows directory, and  later point you'll most likely need to edit this file to suit your needs.

On Windows Vista I simply wasn't allowed to edit files under the \Windows directory (specifically php.ini) when logged in as a Standard User. Windows 7 was more than happy to allow me to modify and save this file in the same location, logged in with the same credentials. But even after restarting IIS my configuration changes never took effect.

The problem was caused by something called the Virtual Store, an application compatibility feature that existed in Windows Vista but works a little bit differently in Windows 7.  Where Vista wouldn't let me edit this file at all, Windows 7 happily lets me modify it but transparently saves the changes in a different location. The updated php.ini was stored in %UserProfile%\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows\php.ini.  The service account which IIS runs under can't see this updated file

The Solution: Run As Administrator

When editing php.ini, don't simply double-click it and make changes.  You must run your text editor as an administrator to edit the file, otherwise the changes will be saved to the Virtual Store.

29Feb/080

The World Wide Web

Since I was first exposed to the Internet back in 1995, people have erroneously had a tendency to use the terms Internet and World Wide Web interchangeably. It may take the mind of a true geek to really care about the difference, but the World Wide Web is actually only a small fraction of the Internet.

This article is the first in a series meant to supplement the web design course that I'm currently teaching at SUN Area Career & Technology Center. I will define the Internet and the World Wide Web, talk briefly about their history, and discuss a few of the web's defining features.

26Feb/080

Reich Consulting Web Design Articles and Tutorials

Just last week I began teaching a class on web design for my primary employer, SUN Area Career & Technology Center based on the Thompson Course Technology Dreamweaver MX 2004 Basic textbook.  Though the book and the accompanying PowerPoint presentations are sufficient for the lessons taught in class, I've decided to write a series of articles and tutorials to that add to my in-class lessons that expand on the topics that we will discuss.   I'm going to begin with some basics regarding the World Wide Web and the the languages and protocols that make it work.  If you are taking my class or just find web design and development interesting, I hope you'll stop by often to read this series of articles.