1. Demonstration of WEB-DAV. FTP is a potentially insecure way to transfer files to and from a web server. Web-Dav is an alternative on a windows client. (My Computer >>> Web Folders Folder >>> Add Web Folder >>> type in the URL of the site that you want to upload or download web files to or from. The server can limit access based on user and access method (get, post, etc.) and has to have at least one access method enabled for web-dav to work.
2. Discussion of separating PHP from HTML. General solution is to use a require statement in the HTML page to store all the PHP code and then have the needed variables interspersed in the HTML.
3. Discussion of moving and backing up a mysql database. The command 'mysql dump' will produce a text file containing all the create table and insert into statements that would be used to recreate the mysql tables. The resulting text file can be large but compresses nicely.
4. Demonstration of Source Forge http://www.sourceforge.com . A great source of PHP code -- click on 'show code' on any sourceforge page to see good PHP examples.
5. Discussion of Pro Bono PHP, registered as a project on sourceforge. send email to letterj@phpgeek.com if you want to be a developer on the project. One tool in the works for Pro Bono PHP is AmyQ (Ask Me Your Question), a tool to generate and manage a Frequently Asked Question list on a PHP/MySQL site. Check http://sourceforge.net and search on Pro Bono PHP to see the progress
6. Demonstration of icetime.com web application that uses PHP and mysql. Icetime has an impressive calendar tool used to reserve ice time at arenas. Hockey teams, figure skaters, speed skaters and the public can check their favorite arena to see when to skate or purchase ice time. We could even see zamboni time in the calendar. Kevin answered questions about it. http://www.icetime.com
7. Discussion of user group being a forum and organizing tool for spreading PHP and working with those spreading open source technology in the business world.
8. Discussion of if we work as a group on PHP tools and modules that are similar to what we are doing privately for pay, there could be conflict of interest and recriminations if we 'borrow' code from the cooperative effort or if the cooperative effort benefits from privately developed code. This issue was not really resolved.
9. How to contribute to TCPHP UG web site: contact Allie Micka.
10. Linux discussions: Kernel 2.4 security tools. Warren pointed us to a site securityportal.com that has a thorough discussion of firewalls, IP-Chains, IP-tables, etc. http://www.securityportal.com/research/security101/internetsaag.html
11. Apache: Apache 2 has input and output filtering. An output filter can add information to a request after it has been processed or alter a request before it is processed. for example, a simple script can adjust the request by replacing back slashes with forward slashes. More about this at: http://apachetoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2000-11-22-002-01-OS-LF-SW
12. Apache: Question about how to build PHP pages so that search
engines can find them even though they have arguments in the URL: Look at
Article on PHP Builder: http://www.phpbuilder.com/columns/tim19990117.php3 Building
Dynamic Pages With Search Engines in Mind. Basically, you make a
change to the apache conf. file that forces a PHP script to run and parse the
request and include appropriate PHP files depending on the arguments in the
URL.
It will allow a URL that looks like this:
http://myserver/mydirectory/mypage/ford/escort/
to use 'ford' and 'escort' as arguments. A search engine
will still find that dynamic page.
13. Other: The Last Page on The Internet, HamsterDance. Warren Jacobson complained that people were playing ring and run on his office door buzzer. (356 S. Robert, skyway level press buzzer for Suite 300)
14. Ideas for future Agenda Items: Pro Bono PHP development. PHP scripting with Internet Map Server. Spreading Open source in the business community.
15. Mailed in meeting listing to Twin Cities Computer User.
16. Tim volunteered to write up minutes. Contact him for any corrections.
17. TO DO:
- Sign up as a developer with Pro Bono PHP
- Download And Test J. Wynia's latest version of PHP Triad for Windows http://www.phpgeek.com
- Submit requests for future meeting topics.
