This document discusses PHP and the new PDO::Informix driver. It provides an overview of PHP and how it has evolved since 1995. It also discusses PEAR and PECL, which are repositories for PHP packages and extensions. The document demonstrates how to install and use the new PDO::Informix driver to connect to Informix databases from PHP applications. It covers connection parameters, binding parameters for queries, and best practices for error handling. Live code demonstrations are provided of connecting to Informix and performing queries using the PDO::Informix driver.

1. PHP With the New PDO::Informix
Presented by: Thomas Beebe
Advanced DataTools Corporation
tom@advancedatatools.com

2. What is PHP
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PHP stands for “PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor”
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Started in 1995 by Rasmus Lerdorf as perl scripts
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Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski launched PHP3 in 1997
to replace the dated PHP/FI
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1998 – PHP 4
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2004 – PHP 5
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Provides a very flexible, expendable application
development environment, free to use for any purpose.
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Large collection of modules and extensions available
(mostly free of charge)

3. PEAR
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"PHP Extension and Application Repository"
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Package management for PHP
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Offers standards for creating packages for PHP

4. PECL
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“PHP Extension Community Library”
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Offers a hosting repository of any and all php
extensions, as well as hosting and support for
development.
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pdo drivers are provided through pecl.

5. Why PDO
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Standardized code and connection methods
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ODBC can be troublesome
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The ifx_ driver is not overly stable and is buggy
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Open source development methodology
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IBM support pdo_informix driver
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Proper error handling

6. Demo 1

7. Installing
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Two ways to install:
– extensions (php.ini)
– compiled in (/tmp/php-x.x.x/ext/pdo_informix)

8. Compiling into PHP
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Download the latest pdo_informix driver
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Extract it to php_source/ext [it will be
PDO_INFORMIX-1.0.x]
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Rename it to pdo_informix
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cd ..
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./buildconf –force [this will rebuild configure]
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./configure –help | grep informix (make sure it is
there)
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./configure –args --with-pdo-
informix=$INFORMIXDIR

9. Connection Paramaters●
$dbh->setAttribute($ATTR,$VALUE);
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PDO::ATTR_CASE:
– PDO::CASE_LOWER
– PDO::CASE_UPPER
– PDO::CASE_NATURAL
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PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE:
– PDO::ERRMODE_SILENT
– PDO::ERRMODE_WARNING
– PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION
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PDO::ATTR_STRINGIFY_FETCHES
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PDO::ATTR_ORACLE_NULLS

10. Demo 2

11. Binding Paramaters
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Safer, faster, often easier to manage.
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Insertions use bindParam();
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Selects use bindColumn
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Insertions:
– $name = “Joe Smith”;
– $stmt=$dbh->prepare(“insert into tab_a (name) values
(?)”);
– $stmt->bindParam(1, $name);
– $stmt->execute();
– $name = “John Jones”;
– $stmt->bindParam(1, $name);
– $stmt->execute();

12. Named Bind
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This tends to be easier to maintain for large
inserts/updates.
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$stmt = $dbh->prepare(“insert into test (name)
values (:name)”);
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$name = “Papa Smurf”;
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$stmt->bindParam(':name', $name);
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$stmt->execute();
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$name = “Bubba Jones”;

13. Binding on Selects
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This is required for reading blobs from the
database
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$stmt = $db->prepare("select cat_desc from
catalog”);
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$stmt->execute();
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$stmt->bindColumn(1, $lob,
PDO::PARAM_STR);
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$stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_BOUND);

14. Binding Paramaters
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LOB needs to be specified, the others are optional
but can help maintain proper data types
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PDO::PARAM_LOB – Data Blobs
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PDO::PARAM_STR – Char/Varchar/Text
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PDO::PARAM_BOOL – Bool
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PDO::PARAM_INT - Integer

15. Error Handling
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PHP 5 introduced try/catch which can be a
lifesaver.
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try { sql stuff here...
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} catch (PDOException $e) {
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print "Error!: " . $e->getMessage() . "<br/>";
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die();
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}

16. Error Handling (cont)
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$dbh->errorInfo();
– Returns an array of the last statement executed
– 0: Sqlstate Error Code
– 1: Driver specific error number
– 2: Driver error message
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Exception handling variable commands
– $e->getMessage() = Error message
– $e->getLine() = Line Number
– $e->getFile() = File that caused the error
– $e->getCode() = Code the caused the error
– $e->getTrace() = Array of the error trace

17. Questions?
Thomas Beebe
Advanced DataTools Corporation
tom@advancedatatools.com