My first post, hope someone can help......!
Firstly the context & my situation: I've worked in IT since 1972 (so can guess my age!), started off programming in COBOL & Assembler. My career progressed through development roles into IT management (Project/Programme/IT Director). Became unemployed in 2012 and have not been able to land a job in IT management role, so have decided to explore other avenues - return to my developer roots and update my skills & self-learn web technologies. After a bit of research, decided that PHP, Apache and MYSQL was the most cost-effective & opportunity enhancing way to go. Now I mention my background to make readers aware that although I have a good understanding of most IT Concepts and techniques my specific tech skills are very out of date, having been a driver rather than a mechanic for at least the last 25 years!.
So armed with lots of books on the subject borrowed from the library and several viewed youtube videos, I am trying to set up a PHP/Apache/MYsQL dev environment on my Windows 8 PC to learn and develop a proof-of-concept app for an idea that I have.
So here's the problem that I has stumped me: - I have installed Apache 2.4.9, PHP 5.4 and Mysql 5.6 on my windows 8 pc - I have edited the php.ini and httpd.conf file as per instructions - I have created an index.php which contains phpinfo () surrounded by the php tags - I Enter localhost in to browser (chrome) and phpinfo executes OK - I create a .php file and put in phpinfo () surrounded by the php tags and it finds the file and executes OK - Now If I edit said .php and put some valid php echo statements in before the phpinfo, they display OK, along with the phpinfo output - but if I edit said .php file and remove the phpinfo () statement, the browser returns ...the requested web page is not available! - if I edit the said .php file to put some valid php echo statements in after the phpinfo, the phpinfo output appears but not the php echo outputs - NB Browser executes an html_test.htm file OK - same occurs if I substitute phpcredits () for phpinfo () - I 've tried putting in an mysqli statement in a file with a phpinfo () and that returned web page is not available (i'm sure the Mysql integration will present another challenge!)
I checked / rechecked the basics of the set up and tried everything I know to get it working but to no avail - I'm sure its something quite simple and obvious but it's escaping me (suspect that it might be something to do with the php error handling but just don't know how to check)
Happy to provide more detailed info on request...
Can any young-gun help the old dinosaur out of the swamp?
Rgds
OK - Here's the code for file a) php_name_with_phpinfo.php:
$surname = "Mysurname"; $firstname = "Myfirstname";
echo $firstname . " " . $surname;
phpinfo ();
and here's the code for file b) php_name_without_phpinfo.php:
$surname = "Mysurname"; $firstname = "Myfirstname";
echo $firstname . " " . $surname;
Assure you that the php start and end tags are around both these bits of code but I can get them to apopear in this question (despite trying to enclose in " or 's)
file a) outputs Myfirstname Mysurname and then the PHP Version 5.5.8 table
file b) outputs: This web page is not available
I'm mystified
Here's the Apache logs from the last test:
[Sun Apr 13 19:32:15.005429 2014] [:error] [pid 6472:tid 1180] [client ::1:49856] PHP Warning: phpinfo(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are required to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in C:\Apache24\htdocs\index.php on line 5 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:15.671297 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00428: Parent: child process 6472 exited with status 255 -- Restarting. [Sun Apr 13 19:32:15.809554 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00455: Apache/2.4.9 (Win32) configured -- resuming normal operations [Sun Apr 13 19:32:15.809554 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00456: Apache Lounge VC9 Server built: Mar 17 2014 19:17:53 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:15.809554 2014] [core:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00094: Command line: 'C:\Apache24\bin\httpd.exe -d C:/Apache24' [Sun Apr 13 19:32:15.810555 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00418: Parent: Created child process 3440 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:16.169793 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 3440:tid 684] AH00354: Child: Starting 64 worker threads. [Sun Apr 13 19:32:39.679326 2014] [:error] [pid 3440:tid 1160] [client ::1:49860] PHP Warning: phpinfo(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are required to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in C:\Apache24\htdocs\php_name_with_phpinfo.php on line 8 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:39.998571 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00428: Parent: child process 3440 exited with status 255 -- Restarting. [Sun Apr 13 19:32:40.080627 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00455: Apache/2.4.9 (Win32) configured -- resuming normal operations [Sun Apr 13 19:32:40.080627 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00456: Apache Lounge VC9 Server built: Mar 17 2014 19:17:53 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:40.080627 2014] [core:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00094: Command line: 'C:\Apache24\bin\httpd.exe -d C:/Apache24' [Sun Apr 13 19:32:40.081628 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00418: Parent: Created child process 3500 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:40.463914 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 3500:tid 372] AH00354: Child: Starting 64 worker threads. [Sun Apr 13 19:32:50.459089 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00428: Parent: child process 3500 exited with status 255 -- Restarting. [Sun Apr 13 19:32:50.548148 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00455: Apache/2.4.9 (Win32) configured -- resuming normal operations [Sun Apr 13 19:32:50.549151 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00456: Apache Lounge VC9 Server built: Mar 17 2014 19:17:53 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:50.549151 2014] [core:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00094: Command line: 'C:\Apache24\bin\httpd.exe -d C:/Apache24' [Sun Apr 13 19:32:50.550149 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00418: Parent: Created child process 6552 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:50.885418 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 6552:tid 388] AH00354: Child: Starting 64 worker threads. [Sun Apr 13 19:32:51.031514 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00428: Parent: child process 6552 exited with status 255 -- Restarting. [Sun Apr 13 19:32:51.181935 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00455: Apache/2.4.9 (Win32) configured -- resuming normal operations [Sun Apr 13 19:32:51.181935 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00456: Apache Lounge VC9 Server built: Mar 17 2014 19:17:53 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:51.181935 2014] [core:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00094: Command line: 'C:\Apache24\bin\httpd.exe -d C:/Apache24' [Sun Apr 13 19:32:51.183934 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00418: Parent: Created child process 6580 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:51.532238 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 6580:tid 668] AH00354: Child: Starting 64 worker threads. [Sun Apr 13 19:32:53.098367 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00428: Parent: child process 6580 exited with status 255 -- Restarting. [Sun Apr 13 19:32:53.185426 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00455: Apache/2.4.9 (Win32) configured -- resuming normal operations [Sun Apr 13 19:32:53.185426 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00456: Apache Lounge VC9 Server built: Mar 17 2014 19:17:53 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:53.185426 2014] [core:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00094: Command line: 'C:\Apache24\bin\httpd.exe -d C:/Apache24' [Sun Apr 13 19:32:53.187427 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00418: Parent: Created child process 6820 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:53.567752 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 6820:tid 676] AH00354: Child: Starting 64 worker threads. [Sun Apr 13 19:32:53.712849 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00428: Parent: child process 6820 exited with status 255 -- Restarting. [Sun Apr 13 19:32:53.823924 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00455: Apache/2.4.9 (Win32) configured -- resuming normal operations [Sun Apr 13 19:32:53.823924 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00456: Apache Lounge VC9 Server built: Mar 17 2014 19:17:53 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:53.823924 2014] [core:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00094: Command line: 'C:\Apache24\bin\httpd.exe -d C:/Apache24' [Sun Apr 13 19:32:53.824925 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 1932:tid 416] AH00418: Parent: Created child process 4068 [Sun Apr 13 19:32:54.201196 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 4068:tid 640] AH00354: Child: Starting 64 worker threads.
More info from testing for anyone who is listening: - syntactically correct php statements appearing before phpinfo () in file process OK - syntactically correct php statements appearing after phpinfo () in file don't process, just the table is output - a file that contains syntactically correct php statements but no phpinfo () returns The Web Page is not available' - a file that contains syntactically incorrect php statements (e.g eco) and a phpinfo () returns the Web page is unavailable. - Firefox and IE seem to process a valid php file containing phpinfo () but it quickly disappears from the screen and returns the server not found page (is this a clue?)
Still feel its something to with handling of errors but can't see anything in php.ini or apache 2.4 settings that would help me diagnose further.
Shall I give up and use XAMPP?
I tried to de/then reinstall Apache 2.4 and PHP 5.4 but it only made things worse!, so after a few more days of messing around, I deinstalled the lot and went with XAMPP which was quite straightforward to set up and seems to be working well....anyway, as far as my limited knowledge can tell. In hindsight I wish I had known about and used XAMPP from the start and saved myself alot of anguish, frustration and wasted time!.
Thanks & Rgds.
