Re: Needed: Several short, swift kicks.

"Mark Filipak" <filipak@mrincubator.org> wrote in message news:3CF4530C.AA2B4791@mrincubator.org... > 1 - Can PHP be used as a batch processor under MS-Windows? I believe so, although that's not its original intent. > 2 - I downloaded php-4.2.1-installer.exe and php-4.2.1-Win32.zip. I ran > php-4.2.1-installer.exe to the point where I got this dialog: > > Title Bar: "Mail Configuration" > Query #1: "Please enter the address of your SMTP server." > Textbox #1: "localhost" > Query #2: "Please enter the 'from' address for the mail function." > Textbox #2: "me@localhost.com" > > I don't know what is being asked. What do I do now? It's asking for your mail server info as you point out below. This is for use under Windows for the mail() command. If you don't intend to send e-mail from PHP just leave it at the defaults for now, or use your e-mail address and your ISP's mail server. > 4 - What run time environment does PHP for command line scripting expect > and how much of it, a, is installed by php-4.2.1-installer.exe, and b, > is found in php-4.2.1-Win32.zip? I believe the installer installs the basic stuff, and the zip file includes a lot of samples and extra modules. > I seek an alternative to CGI and PHP seems to be just that. I have never > written CGI. I have an e-smith SME server 5 box that I'd like to put on > the net as a general purpose gateway/firewall/www-server/mail-handler > and on which I hope to process PHP-enhanced, server-side HTML. I'd like > to learn PHP under MS-Windows first, and perhaps use it to do useful, > batch type things, bulk processing email 'inbox' files for example, > while traveling the path to PHP enlightenment. While I'm all for PHP it sounds like you're trying to find a way to use your tool rather than evaluate what you want to accomplish. ("When you only have a hammer everything looks like a nail"). Do you know how to set up a web server? If so I suggest that trying to use PHP outside of the web environment first will be more confusing than helpful. However to get you started put this into a plain text file called "hello.php" and run "php hello.php" from a command prompt: <?php echo "hello world" ?> The content-type header that prints is for the web server's use. - Steve Yates - Drive nail here [.] for new monitor. / Taglines by Taglinator - www.srtware.com /