Script Logger: Poor man's Zend Platform

So I just recently updated my Script Logger app, a small PHP web app meant to drop in and log various errors and warnings generated by a larger PHP web application, including pages that might take too long. This was made in response to liking the ability to see what problems may have occurred on a server via Zend Platform that I tried out. So I decided to make a simple one using PHP's functions for setting error and exception handlers. This isn't the perfect solution compared to Zend Platform since it's done with PHP code, and with the handlers, they can't catch fatal errors. Maybe some day someone, or me if I ever learned how, could write a simple extension for catching all the various errors including the ones unable to be caught within PHP for logging. I'm thinking Xdebug is a good resource for this since it catches all the errors etc, and it would be a good companion to someone with a Xdebug PHP setup to have a free Zend Platform like alternative.

My Script Logger requires PHP 5.1 or better, the PDO extension to be installed (which it often is by default, at least if you build PHP), and sqlite2 or sqlite driver for PDO installed. You can possibly install these via pear/pecl too if you don't already have them. To install just drop it on your web site, edit config.php to see if the error settings are to your liking, make db folder writable, and you should be good to go.

Script Logger

Technorati Tags: php, programming, software, xdebug, zend

Zend Studio Decline?

I'm starting to wonder what the future of Zend Studio is due to disappointing updates and the new PHP IDE Project backed by Zend. I'm quite disappointed that the java based cross-platform application that is Zend Studio isn't a native application to OS X Intel. Supposedly this should work through rosetta, but come on, it's java, it shouldn't have to be specific to PowerPC, and shouldn't be hard to fix this at least for the primary program. I believe my first attempt to actually install Zend Studio on my MacBook Pro was met in similar failure to the friend that warned me that it has issues on OS X intel. I seemed to have installed 5.5 beta just fine and it so far seems fine. But it's still severly limited since you can't use the Zend Debugger, Profiler, or Platform features since that requires the Zend extensions which are PowerPC and you can run PowerPC applications but not load shared libraries like those into intel applications. So basically it's not a 100% package on OS X intel.

The other issue is that I have an expired Zend Studio 5.1, meaning it's still valid to use but no free updates, so $200 to get 5.2 or 5.5 when it's out. And for what? Nothing special at all, there's some cool stuff, like Zend Platform integration is actually something nicer in 5.5 compared to the initial stuff in 5.2. I'm not sure I like the subscription style upgrade program, it benefits you at times like when a huge release comes out like say if 6.0 was coming out when you still had the support/updates. Mine happened to expire before 5.2 or 5.5 so neither are free, I definitely said no to paying to renew and get 5.2 since there was barely anything at all new, and 5.5 isn't much better either. Not worth it until maybe 6.0.

Also, is Zend Studio going to be continued or is the PHP IDE Project slated to eventually be Zend/PHP's preferred IDE of choice. Doesn't seem like it, but the fact that Zend is helping with what would be competition for Zend Studio seems kinda odd. That and the lack of intel support for Zend Studio and Zend Platform makes it kinda uncertain if it's worth spending money for an upgrade, at least not until there's a better looking update that provides something more worthwhile. In the meantime I'm seriously looking at Komodo Professional to see if it's at all a better deal, specially with all the languages it's capable of handling, including code suggestion for more than just PHP, but for other languages and also CSS and XSL too. The biggest concerns for that IDE so far are performance/snapiness and limited PHP code suggestion. I don't know if PHP IDE Eclipse project will be good, at least not yet, but Eclipse has been incredibly slow on linux and OS X. We'll see how things progress with it.

Technorati Tags: php, programming, development, software, tools, zend

MySQL Tool Review: phpMyAdmin

One of the most popular MySQL management tools out there, phpMyAdmin has become widely used, but I'd have to say it's one of my least favorites. I did use it back in the day and it wasn't too bad, some of the features it offers are very useful. It's one of the few tools to let you do things like rename a table simply, or other move-stuff-around type actions. My discontinued use of it started out with a particular update and there after performing horribly slow on my G3 server. I'm assuming this particular problem could possibly be gone now, but it made me ditch it quite fast. This could've easily been some other problem for all I know, but first reaction just was to ditch it and use CocoaMySQL instead at the time. I've never used it since partly because I got along fine with various other tools, and also my current employer does not use it due to security concerns. From phpMyAdmin being such a popular application, it's prone to security holes way more frequently than other tools, mostly because of it being a public accessible tool for your MySQL database.

Shots of both phpMyAdmin themes/styles:

Overview of the ups and downs of phpMyAdmin:
Pros

• Access from any machine, no installation of client software needed
• Robust set of features
• SQL file import and export with reasonable options
• Table operations like renaming, moving data etc.
• Simple tools for copying data or structure from database to database
• Display of row data only limited to your browser ability to render that much html (or just use the pagination)
• Full suite of tools covering querying to privleges

Cons

• Uses frames for it's interface, can be funky sometimes (would be better with no frames, ajax, even iframes maybe)
• Font sizes of default themes bit wonky on latest one I tried, fixable of course (big on default, tiny on dark)
• UI can be a bit sluggish due to it being a web application, depending on connection speeds etc.
• Can be prone to security holes due to popularity, updates are usually quick though
• Can't do 'quick edits' like some desktop clients allow

The power and versatility of phpMyAdmin puts it at the top for MySQL client tools, but mostly out of personal preference I choose to remove it from my list of clients. The problems with phpMyAdmin are pretty slim, and if you don't mind a web-based MySQL client, then you probably are already using this, or will at least find it suitable. So far I'm pretty convinced that a web-based MySQL management tool is just not something that will ever jive with me, I yearn for the snappier and cleaner UI of a desktop application when it comes to managing my MySQL databases. Unfortunately most of those bring in their own set of problems as seen in MySQL Query Browser Review and soon to come with reviews of YourSQL and CocoaMySQL.

Technorati Tags: client, database, mysql, php, review, software

Modified TextMate PHP Bundle

I was having a improve-my-TextMate-experience moment and along with making some small snippets to help smooth my coding when using TextMate, I also went thru TextMate's PHP bundle and applied my preferred formatting to all the snippets in it. It has formatting for conditionals like so:

if(conditional) { // code } else {

}

and require/include sans () (like PEAR standards):

require_once 'filename.php';

and some other various cleanups like the random occurrence of # comments and extra tabs & spaces where they shouldn't be, or at least I don't think they should be.

So if you have similar coding style, check it out see if it's an anal enough style for you or not.

"Download Jerome's Anal PHP TMBundle":http://jeremyknope.com/files/PHP-tmbundle.zip

Technorati Tags: php, programming, editor, textmate

MySQL Query Browser Review

I've decided to do a series of reviews, or maybe a series, on various MySQL client software, primary focus will be on Mac OS X since that's my platform of choice. I have been in search of a decent MySQL desktop client, since phpMyAdmin does not fit the bill for me, not to mention at work we don't use it per security concerns.

In comes MySQL Query Browser with probably the better of the UI designs out of the clients I've tried, particularly on Mac OS X with a pretty clean design. With tabbed query windows, syntax highlighting, safe row edits, and more Query Browser is a pretty decent regular use MySQL client. What it lacks really is the ability to administer users directly instead of relying on it's sister application, MySQL Administrator. Also the inability to export an sql dump of a database is also a bit of a let down, another feature of MySQL Administrator.

MySQL Query Browser serves as an excellent tool to edit table structure and test queries. The query window looks like this and support multiple tabs which is very beneficial:

MySQL Query Browser Main Query Window

Table structure editing isn't bad either, although better on some of the platforms like Windows where more auto-complete works. A sample of a table being edited:

MySQL Query Browser Table Editing Window

Here is a sum up of what's good and bad about MySQL Query Browser:

Pros:

• Clean UI
• Decent table editing
• Pretty fast
• Handles large amounts of data in view relatively well
• Row editing safe due to having to click edit (this could be a con for some, but I feel less paranoid with it)
• Built-in help
• Query bookmarking (save a cool query for later)
• Query History (go back & forth through it, see cons for a problem with this)
• Simple copy SQL to clipboard feature when clicking a table

Cons:

• Can crash frequently, possibly less on Windows version
• Mac OS X version doesn't have inline auto-complete for column types (windows one does)
• Foreign key handling is flaky due to crappy errors from MySQL itself (not getting column types EXACTLY matching)
• Lack of SQL dump/export (due to it being featured in MySQL Administrator as 'backup')
• Editing rows relies on presence of a primary key, custom queries often data can't be edited.
• Query history is cool but it executes every time you hit back or next, which sucks for any UPDATE or DELETE queries
• Crashes when your a little to crazy with clicking sometimes (Mac version at least)
• Preferences and saved connections is immensely slow (when accessing to edit or save changes)
• No way to organize connections if you have a ton of them (I'd like that at least.... NO client has that though)

So there is quite a few cons for this, but so far they haven't out weighed the cons of other clients to make me not wanna use it. I often use it pretty briefly so my experience with it's problems is usually short-term. Some of the other candidates for consideration and review next are YourSQL, CocoaMySQL, and Navicat. Any other suggestions (taking Mac OS X software and possibly linux software suggestions only) feel free to comment.

Technorati Tags: client, database, mysql, review, software