PHP Utility Library

A set of PHP library functions to help students with their project work, particularly with MySQL DB access and debugging

Current version: 4.0 (see lib/version.md)

Demo

Included are files for a simple demo application that shows the library functions in use.

An SQL dump of a MySQL database for the demo can be found in the db folder.

Library Files

db.php

Connect to MySQL server databases: connectToDB()

Example of use...

// Connect to the database using credentials in _db.ini
$db = connectToDB();

$query = 'SELECT * FROM items';

try {
    $stmt = $db->prepare($query);
    $stmt->execute();
    $items = $stmt->fetchAll();
}
catch (PDOException $e) {
    consoleError($e->getMessage(), 'Items Fetch');
    die('There was an error getting item data');
}

consoleLog($items);

foreach($items as $item) {
    echo $item['name'];
}

Obtain data about uploaded images for insert into DB: uploadedImageData()

When uploading an image via a multi-part form...

<form 
    method="post" 
    action="..." 
    enctype="multipart/form-data"
>
    <label>Image</label>
    <input 
        type="file" 
        name="image" 
        accept="image/*" 
        required
    >

    <input type="submit" value="Upload Image">
</form>

The uploaded image's information is validated and returned, ready to be added to a database...

if(empty($_FILES)) die ('Problem uploading the image (probably too large)');

// Get image data and type of uploaded file from $_FILES
[
    'data' => $imageData,
    'type' => $imageType
] = uploadedImageData($_FILES['image']);

$db = connectToDB();

$query = 'INSERT INTO items (image_type, image_data) 
          VALUES (?, ?)';

// Run the query, passing along the image data
try { 
    $stmt = $db->prepare($query);
    $stmt->execute([$imageType, $imageData]);
}
catch (PDOException $e) {
    consoleError($e->getMessage(), 'Image Insert');
    die('There was an error adding image to the database');
}

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debug.php

Show info in the JS console to aid in PHP debugging:

• consoleLog()
• consoleLError()
• consoleBeginGroup()
• consoleEndGroup()
• consoleDivider()

Example of use...

consoleGroupStart('NEW REQUEST');
  consoleLog($url,    'Request URL');
  consoleLog($method, 'Method');
  consoleLog($type,   'Type');
  consoleLog($route,  'Route');
  consoleDivider();
  if ($params)   consoleLog($params,   'Parameters');
  if ($_GET)     consoleLog($_GET,     'GET Data');
  if ($_POST)    consoleLog($_POST,    'POST Data');
  if ($_FILES)   consoleLog($_FILES,   'FILES Data');
  if ($_SESSION) consoleLog($_SESSION, 'SESSION Data');
consoleGroupEnd();

Show a pop-out debug panel at the bottom-right of the screen:

• ShowDebugInfo()

---

file.php

Configure file download output streams:

• prepareDownload()
• finaliseDownload()

Example of use...

// Setup the output stream
$output = prepareDownload( 'info', 'txt' );
// Add the info
fputs( $output, 'Name: '.$thing['name'].PHP_EOL );
fputs( $output, 'Desc: '.$thing['desc'].PHP_EOL );
// And close the stream
finaliseDownload( $output );

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text.php

Convert plain text to HTML paragraphs:

• text2paras()

Example of use...

echo text2paras($thing['description']);

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date.php

Format and manage dates and times in various ways:

• formattedDate()
• formattedTime()
• isToday()
• isInPast()
• daysFromToday()
• ageInYears()

Example of use...

echo 'Born: '.formattedDate($user['dob']);
echo ' ('.ageInYears($user['dob']).')';

echo 'Posted at ' . formattedTime($post['timestamp']);
echo ' on ' . formattedDate($post['timestamp']);
echo ' (' . daysFromToday($post['timestamp']) . ')';

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