PHP Programming

On-line Catalogues /
Dynamic Web Pages

Since our inception, 17 Designs has written all of our database interactive websites using PHP.  Linked to a MySQL database, retrieval of relational records using SQL SELECT statements is fast and seamless.  Combined with our knowledge of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and HTML web development, the presentation of output is ideal for commercial applications, product catalogues, data / search inquiries and is highly regarded by our clients.  PHP is also installed on more than 20 million websites and over 1 million web servers making support for the programming language readily accessible.  We recommend PHP for stable, secure, dynamic web page development.  Clients can provide product data for MySQL imports in many formats, the most popular being an Excel spreadsheet or CSV file.  Product photos can also be sized and sharpened using common PHP imaging tools making PHP highly regarded by website developers.
We develop object-oriented and procedural PHP code to interact with MySQL databases and provide greater website functionality.
Our PHP programming increases website functionality.

Regular Expressions / Form Validation

Have you ever wondered how many on-line forms ensure data is entered in a particular format?  A good example would be a telephone number with area code such as (905) 257-1728.  What is to prevent an end-user from leaving out the area code or using a dot instead of a dash?  Using PHP and Regular Expressions, data entry can be restricted to conform to established criteria also known as pattern matching.  Other examples include verifying the format of a Visa #, a postal / zip code or even determining if an e-mail address is valid.  Once data is entered within an input field of a form it can be checked against pre-defined patterns called a regular expression.  For more information on the use of pattern matching please visit www.regularexpressions.info.  17 Designs can incorporate Regular Expressions with PHP scripting into your on-line forms.  Contact Us to learn how.

History of PHP

PHP, originally standing for Personal Home Page, is a server scripting language designed for producing dynamic web content commonly seen in on-line product catalogues.  Written in the C programming language by Danish / Greenlandic programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994, Lerdorf created PHP for the Internet community allowing others to shape its growth and success.  Due to its open source availability and suitability for web development, not to mention that it can be embedded directly into HTML code, PHP quickly evolved to global usage.  Now in its fifth release and soon to be sixth, PHP has risen in popularity exponentially and is used by developers that prefer not to pay a license fee for dynamic web page development.

PHP is a key tool in successfully producing informative, functional and error-free websites.

PHP is a versatile, extremely powerful programming language and we commonly use it to achieve,

  • On-line Product Catalogues
  • Product Searches
  • Contact Forms with Field Validation
  • BLOG Design and Social Networking
  • Image Uploading and Sizing
  • File Manipulation
  • Cookie Formulation, Planting and Retrieval
  • Any Dynamic Content

Since PHP executes on the host server during page retrieval, it does not suffer the limitations of browser compatability that can occur with Javascript nor can PHP be turned off like Javascript.  Hence, it is always available and its execution time is lightning fast.