The following steps will help guide you through the basic process of using PDT to develop and run your PHP applications:
The first time PDT is launched, the Welcome Page is displayed.
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To use the Welcome Page:
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Zend Server is a complete, enterprise-ready Web Application Server for running and managing PHP applications that require a high level of reliability, performance and security. It includes the most reliable and up-to-date version of PHP, tested PHP extensions, database drivers and other enhancements. Zend Server comes bundled with Zend Framework (the leading open-source PHP framework), Apache and MySQL.
Zend Server provides automatic integration with PDT for an optimal environment for developing, deploying and debugging your PHP applications.
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To install and configure Zend Server:
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Once a Zend Server installation has been detected, the integration between PDT and Zend Server enables you to easily deploy, run, debug and profile applications. |
See Zend Server Integration for more information.
In order to start coding, you should create a PHP project which will contain the files for your application.
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To create a new PHP project:
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The new PHP project will be created in your workspace and displayed in PHP Explorer View. |
See Creating PHP Projects for more information.
You can now start to develop your application by creating PHP Files in your project.
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To create a new PHP file within you project:
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Your file will open in the editor and will appear within your project in PHP Explorer view. |
See Creating PHP Files for more information.
You can use PDT's PHP element creation wizards to quickly and easily create PHP elements such as classes and interfaces within your code.
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To create a new PHP class/interface
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The new class/interface will be created with the required code. |
See Creating PHP Elements for more information.
Manually type code in your files. As you type, content assist will suggest code options according to the context of the code.
You can select a required code string to quickly insert it into your
script
If the Content Assist window does not pop up automatically, press Ctrl+Space.
See Code Assist for more information.
If at any point during your development you want to rename an element, this can be easily done using the in-place refactoring feature
This will apply the rename operation to all occurrences of the required element so that all links between elements are maintained.
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To rename an element within the editor:
Note: To preview the changes before applying them, click the arrow in the right-hand corner of the Refactor popup and select Preview.
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The element will be renamed and all instances where that element is referenced will be updated to reflect the changes. |
See Refactoring for more information.
In order to preview the execution of your application on a server, you can easily run it in PDT's internal browser.
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To run your application:
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Your application will be run and displayed in a browser. You can periodically rerun your application to preview any changes you have made to your files during development. The files that will be executed will be the files statuted locally on your workspace, irrespective of any changes made to the server copies of the files. |
See Running for more information.
In addition to the options and features highlighted in this document, PDT contains a wide range of features to help you with all aspects of your PHP development.