Entries by Alan Seiden

Zend Server beta for PHP on IBM i: I like it

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UPDATE: As of 2020, we recommend using Seiden PHP on IBM i and LINUX for reliability, speed, and ease of maintenance. I’m recommending that people try Zend Server beta for IBM i if they’re using PHP on the IBM i. Even though it’s in beta, Zend Server brings improvements over its predecessors, Zend Core and Zend Platform. Improvements include: Easy new user interface combining the best of Core and Platform Better interface makes it easier for people to discover and use features such as code tracing and debugging Elimination of mandatory proxy server (always a thorn in my side!) Use…

PHP on IBM i (and me) at ZendCon 2009

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This year’s ZendCon (Oct. 20-22, 2009, in San Jose, Calif.), the premier PHP conference, features several presentations about developing with PHP on the IBM i, including one by me! Come hear me speak about “Zend Framework for Enterprise PHP on IBM i” on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, at 4pm. For details, go to http://www.zendcon.com.

Our Zend Framework-based Site Honored by IBM/COMMON

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UPDATE: As of 2020, we recommend using Seiden PHP on IBM i and LINUX for reliability, speed, and ease of maintenance. We won! IBM has recognized my use of PHP and Zend Framework, and our entire team’s RPG/DB2 and design work, by naming our web solution the IBM i’s most innovative of 2009. At IBM’s 2009 COMMON conference, IBM awarded the Power Systems Innovation Award for Best Web Solution for eBiz@ABG. The site, developed with my colleagues at  Strategic Business Systems, Inc., was created for New Jersey’s largest wine and spirits wholesaler, Allied Beverage Group. The system offers product ordering,…

Why Use a PHP Framework?

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At last night’s NY-PHP gathering, a fellow PHP’er and I discussed PHP frameworks. I told her I was developing an e-commerce site using Zend Framework. She replied that she’d been considering frameworks, especially Cake and Symfony, “but I’m not sure I need a framework at all. I write my own SQL; my apps work fine. What would a framework do for me?” Setting aside the differences between PHP frameworks, I’m aware of at least 4 reasons to use them: Modular design: A home-grown application, with its ad hoc growth, can become a tangled mess that’s hard to change or enhance….

My first open-source project: Mantis/400

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Mantis/400 adds DB2 support to Mantis, the popular PHP-based bug tracking application. I programmed the upgrade with Ira Chandler of Curbstone Corporation, personnel from IBM and Zend, and Mantis’s Victor Boctor. Mantis/400 runs on IBM System i (formerly AS/400), using Zend Core for i5. Even before we got involved, Mantis supported several databases, thanks to the ADOdb Database Abstraction Library for PHP (and Python). ADOdb’s support of DB2 needed help, though, so we improved it, particularly for System i’s version of DB2. I recommend the open-source process to anyone who enjoys learning a lot and meeting good people. Our team…

Brand your site with a favicon

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Favicons are those eye-catching little pictures that appear in your web browser’s address bar, favorites list (hence the name favicon, short for “favorites icon”), and, with modern tabbed browsers, on tabs. Instantly recognizable when designed well, favicons represent the brand identity of sites that use them. Examples Wikipedia uses the “W” from its logo: Digg’s favicon represents a person holding a shovel, an image that seems to have been created especially for the favicon: Usability in a tabbed, multitasking world Tabbed browsers, such as Firefox and Internet Explorer 7, can show many page-tabs at once, squishing a site’s descriptive text….

Protect Your Eyes Against Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS)

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Eye strain is a common complaint from computer users, but eyes aren’t the only part of the body that can hurt. Neck pain and backaches can also result from poor visual ergonomics. In my latest article, Protect Your Eyes Against Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) (requires free registration after about May 18, 2007), I show several ways to keep your eyes comfortable at the computer. People who wear bifocals or trifocals should consider occupational progressive lenses, glasses that are made especially for daily computer use. These special glasses can resolve painful postural problems. Money-saving tip: if you need to buy special…

Arrange Your Workstation to Protect Yourself Against Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

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If you’re reading this blog, you need to protect yourself against Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). As we work and explore the internet, we accumulate little stresses and habits that can hurt us over time. MC Press just published my piece on how to arrange your computer workstation to avoid injury. For my research, I interviewed Steve Shostack, former ergonomics consultant to NASA, and Paul Linden, Ph.D. Paul, an aikido teacher and Feldenkrais practitioner, wrote Comfort at Your Computer. I also recommend Paul’s free e-book, Reach Out: Body Awareness Training for Peacemaking, downloadable from www.being-in-movement.com. Space did not permit me to…

PHP mail() on IBM System i

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My new article about mail() is available at MC Press Online. The article covers: Zend Core’s implementation of mail() for IBM System i How mail() compares to packages such as PHPMailer Function definition and example How to configure SMTP in Zend Core Overriding defaults with ini_set Troubleshooting (This article is no longer available.)