Connecting the Dots: Building Web Applications with PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript New to web development, or trying to get started? Have you taken a PHP course, but are having trouble understanding how to build complete applications for the web? Or maybe you're a manager trying to get an understanding of how web applications work at a high level. This presentation will provide an overview of how browser-based database applications work, with an IBM i audience in mind. It will demonstrate the client-side languages - HTML, CSS and JavaScript - and show how PHP scripts running on a server can dynamically build web pages including content from an IBM i database.
We will discuss the HTTP protocol and how web servers work with HTML and PHP, look at some common formatting techniques in HTML and CSS, demonstrate how HTML forms interact with PHP scripts, and show what JavaScript is and how it makes the browser more functional. With these basics concepts in mind, you should be able to make better decisions about how to sort through the many options available for web-enabling your legacy databases. This presentation is for beginner to novice web programmers, or those who would like to understand the technologies and languages involved in a typical web application.
Case Study: Polar Beverage: Production Scheduling Application using PHP and jQuery This session will describe a project in which an RPG shop extended their legacy MRP system with a custom-coded, browser-based application to provide interactive scheduling for shop orders in their manufacturing facility. Polar Beverage is the largest independent soft-drink bottler in the U.S. Previously tracking weekly production scheduling via an Excel spreadsheet, they recognized a need for a better scheduling solution. They designed an elegant solution with a simple, intuitive user interface, allowing users to see 12 days of future production in a bar chart format. Individual orders appear as stacks of blocks for each day, sized according to order quantity. Order blocks can be dragged from one day to another to levelize production visually. Two other panels provide: 1) a daily view, where a day’s orders can be resequenced by drag and drop, plus 2) a search panel tor viewing planned (i.e. unscheduled) orders, which can be dragged onto the weekly schedule as firm planned orders.
This application uses PHP and SQL on the server side, running on Zend Server for IBM i, to retrieve and update the legacy database tables. The client side (browser) relies heavily on the jQuery framework, including the jQueryUI and jqGrid extensions, to deliver a rich, easy to use interface. JSON (Java Script Object Notation) is used to communicate data between client and server. This presentation will provide a review of how jQuery and JSON work in conjunction with PHP, and John will describe in some detail the programming used to accomplish these effects. The goal is to show you a real life example of how the magic of jQuery can be put to use in a non-trivial business application on IBM i. Basic understanding of web applications, JavaScript, and jQuery are helpful, but not required.
John Valance has worked on the IBM midrange platform since 1983 and on web development since 1998. As a consultant and developer, John specializes in data base and web application development on the IBM i platform. He is also a trainer for Zend Technologies, teaching PHP Foundations for IBM i Programmers, and is a Zend Certified Engineer. He has extensive programming experience in RPG, Java, PHP, and JavaScript, and he enjoys explaining new programming concepts to RPG programmers. John is a frequent presenter at user groups, and has created presentations and labs on many web development topics. John is the president and founder of Division 1 Systems, a software and services firm based in Burlington, Vermont www.div1sys.com. Growing up in New York City, John started his career in the NY area, but moved to Vermont in 1994 to raise a family and has been there ever since. John is also an accomplished musician, playing a variety of instruments and styles. John can be reached at johnv@div1sys.com.
