getting started: FXForge

[victorialine]

I'm new to FX.php and just started with FXForge, and I’m not able to get a page that works.

Here is what I’m using:

Adobe GoLive v.7.0.2 (from Adobe CS)

Mac – OS 10.4.7

FM 8.3

FXForge v.3

The db that I’m using is hosted at an FM server. I also have a copy of it on my computer. I have unstuffed the extension and put it in the FXForge Extension folder. Then I have run the wizard, and followed along with the video on FMWebschool site.

I end up with an GoLive page, but I don’t think that there is any link between that page and the database. The page has the graphics from the template and shows the table for the info from db, but no info shows up.

A few questions:

Am I able to test the page I create with FXForge, and have it all work on my computer before uploading it to the internet?

Do I have do load fx.php (or anything else) on my computer to be able to test it locally before uploading to the internet?

(if yes, can you please point me in the direction of good resources for that – as I recall from earlier research, it was not as easy as it seems)

How does the page that FXForge generated know where to look for the db – I put the name of the db in the wizard, but that doesn’t tell it where it IS – especially if it is hosted??

Many thanks,

Cin

[victorialine]

I love it when I respond to my own posts!!! I hope this helps others out there:

Ok, I finally have it all working.

Here are a few things I learned in doing this, that I have not seen published anywhere else (it may be out there, but I did not come across it – AND this is what I had to do – this may not be the same for all servers and all programs. I’m using GoLive to do the webpages and FXForge to do the php).

while it is possible for the website to be hosted on one server, and the db hosted on another – the php pages that deal with the db must be on the db server, not the regular site server.

Knowing that would have saved me loads of time!!

The server that has the db will have space for you to put your php pages. But I had to know the host address, the web address, and the folder structure that was already there, to know where to load my pages up. Oh, and I had to know the logon and password to FTP to it.

The computer where the php/html codes are being written has the FX file (as downloaded) (as opposed to it being a part of what is on the server already). There are two things to note about it:

a. the FX folder should be upload to the website along with the HTML pages.

b. you have to go into the FX folder to put in your IP address and the port that the db is on. The file to do that is server_data.php and you place it at $serverIP = '123.456.78.910'; (with of course your numbers in there)

That is how the web page knows where to find the db.

4. then the php pages that I put up HAD to be in the ‘web_pages’ folder – now, I don’t know if this was the particular server or not, but I can say that you can’t just put the pages anywhere, you really do have to get them in the right place.

So, all that info would have saved me several hours – so I hope that it is of use to someone else out there.

The only other thing that I have stumbled across that was not obvious is about FXForge. When you open then file, there is an extension that you have to place in the extensions folder (the FXForge extension folder, that is). IF you do not do so, when you go to save the file that you create with the wizard, you get a question mark in the field name.

SO – other than that, it looks like FXForge is going to be awesome. Now that I have all the players talking, I just have to learn about the different ways to program it all, but I think that that will be the least of my worries. And I can already say, it would have taken me foooorrreeeeeevvvvver to learn php AND how to put it all together. It really helped that I knew that the coding was good, it was something else that was off. So if you are a beginner like me, and you are thinking of learning php, please do it the easy way. Thanks FMWebschool!!!!