PHP&Java(1)

Mark Nold
Joost Soeterbroek

The Java extension is an extremely exciting tool. By learning how to use this module, you can extend PHP by the power of all available Java classes. To show you the basics of the Java extension, this article will cover installation and a few code examples of using PHP and Java together.

Windows Installation

The following configuration has been tested with Apache 1.3.12, PHP 4.0.3 binaries from www.php4win.de plus the 4.0.3 Zend Optimiser and JDK 1.2.2 from java.sun.com. We have also tested this configuration with older versions of the JDK and the various MS webservers (PWS and IIS) on Windows 95, Windows 98 and NT4.
Step 1: Install the JDK. This is fairly simple, as the JDK installs without many questions. It might be useful to check your environment (autoexec.bat in Windows 9x and System under Control Panel in NT) and make sure the jdk1.x.xin directory is in your path. This will make compiling your Java Classes easier. On Win9x add

PATH=%PATH%;C:jdk1.2.2in

to your autoexec.bat. On NT add

;C:jdk1.2.2in

to the end of the PATH environment variable. It is also important to note in your autoexec.bat file, the PHP Java extension ignores the JAVA_HOME and CLASSPATH set up in the environment. This is important because these items must be set correctly in your php.ini file for the Java extension to work.
Step 2: Modifying your php.ini. You need to add something similiar to your php.ini file

[java]
extension=php_java.dll
java.library.path=c:webphp4extensionsjava.class.path="c:webphp4extensionsjdk1.2.2php_java.jar;c:myclasses"