configuring php to connect with oracle database using XAMPP server manager

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Today i was searching for “how to configure php to connect with oracle “.  I tried different search words and searched the whole internet. Finally i was successful.

I use the package XAMM for windows to run PHP and MySql.

Step-A

Check whether you have oracle client already installed

1. In your XAMPP Start Page, go to phpinfo, look for string oci8. If string found it indicate that connection to oracle is available and simply execute Step-3.           Otherwise to activate connection do the following steps:
2. Open the currently used php.ini file by looking at the phpinfo, from the XAMPP folder.
3. Find string ;extension=php_oci8.dll. Remove the semicolon (;) from the begining of the string to activate the oracle extension.
4. Save the php.ini file.
5. Download the “Instant Client Package – Basic” for Windows from the OTN Instant Client page. Unzip it to “C:\xampp\php\ext” folder
6. Edit the PATH environment setting and add C:\xampp\php\ext before any other Oracle directories. For example, on Windows XP, follow Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables and edit PATH in the System variables list.
7. Set desired Oracle globalization language environment variables such as NLS_LANG. If nothing is set, a default local environment will be assumed. See An Overview on Globalizing Oracle PHP Applications for more details.
8. Unset Oracle variables such as ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_SID, which are unnecessary with Instant Client (if they are set previously).
9. Restart XAMPP (or Start if its not already started).
10. To make sure that connection to oracle database has successfully activated, go to phpinfo. Find string: oci8. If found, then XAMPP can now communicate with Oracle Database.

Step-B

Now connect to your desired database and execute your query

<?php

define('DB_SERVER', 'yourservername');
define('DB_USERNAME', 'yourUserName');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'yourPassword');
define('DB_DATABASE', 'yourDatabaseName');
$conn= oci_connect(DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD, DB_SERVER)
or die(oci_error());
echo "success...";
//$database = oci_select_db(DB_DATABASE) or die(oci_error());
$stid = oci_parse($conn, 'SELECT * FROM employees'); oci_execute($stid); echo "<table border='1'>\n"; while ($row = oci_fetch_array($stid, OCI_ASSOC+OCI_RETURN_NULLS)) {     echo "<tr>\n";     foreach ($row as $item) {         echo "    <td>" . ($item !== null ? htmlentities($item, ENT_QUOTES) : "&nbsp;") . "</td>\n";     }     echo "</tr>\n"; } echo "</table>\n";
?>

For further help you can always refer the PHP manual.