Integrating PHP and OpenOffice – Using PHP to Dynamically Manipulate and Convert OO documents

You have probably already heard about OpenOffice, the OpenSource Office suite that is now used by millions of peopleworldwide. One of the key points in OpenOffice’s mission isthat its file formats are saved so that they can be accessible toanyone. In this article, CMS expert Bård Farstard will lookinto the OOo XML storage format to see if it’s really as openas they claim and show you how you can manipulate OpenOffice filesfrom within your PHP applications.—by

Row, Row, Row Your Boat – ZIP on the Fly with the Streams API

In human languages, the meaning of words tends to change overtime. The word “porcelain” traces its root to“porcus”—Latin for pig. Functions in PHP alsohave a way of acquiring capabilities beyond what their namessuggest. Once upon a time, the “f” in [fopen()] hadstood for “file.” Nowadays, [fopen()] can open manyother things. Join Cheung W. Leong as he guides you through thecreation of a system that takes advantage of PHP’s streamfunctionality to create ZIP files on-the-fly.—by Chung Leong

PHP-GTK and the Glade GUI Builder: Building Client Applications with Style

Many of you have probably tried out PHP-GTK to build simpleapplications. Cod-ing a complex window program can be atime-consuming and error-prone task. However, using the Glade GUIbuilder can simplify the task and make window building fun again.Author Tony Leake shows you how in this in-depth tutorial.—by Tony Leake

Exposing Web application data semantically using RAP (RDF API for PHP)

If you spend any amount of time following the latesttechnology trends, you are undoubtedly familiar with RSS and the”Semantic Web”, which have enabled a new way of consuming Webcontent based upon standards for exchanging syndicationinformation. By exposing Web content as machine readable data, newservices have been created that were previously impossible tobuild. This article will take you beyond RSS and explain whatsemantic data is, why it is important, and how you can expose yourWeb application data semantically using the open source RDF API forPHP. Code samples will be provided for creating and integratingFOAF, RSS and Geo-graphic semantic data.—by Paul Cowles

Roll Your Own Template

Template engines are a “must use” in simple tocomplex web applications because they provide a way to separatepresentation from logic. This makes this kind of software simple tomanage and fast to develop. Template engines, however, can also bea performance bottleneck. In this great article, SérgioMachado shows you how to build a template system with the followingfeatures in mind (in order of importance): lightweight (performanceand ease of use), support for operations and functions for datamanipulation (power and control to the developer) andsimplicity.—by

Driving multiple databases anywhere

As the communication era continues to grow, the need anddesire to link many different systems and environments togetherincreases. This article by Geoffrey Mondoux is designed to show youhow to link different types of databases safely, how to establishmeaningful connections to read, write, and understand the wealth ofinformation held in them.—by Geoffrey Mondoux