Conclusion

Unlike check, have_perm returns true or false, and does not exit the script. You can use this for conditional testing, such as:

<?php

if ($perm->have_perm("guest")) {
    //do something;
} elseif ($perm->have_perm("admin")) {
    //do something else;
} else {
    //yet something else;

}

?>

Database Abstraction

As mentioned earlier, PHPLIB uses a database abstraction layer. This is required for use with the other classes (authentication, session), but is also extremely handy to use on your own. It allows you to use a set of arbitrary database commands which will then be mapped to the database you are using. The benefit of this is that your apps can work with any database simply by changing your local configuration. Here's a simple example to query a database.

<?php

$db = new DB_MyDBClass;
$query = "select name from sometable";
$db->query($query);
while ($db->next_record()) {

    $db->p("name");

}



?>

The first line creates a new database object. The username, password, host, and database are set in your local configuration. The third line then queries the database, and stores the result set in the database object. The $db->next_record() advances result set to the next row. The $db->p("name") prints out the value of the field name. You can also say $db->f("name") which simply returns the value rather than printing it out. The above is equivalent to this chunk of mysql specific code, and also automatically provides error handling and centralized storage of connection data:

<?php

mysql_connect("localhost","username","password");
mysql_select_db("some_db");
$query = "select name from sometable";
$result = mysql_query($query);
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
    $row["name"];
}

?>

Conclusion

There is a lot more to what PHPLIB can do, this is just an introduction. There are more functions and classes you'll want to look at, so head over to http://phplib.netuse.de and check out the docs. Check out the showroom to get an idea of how to put together a system.

--Chad

Register the Variable
Session Management and Authentication with PHPLIB