PHP related files only work when launched from dreamweaver - php

Question

I am starting to learn php, I made a form that uses a php file to write the information into an xml file. The form is in an html file, and the php action in a seperate file. I am using EAsyphp 12.1
Whenever I use the upload form publishing it through dreamweaver everything goes fine.
But when I open it directly into the broswer it shows me part of the php code.
This is the code for html
<form enctype="multipart/form-data" action="chng.php" method="POST">
<div>Name <input type='text' name="tf" /> </div>
<div>image <input name="uploadedfile1" type="file" /> </div><br />
<input type="submit" />
</form>
The php is
$target_path4 = "../img/";
$target_path4 = $target_path4 . basename( $_FILES['uploadedfile4']['name']);
$name4="../img/linkimagen.jpg";
$t = $_POST['tf'];
if(move_uploaded_file($_FILES['uploadedfile4']['tmp_name'], $name4)) {
$xml = simplexml_load_file('info.xml');
$xml->names[0]=$t;
file_put_contents('info.xml', $xml->asXML());
$xml->images[0]=$shortname;
file_put_contents('info.xml', $xml->asXML());
}
?>
The xml information is then picked up by another page using Jquery ajax.
Everything works fine if I launch the form file using dreamweaver as I said before. Also, sometimes the page that displays the information from the xml will display it if opened directly from the browser, other times it won't, however it will always display if opened from dreamweaver. I've found information for php not working in dreamweaver but not the opposite, as is my case. Is there anything I have to do so it works always? Thanks for any info!

Answer 1

Well if you upload it to your server - there is a php parser which parses your file
if you open it local it won't get parsed so it's just another text document.
Of course you could install something like xampp, to have a local webserver but if you are just starting out - it's a bit much I guess :)
-- Edit --
An addition: Please watch the behaviour of your browser. If you have already a webserver installed on your computer it has an adress which usually is something like h ttp://localhost/ or h ttp://127.0.0.1 - if your file doesn't get parsed it's probably because it opens directly like C:\programm files\dreamweaver\whatever\index.php and not
h ttp://localhost/index.php
hope this helps you ;).