I am debating between using MsSQL and SQLSrv to connect to SQL Server.
Our platform is running IIS7 on Windows and using PHP. We tried using the MsSQL extension to work but had problems so we decided to use SQLSrv instead since it was easier to get working.
Using MsSQL would be the preferred option because it fits the workflow better and the function names are similar to the ones used in SQL. Is it worth the effort to use MsSQL with PHP in light of the problems we are facing or should we use SQLSrv with the downsides mentioned.
Also, on the MSDN Docs for SQLSrv it mentions that the documentation is for preview and might change. Does that mean the functions could end up changing?
As far as the notice on the documentation all it means is they may change the wording of the document later in its release, I can't promise that the functions will stay the same however nothing on that page leads me to believe otherwise. Here is a Microsoft Wiki article on Accessing SQL Server Databases from PHP is says that the process outlined on that page is compatible with SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008 R2 so the software should not change since it needs to maintain compatibility with older versions of SQL Server.
You may also want to reference that wiki article, it contains step by step setup procedures for MsSQL and SQLSrv which may work for you and fix the issue you have.
Related
Connecting to MSSQL using Doctrine2 on Unix
Im currently developing a project which uses Doctrine2 with PHP on an Ubuntu Server (x64). It's required to fetch data from a MSSQL-Server which is running externally.
Problem
Doctrine2 doesn't support the pdo_dblib driver, neither there's a support for sqlsrv on unix-like machines (sqlsrv is windows only). Being that given, it seems like Doctrine simply doesn't have a built-in support for MSSQL-Servers on unix-machines.
Solutions
These are solutions I tried without success.
1. Write own wrapper for pdo_dblib and integrate in doctrine's DBAL
I couldn't figure out how to write my own driver, platform and schema for doctrines DBAL neither found anything usefull in its docs or per google.
Actual Question
Is there any kind of support for MSSQL-Servers with Doctrine 2 without using Symfony or other third-party code ?
Your original solution is not actually that hard to achieve. I've run into this issue trying to connect to SQL Server using ODBC, which is one option for linux hosts, and the only change that I needed was in this file.
If you update that function and use a valid ODBC connection string instead, it will work just fine. Of course the Doctrine folks didn't make it easy by making that function private, so you'll either have to resort to editing your library or copy/pasting the entire SQL Server driver code.
That said, SQL Server support with ODBC is somewhat poor. For example, I've run into an issue where exceptions are thrown if you use bound parameters inside a subquery. Even though it works just fine with Microsoft's official driver which itself is based on ODBC. Go figure. If possible, copy your data to a more Linux friendly database and work with it there.
I generally use linux servers and program in PHP (plus other associated technologies) with mysql databases. A client has existing ASP sites using MSSQL databases on a Windows server and wants some new sites created on their server using their MSSQL database as the main data source. I have used ASP in the past but much prefer PHP so would rather use this.
I just wanted to confirm that i'm right in saying as long as the server has PHP installed (which it does) then there's no reason I can't create a PHP site on the Windows server and just use different connectors to connect to the MSSQL db (rather than what i would usually use for connecting to a MYSQL db). Presumably (other than the different connect/query code) this would work in pretty much the same way as with a linux setup with mysql and i could then code the site in PHP but use their existing datasource?
I would be extremely grateful if anyone could confirm i'm right in saying this and if there's any other issues that might cause any problems?
Thanks so much for your help as ever,
Dave
You can enable MSSQL support in PHP on Windows. The default Windows PHP install has the php_mssql.dll extension commented out in the php.ini file. Uncomment that line, restart Apache, and it should work.
There is a supporting DLL called ntwdblib.dll that you may need to find a replacement for, as the version included with PHP may be outdated and won't work with newer versions of SQL Server. (I had this problem when setting it up.)
There are two different libraries to connect to SQL Server from PHP:
The legacy mssql extension, which has been discontinued on Windows
Microsoft's sqlsrv extension, which only works on Windows
I've basically worked with the second one and I can say it's a very interesting product. It's robust, it has a very nice interface and it's totally up-to-date. But what I like most is that it has very nice features. E.g.:
It can return dates as PHP DateTime objects
It provides a PDO driver
The only drawback of using SQL Server is that there isn't an easy way to write a cross-platform app but I understand it isn't problem in your case.
Yes, it is rather straight forweard.
You need to have the mssql library activated in php.ini. Which can be troublesom.
MSSSQL docmentation
I want to connect to a SQL Server 2000 from PHP installed in a unix platform (CentOs) and to be able to run queries (SELECT and UPDATE). The solution must support UTF-8 data.
As search through the web, I find out that there exists many different approaches (freeTDS, unixODBC, ODBTP, Easysoft ODBC, Easysoft ODBC-ODBC Bridge, PDO).
Could someone point me to the best solution for the specific connection?
PDO is the preferred library a.t.m, with PDO_DBLIB (at least, for Linux), see here. if you need it portable between Linux & Windows, use PDO_ODBC.
The fact that PDO_DBLIB was (and still is) experimental discourage me from using it. I decided to start testing a solution using freeTDS, that seemed to be the simpliest method. It turned out to function excellent, for that specific connection's case and I implemented the final application using it.
So basically here's my problem. I'm looking for a solution to allow us to connect with SQL Express 2008, while still using MDB2 as our database abstraction layer. I need something like this, mainly because we still need to be able to use MySQL and Postgres (and ORMs seem to be not an option at this point in time).
Preferably, there would be a solution that works for both PHP5.2 and PHP5.3.
At first I went down the php_mysql extension road... it seems, though, as though that is not available in PHP 5.3.
php_pdo_mssql doesn't seem to be usable with MDB2, so that seems to be out.
Finally, there's the MS developed 'SQLSRV' extension, and while it seems as though there was work on a MDB2 'extension' for it at one point, it doesn't seem to have ever made it into the main branch.
Please... does anyone have any solutions for me?
For anyone else looking for information on this... so far, I have got SQL Express 2008 working with MDB2 running under PHP 5.2.
I have not yet tried connecting to a remote server: so far, I have only connected to SQL Express running on localhost.
I'm not sure if the PHP I am using shipped with the php_mssql.dll extension or not: either way, I disabled it. Instead, I used the php_dblib.dll that I downloaded from links on http://docs.moodle.org/en/Installing_MSSQL_for_PHP . This library is a build of FreeTDS (from freetds.org). I have not done any major testing with it yet, but I can connect to it, and I have been told by a colleague that they are having 'actual' success with it.
php_dblib.dll provides 'replacement' functions for the mssql_* functions that php_mssql.dll provided. Therefore, you need to disable the php_mssql.dll extension before enabling the php_dblib.dll one.
Other little things to note:
1) whereas most documentation on SQL Express and PHP state that you have to include the 'instance' name in the host section of the DB connection information, I found that this did not work for me: in fact, I had to explicitly remove the "\SQLEXPRESS".
2) while the Moodle link above provides PHP 5.3 builds of php_dblib.dll, unfortunately they are built with VC9. The install of PHP 5.3 I have was built with VC6 and so I am still working on building my own php_dblib.dll for PHP 5.3.
Anyway, I hope that this helps people who are having the same problem.
I have on my local PC installed WAMP environment (using WampServer OS).
Now I would need to change one script from working with MySQL to MSSQL.
I have no idea at all how to proceed, where to download MSSQL, how to install it and how to connect with PHP?
Thank you very much
Download mssql express http://www.microsoft.com/Sqlserver/2005/en/us/express.aspx
Familiarize yourself with one of the great database abstraction layers, for example PDO http://www.php.net/pdo
Refactor your code to use the database abstraction layer
You may need to rewrite the mysql specific things to "standard" SQL
Start by getting Sql Server working. If you are using an old copy of Sql Server (pre 2005) you will need to make sure ntwdblib.dll is present in your System32 directory, and removed from your PHP dll directory (ntwdblib.dll is installed with the enterprise tools, so you may have to install them on your PHP box as well). Once you have Mssql querying properly, start finding where Mssql differs from MySql in your code.
A couple of tips:
The ntwdblib doesn't accept long strings (I think it is limited to 4k, but don't quote me on that). You have to use Stored Procs if you are trying to process a string longer than 4k.
Try to use Sql Server 2005 if you can (see above), the ntwdblib.dll is ancient and has numerous issues.
The PHP site is your friend for mssql.