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PHP Toolkit for IBM i

PHP Toolkit for IBM i is a Zend Server for IBMi extension. The PHP ToolKit for IBM i enables Zend Server for IBMi to interact with native i5/OS services.

The PHP APIs enable PHP programs to access System objects such as RPG/COBOL/Java programs, CL commands, Data Queue, Spooled file, etc. These APIs expose the PHP Object Oriented programming interface.

From an architectural standpoint, PHP functionality is implemented as a PHP extension that is enabled during the Zend Server for IBM i Installation process.

The extension implements the client side of the interface.

A server, implementing the native IBM i interface, is installed on the IBM i machine as a native IBM i service.

PHP Toolkit Classes (sample)

The PHP Toolkit also offers sample classes for developers who are comfortable using object oriented (OO) methods in PHP.

PHP Toolkit classes can be found in the directory /usr/local/zendsvr/apache2/htdocs/.

This directory contains the i5 Toolkit classes file "Toolkit_classes.php", and the "demo_for_toolkit_classes.php" sample program, which utilizes the Toolkit classes.

The i5 Toolkit class library contains the following classes:

i5_Connection - Connection class
i5_Description - Data type definition class
i5_Program - Program call class
i5_DataQueue - Data Queue class
i5_DataQueueKey - Keyed Data Queue class
i5_SpoolList - Spooled file list class
i5_Userspace_Create - User Space create class
i5_Userspace_Delete - User Space delete class
i5_UserspaceManage - User Space read/write class
i5_DataAreas - Data Area class
i5_JobLogs - Job log class
i5_ActiveJobs - Active JobsJobs contain information about a specific Job (script to run) that you have set to run in your environment. class
i5_ObjectListing - Object list class
i5_NativeFileAccess - Database class

Installation

No special installation is required, just place the PHP Toolkit class file "Toolkit_classes.php" in the same directory as your PHP program.

Zend Studio IDE templates

Zend Studio IDE for IBM i comes complete with PHP Toolkit function Code Assist and Templates containing PHP API Toolkit functions.

For a full list of these functions, see IBM i Toolkit Templates.