Getting Started

Zend Studio, the leading integrated development environment for PHP Web applications, maximizes developer productivity by allowing you to develop and maintain code faster, resolve application issues quickly and improve team collaboration. Backed by Zend and built on top of the Eclipse platform, Zend Studio offers unmatched reliability and extensibility.

The steps below will help guide you through the basic procedures of using Zend Studio to develop and run your PHP applications.

Video

To better understand the procedures described in this topic, watch this video:

ClosedCreate a PHP project

To start working in Zend Studio, you should first create a new PHP project which will contain the files for your application.

In the procedure below you can choose which content to use in the project - Zend Studio's built-in PHP or Zend Framework.

 

 

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To create a new local PHP project:

  1. In the menu-bar, go to File | New | Local PHP Project.
    The New Local PHP Project wizard is displayed.

  1. Enter the following information:

    • Project Name: Enter the name of your project.

    • Location: Enter the location folder for your project.

    • PHP Server - Click the drop-down menu and select an existing server for deploying the new server project, or click Add Server to create a new server. For information on adding new servers, see Managing PHP Servers.

    • Content: Select the content package you wish to work with in your project- Basic or Zend Studio's built-in Zend Framework.

    • Version:
      • If you chose to work with the built-in Zend Framework content package. If you wish to use a different version of Zend Framework, click on the drop-down menu, and select Browse to use a different Zend Framework library.
      • If you chose to work with the Basic package content, click on the drop-down menu to select a PHP version.

  1. Select the libraries you wish to add to the project, and click Finish.
    Your project is created, and displayed in the PHP Explorer.

For a list of all the PHP projects you can create, see Creating New PHP Projects.
ClosedCreate PHP Files

You can now start to develop your application by creating PHP files in your project.

 

 

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To create a new PHP file within you project:

  1. In the PHP Explorer view, select the project you created.
  2. Right-click and select New | PHP File.
    The PHP File creation dialog is displayed.

  1. Enter the name of the file, and click Next.
    The Select PHP Template dialog is displayed.

  1. Select a template as the initial content of the new PHP file, and click Finish.
    Your file will open in the editor and will appear within your project in PHP Explorer view.

For more information on creating new files in Zend Studio, see Creating PHP Files and Creating HTML Files.
ClosedCreate PHP Elements

You can use Zend Studio's PHP element creation wizards to quickly and easily create PHP elements such as classes and interfaces within your code.

 

 

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To create a new PHP class/interface:

  1. In PHP Explorer view, right-click the project/file in which you want to create the new class/interface and select New | Class or Interface.

  1. The New PHP Class/Interface/Trait wizard is displayed.

.

  1. Enter the required details and click Finish.
    The new class/interface will be created with the required code.

For more information on creating new PHP elements, see Creating PHP Elements.
ClosedCode with Content Assist

Manually type code in your files. As you type, content assist will suggest code options according to the context of the code.

You can select a required code string to quickly insert it into your script
If the Content Assist window does not pop up automatically, press Ctrl+Space.

For more information on Content Assist, see Using Content Assist. For tips on coding PHP, click here.

ClosedRename Elements (Refactoring)

If at any point during your development you want to rename an element, this can be easily done using the in-place refactoring feature.

This will apply the rename operation to all occurrences of the required element so that all links between elements are maintained.

Note:

The refactoring feature also gives access to a range of other functions such as move file and extract variable. See Refactoring for more information.

 

 

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To rename an element within the editor:

  1. In the editor, place your cursor on the element to be renamed.
  2. From the menu -bar select Refactor | Rename.
    -OR-
    Right-click, and select Refactor | Rename.
    -OR-
    Press Alt-Shift-R.
    All occurrences of the element are put in a frame and the Refactor popup is displayed.

 

  1. Type the new element name in the box.
    All occurrences of the element name are automatically updated.

    Note:

    To preview the changes before applying them, click the arrow in the right-hand corner of the Refactor popup and select Preview.

  2. Click Enter to apply the refactoring.
    The element will be renamed and all instances where that element is referenced will be updated to reflect the changes.

For more information on refactoring your code, see Using Refactoring.
ClosedComment your Code

It is good programming practice to comment all functions, classes and methods in your code. This helps both the developer and others who might look at the code to understand its purpose. Simply add a double slash "//" and comment away! Zend Studio also allows you to easily select and comment existing lines.

   

To comment lines:

  1. Select all the lines that you would like to be commented.
  2. Press Ctrl + /
    Two slashes "//" will be added to the front of the line, recognizing it as a comment.
 

Install PHPDocumentor to create documentation from your comments.
ClosedFormatting Code

Zend Studio can automatically format your code according to set standards to make it easily navigable and readable.

 

 

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To format your code:

  1. Open the required file.

  2. Go to Source | Format Document or press Ctrl+Shift+F.

Your code will be automatically formatted.

 

 

Usage Example

Example:

Unformatted Code

Formatted Code

You can also format only selected lines within your code. For more information, see Formatting Code.
ClosedFinding and Replacing

Zend Studio gives you a powerful search and replace mechanism for easily finding and replacing text strings in your code.

 

 

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To find and replace a string:

  1. From within the file, press Crtl+F.
    -OR-
    In the menu-bar, go to Edit | Find/Replace.

  2. A "Find/Replace" dialog will appear.

  1. Enter the required string to find.

  2. Enter the required string to replace it.

  3. If necessary, configure the settings under the direction, scope and options category.

  4. Click Replace.
    The found string will be replaced by the new string.

For more information on using Zend Studio's Find and Replace, see Finding and Replacing.
ClosedRun your Application

Great! You've finished coding your application. Now what? You can preview the execution of your application by running it locally as CLI, or as a Web application on your Web server.

Run as CLI Application

 

 

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To run your application as a CLI application:

In PHP Explorer, right-click the file from which you would like to start the execution and select Run As | PHP CLI Application.
Your application will run locally and displayed in the Browser Output view.

 

Run as PHP Web Application

 

 

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To run your application as a Web application:

  1. Place your application on a Web server.
    If you selected to create your project on a local Zend Server you can skip this step.
  2. In the PHP Explorer, right-click the file from which you would like to start the execution, and select Run As | PHP Web Application.
    The Run PHP Web Application dialog is displayed.

  1. Make sure the URL is correct, and modify it if needed.
  2. Click OK.
    Your application will be run and displayed in Zend Studio's internal browser.

Tip:

You can periodically rerun your application to preview any changes you have made to your files during development. The files that will be executed will be the files situated locally on your workspace, irrespective of any changes made to the server copies of the files.
ClosedWhat Next?

Once you've familiarized yourself with the basics, you can begin additional tasks in Zend Studio:

You can also try our more advanced tutorials for a complete A-Z workflow.

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