PHP is loosely based on perl or perl-isc language structure. I am expert in perl and when I do php I run into the little "differences" between the two if I am not careful.

Now about PHP being cross platform, that is very true. I run php on my mac (my home computers/laptops), linux (my servers at work and at home), and Windows (my work computers). With a few exceptions the code that runs on any of them will run on all of them.


As for writing this app using php/mysql I am all for it. For being able to run this offline (off the Internet) and locally on you laptop, you can load of of the below *AMP stacks, which including apache (web server), mysql (dbase), & perl and/or php (for coding in).

Windows WAMP
Mac OSX MAMP
LAMP (Linux/Apache/Mysql/Perl/Php) can be install via the installer/downloaded (each version of Linux comes with all the parts just might not be loaded by default).

Solaris, *BSD have ports of the software. I believe HPUX and AIX do to. Not 100%. But that shouldnt matter since most of dont have a UNIX RISC laptop.

if the code (in the php) is written carefully if could be dropped into any webdirectory and work smoothly. Especially if you put all the dbase connection into (dbase server name, login, password, dbase instance name, table names, etc) in a config file.

just my opinion...
dog

Most importantly: then I'd need a webserver running if I want to use it while offline, and I'd need to do HTTP requests to fetch its output to parse even if the frontend is on the same machine.

Also, making it a web app tempts you to do things like use MySQL, which is an exceptionally bad idea. A project like this would probably do better with flat files, or if absolutely necessary something like sqlite (though I'm not in favour of using any form of database—the project scope as suggested just doesn't demand it).

Now you need to test it in multiple browsers, on multiple hosts with multiple versions of php/fooSQL, plus you need to worry about security, etc. since you're introducing network access into the picture. You do, granted, get the ability to put headlines online without having to be involved in a middle step, but that's a minor gain that can be picked up later.

~J

You'd have to install fooAMP (or, if sanity prevails (a web app is a bad idea IMO, but not insane), fooAP) to use the generator offline if and only if it was written as a web app. If not, you might not have to install anything (language compiled to machine code and not depending on non-bundled libraries, bytecode, JITted, or interpreted language with bundled VM/JIT compiler/interpreter) or you might have to (dependency on non-preinstalled dynamically-linked library, any of that second category above without the bundling and the appropriate VM/JIT compiler/interpreter not preinstalled). With a non-web app, you get to choose. With a web app, you don't.

Of course, OS X installs at least have Apache, PHP, and MySQL installed off the install disc (IIRC, it might be an optional install but it's definitely on the install discs) and I'd imagine many Linux distributions would do likewise. I still think it's more of a pain, but it's not like you're definitely going to have to install stuff to use it as web app.

I think the biggest reason for not doing it as a web app is the ease with which, provided the output is properly parsable, a web frontend would be very easy to write—much easier than a similarly-obvious design for a web app could be adapted for non-web use. Well, with the exception of the obvious choice of writing an essentially-separate module for the actual generation, which is basically making it not a web app.

Of course, the originator hasn't posted in this thread since it started, despite being active since late August, so it's likely this idea is on indefinite hiatus. C'est la vie.

~J

Yeah, about that...so, clearly there's people here who know what they're talking about. Anyone feel like picking up the project?