php 4.4.0 to php 5.2

[DoctorX]

Hi,

 

We have a site which was developed back in 2003 and is build on php 4.4, infact that is the ONLY version that keeps the site running right.  I want to now upgrade our server and having a hard time building software packages which are so old to work with the new hardware which is now available.  I want to convert the code to php 5.2.x and would like to know what is the best way?  is it just something simple or am I just asking for trouble?  Is there a good tool available that can change/upgrade the code for me?

 

We would also like to make this site multi-lingual, what can be done about that?

 

BTW I am also running MySQL version 4.1.20.

 

 

|X|

[DyslexicDog]

It really depends on how the site was coded. If if was written using object oriented you may have some problems. The best way to find out what's going to happen is to build up a test environment, copy the site over to the new server and start smashing bugs.

[haku]

That's about it. There is no way of knowing how easy or hard it will be without just trying it.

 

As for multilingual sites - this is how I do it.

 

1) I create files for each language. For example index_en.php and index_jp.php

2) In these files, I define constants like this:

 

index_en.php

define ("_INDEX_", "index");

index_jp.php

define ("_INDEX_", "indekkusu");

 

You will notice that the define name is the same for both English and Japanese - _INDEX_. I use this format of an underscore tagged on the front and the back out of a person preference. It lets me know that the text comes from the language files. Its by no means required though, and you can use whatever format you want.

 

3) At the top of each page, I check to see what the language is set to (you can set it with a cookie, or a config document, or settings in the users control panel or however you want). I then use that language to include applicable language document.

 

index.php

$language = $_COOKIE['language'];
require_once("index_{$language}.php");

 

4) In the  same document (in this case index.php), for any place I would use the word 'index', I use _INDEX_.

 

index.php

echo _INDEX_

 

So now, if the cookie for language is set to 'en', then index.php will output 'index'. If the cookie is set to 'jp', index.php will output 'indekkusu'.

[PFMaBiSmAd]

There are very few "backward" incompatible differences between php4 and php5. Even php4 OOP syntax works under php5.

 

http://www.php.net/manual/en/faq.migration5.php

http://www.php.net/manual/en/migration5.php

 

You are more likely to find configuration differences if your code was developed on a system that was not using recommended php.ini settings.

 

You can find the general things in your code that you will need to fix (short open tags, register globals...) by comparing the php.ini settings from your php4 system and the php5 system.

 

Turning on full php error_reporting (set it to E_ALL) and setting display_errors on in your php.ini or a .htaccess file will get php to help you find problems with your code, such as program variables that are no longer being magically populated due to register globals.

 

A number of old and depreciated features and functions are being eliminated in php6. If you are upgrading your code, you might as well make it php6 compatible at the same time - http://derickrethans.nl/files/meeting-notes.html#cleanup-of-functionality

[DoctorX]

Thanks for all your help guys.  It seems like this is too advance for me.  I think I should search for a person to do this task for me.  Any referrences for a good coder to do this task in the Los Angeles CA area?

 

X

[DyslexicDog]

The nice thing about programming is you don't have to have someone local do the work. You can try posting a ad in the freelance forum if you do want someone who is local.