How Do I Play a PHP File?

By Michael Davidson

How Do I Play a PHP File?
i computer image by Ewe Degiampietro from Fotolia.com

The PHP file extension is typically used by web designers in the creation of interactive web sites. PHP scripts can process online forms, access database information, and retrieve the proper day and time. PHP files are generally "under-the-hood" programming, in that the web server takes the code and converts it into the HTML that people see on their screen. Several ways exist to access PHP programming.

Adobe Dreamweaver

Adobe Dreamweaver is a web-designing program that is very effective in reading and playing PHP files. Dreamweaver is one of the most popular web design programs in the world and it can be used to create, edit, and delete various web programs and files that create a web page. Dreamweaver MX can be used to write and create PHP applications and can open and read pre-existing applications. Just open the file you need to look at and Dreamweaver will read it and convert it into a legible format so you can read the code.

Web Browser

If you are simply trying to view the end result of the PHP programming and not actually edit it, any web browser should be able to open and play the PHP files so long as there are no errors in the programming. If the PHP scripts have errors in them, the browser will likely not play the file or show an error message. Otherwise, the browser will open the PHP files as the web server converts it into an HTML coding that the browser can read. Just go to the website that has the PHP files in question and the browser should open it. If the file is actually on your computer, use a browser to open it and you may still be able to see it, depending on the browser.

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