#.php runner windows#

It’s very simple to make the app send the SQLite data upstream to a server you use for a centralized database anyway, so using only SQLite on the system where the app is running is somewhat logical.īy far the biggest drawback of the app is that it uses WX widgets to power the headless browser, and on Windows, this seems to come down to IE7.

MySQL is not bundled and installing it alongside the regular stack is no simple matter. Nightrain is compatible with most PHP apps/frameworks out of the box, as long as you change the database to SQLite, which is what’s used, and tweak the bundled php.ini for some missing extensions, if any. This also means that simply visiting localhost:8000 in your host machine’s browser will show you the same app. If you want to launch several different nightrain apps, you need to change the port in settings.ini. What’s more, you can only run one nightrain app by default, because it actually launches a server on port 8000 and then makes the headless browser that opens “secretly” visit localhost:8000.

#.php runner windows#

The command windows must stay open if you want to use the app, and this might be more than a little confusing to the technically illiterate people of scenario 2) above. However, this also means some more advanced aspects are unavailable, and you can only really use it for very rudimentary apps.Īnother big con is that on Windows, a command prompt is launched first, and then the “app”. It’s a packager written in Python that uses PHP’s internal server to host your app, thus avoiding Apache and Nginx and minimizing configuration shenanigans.

Nightrain is a pre-packaged set of PHP-hosting prerequisites powered by PHP 5.5.x at the moment. These scenarios might look like grasping at straws, and indeed, I really can’t think of a REAL, practical reason to want to do it that doesn’t have a viable alternative. PHP is perfectly fine for that, and you already know the language.

You don’t need low level OS API access – you just want to make a browser based game, or a helper app, or something similarly simple.

If you need to sync online, you send the whole DB export to Dropbox or some such service at the click of a button, thus making sure you’re literally the only one who can access your “web app” even without your computer. You just plug it in, run it, and your app is there – using the same SQLite DB from before.

You want to avoid paying hosting costs for your own personal application, and you like to carry it with you on a USB stick.

It’s still a web app, but opens in a headless Chrome!

You’re running IT in a company with highly computer illiterate people, and the only way to force them into using a good browser for your company app is to embed it into the app you deliver.

You need a good middle ground between easy syntax and good structure, which is PHP, and you can’t be bothered to learn new languages like ActionScript.Off the top of my head, I can think of several far fetched scenarios: Why would anyone develop cross platform PHP apps for the desktop? Why not opt for something that can actually tie into the low level APIs of the operating system, like Adobe AIR? Why not go with something outdated and bloated but reliable, like Java? Why not make it a Chrome app and if you need native support, use Native Client? Hell, if you want a scripting language, why not just go with Python? Everything goes, as long as we avoid having to bundle a server with the whole shebang, right?