What Exactly PHP-GTK is? How to Install it on Ubuntu 12.04?

 Andrei Zmievski the man behind PHP-GTK, has created an amazing extension that enables to run PHP applications with GTK+ displayed user interface. Since its inception in 2001, this extension enjoys many contributions that make it compatible with GTK+2 and PHP 5 under platforms like Mac OS, Linux, Windows, etc. Talking about GTK+, it is one of the effective libraries of components that used to create UI for operating desktop computer environments. GTK+ works to create UI for GIMP, which is one of the popular Open Source image editing programs look like to Adobe Photoshop.

After the release of GTK+, it becomes more popular because of its user interface library for applications that run under Linux distributions that totally based on the Gnome desktop environment. GTK run on the peak of the glib object system library. One of the best things about GTK+ is that it makes object that allows excellent graphics in the independent platform. Hence, developer can easily create the user interfaces by using GTK + that runs on various multiple platforms like Mac OS, Linux, Windows, etc.

Procedure to Install Ubuntu 12.04

PHP-GTK applications can easily work on the Windows due to its binaries available for users. The recent binary available on the PHP-GTK website is 2.0.1. User can have an option to download more up-to-date Windows binary for adding to the project “auroraesrose”. Developer/ user can only have to unzip and run to get enjoy various applications. For executing PHP unzipped folder, one should only have to make right-click on any PHP-GTK file. As a developer, you know that it wouldn’t be easy to install PHP-GTK on Ubuntu as it requires proper knowledge and skills. You will be on the right way, if you know how to use a Terminal window. Before installing it, one should have to install some certain essential things like:

• Git-core that helps you to download PHP-GTK
• For compiling modules, PHP5-dev is required. No PHP-GTK install without php5-dev.
• Pecl-cairo
• Subversion that helps to download Cairo extension using svn
• Install libglade2-dev for loading external .glade files into your applications.

After installing all above given things, you have to move next step, which is of concatenate a few files. If you are not concatenate a few files back, it will create big problems while you are executing the. /configure commands and./buildconf before installing PHP-GTK. One should also have to install git as latest source for PHP-GTK. One may also deal with problems of errors, if he/she is downloading PHP-GTK without installing some necessary above given dependencies. Error like “error: configure: error: PHP-GTK 2.x requires GLib 2.6.0 or higher” will be seen.

Steps for installation:

• First of all, install the dependencies
• In second step, you have to download pecl-cairo. One can find latest libtool.m4 in various files. One should have to concatenate these files back into the libtool before installing the PHP-GTK source. This procedure is only applied to Ubuntu. If you have another derivative or Ubuntu without compiled, you have to install PHP by your own. You can also check, if compiling and installing PHP-GTK work or not, if it works, then avoid third step and if not, then go for it.
• In third step, you have to concatenate the files back into the libtool and then, download and install PHP-GTK.
• Go for fourth step and add the PHP-GTK and Cairo Extension to ‘Dynamic Extensions’.
• At last, just execute the PHP-GTK demo application and enjoy PHP-GTK.

Hope, you will successfully install PHP-GTK in Ubuntu 12.04. If you are still facing any problem, you can also contact well-experienced PHP developers, who have great knowledge of custom PHP development.