A Path Less Taken

Yes, I know, the title is kind of funny. How much is there to demystify in a solution entitled SimpleXML. As it turns out for me, quite a bit. In working with PHP I had used it on several occasions in an experimental mode, but it wasn’t until I decided to dig under the hood a bit that I discovered just how simple SimpleXML really is. In the interest of helping others (and the future forgetful me) I share my insights below.

In previous posts I described how to install Lighttpd and PHP. Unfortunately I encountered some issues in getting this to work properly. So I had to spend a fair amount of time doing research on the web and trying different things before I got it right. I share my final work product here in hopes it will save you the time that I invested.

After a bit of head scratching (and manual reading, who knew) I finally got PHP working as a CGI on lighttpd (Lighty). I decided to share my approach here in case you wanted to give it a shot yourself. I tested this briefly on Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista Ultimate and it worked on both.

So I finally figured out how to get the lighttpd (Lighty) Windows binaries working from a USB Flash Drive. It actually turned out to be easier than I expected. I decided to share it here in case my efforts are of any help to you.

I always get distracted when I’m researching technology. It’s like I’m a fashion diva on Rodeo Drive! One minute I’m looking up more information on SQLite and the next I’m trying to decide if I can install the lighttpd web server so it can run from a memory stick. Enter Richard Cockrum and his post How to Use Lighty in a Development Environment.