How To Set Up PHP Server For Aptana Studio IDE

Since making my transition from Adobe Dreamweaver to Aptana Studio, i have never looked back as it has over time becomes my favourite IDE.
As with most full-blown IDE, Aptana studio also has the ability to preview server-side scripting language such as PHP without you having to use your web browser. Before your PHP code can be interpreted and rendered appropriately, you need a web server such as XAMPP installed and running on your computer.

Take note, the default document root for XAMPP varies with your PC “operating system”;

  • Windows: \xampp\htdocs
  • Linux: /opt/lampp/htdocs/
  • OS X: /Applications/XAMPP/htdocs/

Setting up of the XAMPP powered PHP web server on Aptana Studio is done while creating a Project. Want to learn how it is done? Follow the steps below.

  1. Firstly, we need to create a new project named My test Project by clicking on “File menu”, select New > PHP Project (or Web Project).
  2. Type a name for your project (My test Project), Uncheck the Use default location box and browse to the htdocs (or equivalent) folder in your server installation directory.
    aptanaprojectsetup
  3. Continue to choose a project template, or Click the Finish button

Now you have successfully set up the XAMPP PHP web server for Aptana. To see if it is working, let’s create a demo.php file with a “Hello World” statement.

<?php echo "hello world"; ?>

Click the Preview icon circled in the image below to see the how the code renders in a web browser.
Demo.php for Aptana My test Project

Note: make sure XAMPP is up and running else the demo preview won’t work.

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