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PHP : Function Reference : Microsoft SQL Server Functions

Microsoft SQL Server Functions

Introduction

These functions allow you to access MS SQL Server database.

Requirements

Requirements for Win32 platforms.

The extension requires the MS SQL Client Tools to be installed on the system where PHP is installed. The Client Tools can be installed from the MS SQL Server CD or by copying ntwdblib.dll from \winnt\system32 on the server to \winnt\system32 on the PHP box. Copying ntwdblib.dll will only provide access through named pipes. Configuration of the client will require installation of all the tools.

Requirements for Unix/Linux platforms.

To use the MSSQL extension on Unix/Linux, you first need to build and install the FreeTDS library. Source code and installation instructions are available at the FreeTDS home page: » http://www.freetds.org/

Note:

In Windows, the DBLIB from Microsoft is used. Functions that return a column name are based on the dbcolname() function in DBLIB. DBLIB was developed for SQL Server 6.x where the max identifier length is 30. For this reason, the maximum column length is 30 characters. On platforms where FreeTDS is used (Linux), this is not a problem.

Installation

The MSSQL extension is enabled by adding extension=php_mssql.dll to php.ini.

To get these functions to work, you have to compile PHP with --with-mssql[=DIR], where DIR is the FreeTDS install prefix. And FreeTDS should be compiled using --enable-msdblib.

Runtime Configuration

The behaviour of these functions is affected by settings in php.ini.

Table 175. MS SQL Server configuration options

Name Default Changeable Changelog
mssql.allow_persistent "1" PHP_INI_SYSTEM  
mssql.max_persistent "-1" PHP_INI_SYSTEM  
mssql.max_links "-1" PHP_INI_SYSTEM  
mssql.min_error_severity "10" PHP_INI_ALL  
mssql.min_message_severity "10" PHP_INI_ALL  
mssql.compatability_mode "0" PHP_INI_ALL  
mssql.connect_timeout "5" PHP_INI_ALL  
mssql.timeout "60" PHP_INI_ALL Available since PHP 4.1.0.
mssql.textsize "-1" PHP_INI_ALL  
mssql.textlimit "-1" PHP_INI_ALL  
mssql.batchsize "0" PHP_INI_ALL Available since PHP 4.0.4.
mssql.datetimeconvert "1" PHP_INI_ALL Available since PHP 4.2.0.
mssql.secure_connection "0" PHP_INI_SYSTEM Available since PHP 4.3.0.
mssql.max_procs "-1" PHP_INI_ALL Available since PHP 4.3.0.


For further details and definitions of the PHP_INI_* constants, see the Appendix I, php.ini directives.

Resource Types

Predefined Constants

The constants below are defined by this extension, and will only be available when the extension has either been compiled into PHP or dynamically loaded at runtime.

MSSQL_ASSOC (integer)
MSSQL_NUM (integer)
MSSQL_BOTH (integer)
SQLTEXT (integer)
SQLVARCHAR (integer)
SQLCHAR (integer)
SQLINT1 (integer)
SQLINT2 (integer)
SQLINT4 (integer)
SQLBIT (integer)
SQLFLT8 (integer)

Table of Contents

mssql_bind — Adds a parameter to a stored procedure or a remote stored procedure
mssql_close — Close MS SQL Server connection
mssql_connect — Open MS SQL server connection
mssql_data_seek — Moves internal row pointer
mssql_execute — Executes a stored procedure on a MS SQL server database
mssql_fetch_array — Fetch a result row as an associative array, a numeric array, or both
mssql_fetch_assoc — Returns an associative array of the current row in the result
mssql_fetch_batch — Returns the next batch of records
mssql_fetch_field — Get field information
mssql_fetch_object — Fetch row as object
mssql_fetch_row — Get row as enumerated array
mssql_field_length — Get the length of a field
mssql_field_name — Get the name of a field
mssql_field_seek — Seeks to the specified field offset
mssql_field_type — Gets the type of a field
mssql_free_result — Free result memory
mssql_free_statement — Free statement memory
mssql_get_last_message — Returns the last message from the server
mssql_guid_string — Converts a 16 byte binary GUID to a string
mssql_init — Initializes a stored procedure or a remote stored procedure
mssql_min_error_severity — Sets the lower error severity
mssql_min_message_severity — Sets the lower message severity
mssql_next_result — Move the internal result pointer to the next result
mssql_num_fields — Gets the number of fields in result
mssql_num_rows — Gets the number of rows in result
mssql_pconnect — Open persistent MS SQL connection
mssql_query — Send MS SQL query
mssql_result — Get result data
mssql_rows_affected — Returns the number of records affected by the query
mssql_select_db — Select MS SQL database

Code Examples / Notes » ref.mssql

php

With WinXP client, connecting to SQL Server 2005, via PHP on the command line (CLI).
If the serverr was installed with support for multiple instances, you can not connect to it, even when attempting to connect to the default instance.
Replace the ntwdblib.dll (7.00.839) provided by PHP with the one from SQL Server 2000 (8.00.194).
Otherwise you will see this message, which is not very helpful:
Warning: mssql_connect(): Unable to connect to server: ...


tony

With PHP 5 on a Windows 2000/IIS platform:
I have integrated authentication enabled in IIS.  I kept getting CGI timeouts on PHP pages for everyone but local administrators of the box.  The event log showed that PHP could not load php_mssql.dll, php_oci8.dll, and php_oracle.dll - 'Access Denied.'  
These extensions were executable by everyone, but the DLLs they depend on were not.  Had to add exec permissions for everyone to c:\winnt\system32\ntwdblib.dll as well as the oracle bin directory.


cmeerbeek

We had some, read A LOT, of problems with MSSQL under Windows 2003.
We had 2 the same windows, php, php-ini, everything machines but only one could connect. Unable to connect was the error message.
Finnaly we checked the version of ntwdblib.dll and the one distributed with PHP was 7.00.... and the version of the one on the SQL Server install was 8.00.... so we copied this one in the php and apache dir and it worked.


jholland

To enable mssql in php 4.3.3 and above on linux/unix boxes, you must put this line in php.ini
extension=mssql.so


dimitri tarassenko mitka

To enable MS SQL functions in PHP on Fedora Core or RHEL3 without recompiling PHP and replacing the distribution PHP packages, download and install php-mssql and freetds RPMS from
http://phprpms.sf.net/mssql


jorrit

To connect to SQL Server 2005 you can download ntwdblib.dll from http://www.webzila.com/?wz=dll. Pick the smallest file there, the other one is French.

phpnet

This took me a while to figure out, so I may as well pass it along to save somebody time.
If you are having trouble connecting with a DSNless connection using unixodbc with freetds, don't forget to specify the TDS_Version in your connection string.
Example (8.0 is for SQL Server 2000 exclusively):
$dsn = "DRIVER=FreeTDS;TDS_Version=8.0; TRACE=No; SERVER=someserver; PORT=someport; DATABASE=somedb; UID=somelogin; PWD=somepassword";


aswl

This note is for mssql under a Windows environment.
If you are having problems connecting to MS SQL using the mssql PHP extension then I would suggest that you get a copy of the latest NTWDBLIB.DLL. Copy it to the directory where PHP expects to find it's dll files.
I had an issuse whereby I was unable to connect to a MS SQL Cluster and this resolved my problem.


gentiboard2002

there's no documentation of the php.ini option mssql.secure_connection.
so i have here a MS SQL 2000 Server with Windows Authentication and a Windows 2003 Server with IIS 6. So it is clear that i cannot use the usual handling of a mssql_connect.
I turned the mssql.secure_connection on.
I let the Windows IIS to run under an Service Account(normal user account without any special rights) in a Windows Domain, so i do have a authenticated connection to the SQL Server...
Everything works fine without any rewrite of the code...


greg dot thompson

There's a note on this page that was helpful:  http://php.net/unpack
See the link for inserting a blob into sql server.


anders jenbo located pc denmark

The 3 major headaicks I had while setting up MS SQL 2005, php 5.1.6 (apache 2.2 server) on Vista RC1 and getting them to comunicate.
TCP/IP and "Named Pipes Protocol" had to be enabled in the MS SQL Server. You do this in the Surface Area Configuration tool.
MS SQL 2005 should be set to mix mode login. Unless you use NT authentication in php.ini.
You can do this in duing install if you select advanced options.
If it's already installed you will have to use the SQL management Studio (properties->securety).
At first the php_mssql.dll didn't load properly (wan't showing up under phpinfo()) and gave no error message at startup, the cause of this was the ntwdblib.dll that came with php (273KB) replacing it with the one that came with MS SQL 2005 (269KB) fixed the issuse, incase you haven't installed MS SQL on your machine you can also find it on the net.


salman majid

Sorry, previous message was incomplete. I used odbc functions to connect to Ms-SQL server. I was on a work station and server was not accessible for unknow reasons. mssql functions did not work there so I had to use odbc.

erick robertson

Some helpful functions.  Pretty simple, but very useful.
function mssql_begin_transaction() {
 mssql_query("BEGIN TRANSACTION");
}
function mssql_commit() {
 mssql_query("COMMIT");
}
function mssql_rollback() {
 mssql_query("ROLLBACK");
}
function mssql_insert_id() {
 $id = "";
 $rs = mssql_query("SELECT @@identity AS id");
 if ($row = mssql_fetch_row($rs)) {
   $id = trim($row[0]);
 }
 mssql_free_result($rs);
 return $id;
}


marcos1979ar

Red Hat 9.0   Freetds 0.62.3   Apache 2.0.49   PHP 5.0.ORC3
Instucction, that premit connect a server Linux with a server Windows 2000 Server with SQL Server.
INSTALLING FREETDS

1-.  Download freetds -> www.freetds.org
2-.  tar -zxvf freetds-stable-tgz
3-.  cd freetds-0.62.3
4-.  ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/freetds --with-tdsver=8.0 --enable-msdblib --enable-dbmfix --with-gnu-ld
Note:  tdsver=8.0 if you use SQL 2000, tdsver=7.0 if you use SQL 7.0
5-.  make
6-.  make install
7-.  /usr/local/freetds/bin/tsql -S <ip of the server> -U <User SQL>
Note: For default User SQL is    sa     and the it have not password
For example: /usr/local/freetds/bin/tsql -S 198.168.100.2 -U sa
8-.  Add the next text in freetds.conf ( /usr/local/freetds/etc )
[TDS]
host = <ip of the Server with Sql>
port = 1433
tds version = 8.0
Note: If you use SQL 2000 then tds version = 8.0
if you use SQL 7.0 then tds version = 7.0
9-.  Add the next text in the file /etc/ld.so.conf
/usr/local/freetds/lib
INSTALLING  APACHE
1-.  Download apache  www.apache.org
2-.  tar -zxvf httpd-2.0.49.tar.gz
3-.  cd httpd-2.0.49
4-.  ./configure --prefix=/etc/httpd --enable-so
5-.  make
6-.  make install
7-.  Configure the file  -> httpd.conf ( /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf )
8-.  Probe the apache: /etc/httpd/bin/apachectl start
/etc/httpd/bin/apachectl stop
INSTALLING  PHP
1-.  Download the PHP in this site (www.php.net)
2-.  tar -zxvf php-5.0-ORC3.tar.gz
3-.  cd php-5.0-ORC3
4-.  ./configure --with-apxs2=/etc/httpd/bin/apxs --enable-versioning --with-mssql=/usr/local/freetds --disable-libxml
5-.  make
6-.  make install
7-.  cp php.ini-DIST /usr/local/lib
8-.  Add the next line in /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
TESTING
<html>
<body>
<?php
$con = mssql_connect ("<ip of the server SQL>", "sa", "");
mssql_select_db ("<Data Base>", $con);
$sql= "SELECT * FROM <Table>";
$rs= mssql_query ($sql, $con);
echo "The field number one is: ";
echo mssql_result ($rs, 0, 0);
mssql_close ($con);
?>
</body>
</html>


erwin_nospam_moller

php5isapi / w2000 / ISS5
If you use the above configuration (isapi) and follow the suggestion to deselect 'cache isapi application' to avoid 100% processor usage, you might end up with an oocasional error:
The remote procedure call failed and did not execute.
It happened to me every third visit to the same page.
RE-enabling caching resolved the issue.
M$ has an article about this in their knowledgebase, stating that this option should always be selected and is only there for developmentpurposes. (undocumented feature. :P)
Deselecting this option forces IIS to reload ALL relevant dll's every time a request is received in memory, also VB/ASP.


ziggurism

On *nix, of course you need to add extension=mssql.so to your php.ini.  Obvious, but it took me a while to figure that out.

andrew

Ok, this took me a few days to get right but for those of you out there having a hard time with getting PHP to talk to SQL 2000 this is for you!  Personally for me the mssql plugin barely worked with sql 2000 and was VERY slow, here's your solution and also some good code to connect securely and quickly through ADO. I was having the worst time getting ADO to work as well, most sites do the driver part a different way.. for me the code below is the only thing that worked.
<?
$db = new COM("ADODB.Connection");
$dsn = "DRIVER={SQL Server}; SERVER={SERVER};UID={USER};PWD={PASS}; DATABASE={DB}";
$db->Open($dsn);
$rs = $db->Execute("SELECT * FROM table");
while (!$rs->EOF)
{
echo $rs->Fields['column']->Value."
";
$rs->MoveNext();
}
?>


19-mar-2004 08:42

Note: DBLib is obsolete and only supports SQL Server 4.x, 6.5, 7.0 and 8.x.

roy maarssen

My problem was that I've loaded the ntwdblib.dll (8.00.194) into the php directory, but it also have to be placed in the bin directory of Apache.
I hope this will save you some time searching for the solution, if you encounter the same problem.
I'm using SQL 2005 Express Edition on Windows Vista Enterprise with Apache.


vbchris

My previous post although seemed to solve the problem of the connection randomly refusing to connect, it didn't. This however did. I created a loop to create a few connections and noticed it was always the first connection that failed. So I wrote this to keep trying to connect until it eventually does.
<?php
while(!$connection){
@$connection = mssql_connect($cfg['server'],$cfg['username'],$cfg['password']);
}
$db = mssql_select_db($cfg['database'],$connection) or die("Error selecting the database");
?>


phil

mssql.datetimeconvert
using freebsd and freetds I ran into the dates month being rolled back
01 jan would be 00
12 dec would be 11 nov
removed
ini_set('mssql.datetimeconvert',false);
default setting is to 1 or true on the servers config
and the date issue I ran into was resolved
I don't know how the mssql.datetimeconvert setting works but if you're getting a roll back in dates might be worth making sure its on.
using ini_get when dealing with scripts that like to modify ini settings will save a headache if you use phpinfo() like me
*side note with the same settings in freetds php apache etc on a debian load I didn't have this issue even with mssql.datetimeconvert off


james

MSSQL doesn't have a real_escape_string function like MYSQL does, which can lead to error when inserting or updating data that contains a ' (single quote).
To prevent this, replace all ' (single quotes) by TWO ' (single quotes) '' which SQL server will interpret as an escaped '.
Also you may want to remove any \' \" escape sequences that are translated from any FORM output into the PHP $_POST variables.
Hope this helps someone.
James


lostaircryptic

MAXIMUM COLUMN LENGTH OF 30 CHARACTERS....
This restriction was solved by using the following techniques.
First create a test which detects this to be the problem and then self correct it.
For the times that this is a problem rename the columns to an unique column name which is 30 characters exactly in length.  This column must be unique compares to the others, so use the MD5 Hashed value.  Since MD5 hashed values are 32 character HEX values, convert this to a toggle Hex value giving an exact maximum length of 31 characters.  Prepend a character to the start to ensure that it falls within Column naming regulations.
When the data is obtained, check for the hashed values against a check array and replace where neccessary.
Although complex it may sound, the method has been tried and successfully works, thus allowing columns of greater length than that of 30 characters.
I had this situation within Linux as well as Windows (XAMPP), so this solution was ultimate in solving the problem.
You can run the detection as a constant or automatically.  However it is best to use a constant for efficiency reasons.
Any questions, just email me.


craig

Just a quick note pertaining marcos1979ar (10/06/04) definitive installation of FreeTDS above.
When you run the following to test the installation:
===============================================================
/usr/local/freetds/bin/tsql -S <ip of the server> -U <User SQL>
===============================================================
And it results in the following error:
=================================================================
locale is "C"
locale charset is "ANSI_X3.4-1968"
Password:
src/tds/login.c: tds_connect: xx.xx.x.xx:1443: Connection refused
Msg 20009, Level 9, State 0, Server OpenClient, Line 0
Server is unavailable or does not exist.
There was a problem connecting to the server
=================================================================
All I found that needed to be changed was for the configure --prefix from:
=======================================
./configure --prefix=/usr/local/freetds
=======================================
        to
=======================================
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
=======================================
Small but worth noting.


mprentice

It appears ntwdblib.dll is no longer a part of SQL 2005.  According to Microsoft the component is deprecated and they recommend using OLE DB or ODBC.  The dll from SQL Server version 6.5, SQL Server 7.0, or SQL Server 2000 still works against 2005 if you have it.
From Microsoft's site:
Although the SQL Server 2005 Database Engine still supports connections from existing applications using the DB-Library and Embedded SQL APIs, it does not include the files or documentation needed to do programming work on applications that use these APIs. A future version of the SQL Server Database Engine will drop support for connections from DB-Library or Embedded SQL applications. Do not use DB-Library or Embedded SQL to develop new applications. Remove any dependencies on either DB-Library or Embedded SQL when modifying existing applications. Instead of these APIs, use the SQLClient namespace or an API such as OLE DB or ODBC. SQL Server 2005 does not include the DB-Library DLL required to run these applications. To run DB-Library or Embedded SQL applications you must have available the DB-Library DLL from SQL Server version 6.5, SQL Server 7.0, or SQL Server 2000.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143729.aspx


effeese

in relation to the "unicode problem" mentioned by andrej at dairyweb dot com dot au I suggest use andrew at power-grid dot com's solution:
if you get a "Unicode data in Unicode-only collation or ntext data cannot be sent to clients using DB-Library (such as ISQL) or ODBC version 3.7 or earlier" error you can use this kind of code (in an MS environment, of course):
<?
$db = new COM("ADODB.Connection");
$dsn = "DRIVER={SQL Server}; SERVER={SERVER};UID={USER};PWD={PASS}; DATABASE={DB}";
$db->Open($dsn);
$rs = $db->Execute("SELECT * FROM table");
while (!$rs->EOF)
{
  echo $rs->Fields['column']->Value."
";
  $rs->MoveNext();
}
?>
hope it helps.


vbchris

If your having problems with  your script at random times refusing to connect to the database. Try editing php.ini and uncommenting this line.
mssql.max_procs = -1
This solved the problem for me after 3 days of pulling my hair out wondering why it kept refusing to connect!


pmfa

If you're going to use freeTDS just to access mssql databases, supply the "--enable-msdblib" switch to the freeTDS configure script when building the library. This will fix some obscure problems, like the month in a date not being displayed correctly, more information in http://www.freetds.org/userguide/config.htm.

mworku

If you want to utilize the freetds.conf file db parameters within
mssql_connect() function
<?
   putenv('FREETDSCONF=/etc/freetds.conf');
    /*
       mssql_connect('MSSQL_8.0' , 'user' , 'pwd');
       ....
       ....
   */
?>
FreeTDS conf file
[MSSQL_8.0]
host = 10.254.254.10
port = 1433
tds version = 8.0


jasenko

If you get a crash trying to get currency from database with smallmoney datatype and big value (in my case it was 15000..), change datatype to money instead. The error is gone.
I'm using php 4.2.3 and MSSQL 7.0 on windows.


nospam

If you are using mssql_bind with stored procedures on Windows and need to get around the 255 character varchar limit, one hack is to pass SQLTEXT as the data type to mssql_bind rather than SQLVARCHAR.  
You will still need to use some means to get around returning  varchar data that's longer than 255, the simplest of which is to CAST the varchar field as text in your stored procedure itself.


info

if you are looking for the equivalent of  mysql_list_tables for mssql, try this:
######## Listing table names
$query=mssql_query ( "select * from SYSOBJECTS where TYPE='U' order by NAME" , [connection resource]);
while ($row=mssql_fetch_row ( $query )){
echo "$row[0]
";
}
#########################


andrej

if you are having problems with freeTDS, or like me you are trying to get access to unicode data from mssql.
try http://odbtp.sourceforge.net it is cross platform and (reportedly) faster than freeTDS. it is very stable and easy to configure.
i was originally trying to solve an error message of "Unicode data in Unicode-only collation or ntext data cannot be sent to clients using DB-Library (such as ISQL) or ODBC version 3.7 or earlier" and found this solution.
hope it helps someone.


boonkit

If you are having problems with freeTDS when trying to get access to unicode data from mssql, set 'tds version =7.0' at etc/freetds.conf

michael

If you are experiencing that ANSI characters are being corrupted, e.g. nordic letters are showing up as invalid characters and you have SQL Server 2000 installed on the same machine as the webserver, try checking SQL Server Client Network Utility under the DB-Library Options tab.
Make sure that "Automatic ANSI to OEM conversion" is NOT checked, this caused me several hours of headache.


trent

If anyone was looking for a mysql_list_tables substitute
<?php
public function mssql_list_tables() {
$query = "SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES";
return mssql_query($query,$this->db_handle)
}
?>


marcel

I've spent the last three days wild guessing why I could not connect to MS SQLServer 2000 and so I hope this might help someone else. Microsoft has purposefully closed the 1433 tcp port and others (maybe only to external ips) of the server. You can easily check if this is the case by looking at the Event Monitor. You should see an error produced by MSSQL SERVER/MSDE that basically says what I said. It suggests downloading and installing a security patch to open up the ports (but doesn't even say which update - remember this is Microsoft).
Do download Service Pack 3a (SP3a). It does indeed fix the problem.


arthur w rudd

I'm running apache 1.3.26 and php 4.3.6 on a linux server (debian), and connecting to SQL Server 2000 via php4-mssql and Freetds.
I managed to get a connection to the SQL server, but found that when I used the function mssql_query() to pass in a Select statement containing datetime columns, I would get the following message in Internet Explorer - "The page cannot be displayed".  When I removed the datetime column from the query, it worked fine, and returned a resultset.
Looked in the apache error.log file, and found the error "child pid xxxxxx exit signal segmentation fault".
After a lot of searching on the internet I stumbled upon an entry which was missing from my php.ini.  I added the line "mssql.datetimeconvert = Off" to the MSSQL section of pphp.ini, restarted Apache, and the problem went away.  Now I can select dates in SQL queries


hector dot spencer

I'm really grateful for saving me hours, if not days in trying to make PHP work with SQLServer database, Thanks a lot and I'll make sure to make a not so overwhelming and friendly tutorial for spanish speakers. Thanks a lot mate!

salman majid

I was having problem in connecting Ms-SQL server with mssql_connect(srvr,uid,pwd). I simply created a DSN to my Database and replaced it with "server_name". i.e.
mssql_connect(dsn,uid,pwd);
it worked well


chop_01

I tried all manner of things in order to cnnect to SQLExpress aka SQL Server 2005 and was just about to walk away and move across to MySQL when it just dawned on me that after following all of the instructions from numerous people I never restarted the Apache service.
This meant that the new ntwdblib.dll was never called. I restarted the service and hey presto ... I can now connect to the SQL server.
The items that I did were as follows:
1. Installed the SQLServer in mixed auth mode
2. Checked that the mssql.secure_connection = Off was present in the php.ini
3. Copied the ntwdblib.dll file into
       o WINDOWS\SYSTEM32
       o program files\apache2\bin
       o php
4. Started the SQL Server Browser Service
5. Enabled all of the IPs in Protocols > TCP/IP
6. Restarted the following services:
      o Apache
      o SQL Service
      o SQL Browser Service
This allowed me to connect with no problems using the following parameters within my mssql_connect call
HOST=.\SQLEXPRESS
USERNAME=sa
PASSWORD=<MYPASS>


asad moin

I took the following steps to make PHP talk to SQL2000:
- Copy ntwdblib.dll file from your SQL server's  \winnt\system32 folder to the \winnt\system32 folder on the PHP box.
- Copy the php_mssql.dll from the 'dlls/' directory in distribution package to your windows/system (Win9.x) or winnt/system32 (WinNT, Win2000, XP) directory.
- Add or uncomment the following line under Windows Extentions in your php.ini file (\winnt\php.ini): extension=php_mssql.dll
Hope that helps.


jason {at} roundtopriders {dot} com

I struggled with this for a few days and finally got it figured out. I'm running Windows 2003 Server, PHP 5.2, Apache 2.2 and MSSQL Server 2005.
(1) Set 'msssql.secure_connection = On' in the PHP.ini file
(2) Download the correct ntwdblib.dll file (version 8.00.194)
Copy this to:
C:/Windows/System32
<server root>/php
<server root>/apache/bin
(I would just do a search for this file and replace it anywhere you find it...)
(3) Make sure TCP/IP and Named Pipes are enabled in the SQL Configuration tool.
Hope this saves somebody a few hours.


hadrien dot debris {at} gmail dot com

I have lost one day to understand why the MSSQL<->PHP connection was no longer functioning after a PHP update (5.2.2->5.2.4).
I eventually found how to solve things:
BEFORE
[code]$link = mssql_connect("SERVER\INST", "LOGIN", "password");[/code]
Which does not work any longer.
AFTER
[code]$link = mssql_connect("SERVER\\INST", "LOGIN", "password");[/code]
Works flawlessly.
Hope that'll prevent someone to lose precious hours of exasperation.


kamikazie

I have found that a Windows Webserver cannot connect to a Microsoft SQL Database if the webserver is running Microsoft SQL Server Agent.  It gives connection and undefined function errors.  Hope this helps some people.

vangoethem

I had problems related to VARCHAR limitation to 255 characters (INSERT/UPDATE works, SELECT was truncated) using freetds driver (Linux platform).
By upgrading the TDS protocol to 8.0 (see freetds config file), I fixed the problem.


jinxy

I had major problems trying to get the msssql extension loaded.  The following fixed it for me:  
1. Make sure the ntwdblib.dll file located in system32/ on the Database server is copied to system32 on the PHP serving server.
2. Uncomment the extension in the php.ini file.
3. Add the following to the registry: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PHP]
"IniFilePath"="C:\\PHP"
This tells PHP where to find the php.ini
(This is what my resolution to my problem was - only after some time did I find some reference to it).
4. Restart IIS


thnkloud9

I had major latency problems with DB connections using php_mssql.dll without the client tools.  I found that by default it was using TCP/IP as the default connection method.   Installing the SQL Server client tools and using the Client Network Utility to change my settings to use named pipes resolved this issue.  You can use the Client Utility to set up a named pipes server alias and reference that in your connect string.

hbinduni

i found http://odbtp.sourceforge.net working fast, easy to use and to configure, and yes, it's multiplatform.

hbzxc

I am trying to connect to SQL Server 2000 from PHP
I bumped to following warning:
Warning: mssql_connect(): Unable to connect to server: SERVER\Portal
....... on line 5
on line 5 there is:
$db_connect = mssql_connect('SERVER\Portal', 'sa', 'my_passwd');
I did the following
1.enabled php_mssql.dll extension in PHP.ini
2.every dll is in proper place(System32 or PHP folder),including ntwdblib.dll
I search lots of profile throught web ,but no one give me proper answer to resolve it.
after a few hour ,I found the problem was caused by
ntwdblib.dll ,which version is 7.00.839 ,when I replaced old ntwdblib.dll with the new ntwdblib.dll ,which version is 8.00.194 ,all problem are solved.


elmer

Here's something that could save you 2-3 days research trying to figure out:
<?php
putenv('TDSDUMP=/tmp/tds.log');
putenv('SYBASE=/usr/lib/freetds');
putenv('TDSVER=70');
?>
If you have problems getting the mssql functions to work try these varibles. MSSQL/PHP has problems dealing with different tds versions. 7.0 seems to work well with our server version, maybe a different version would work better with yours.


diegobandeira

Hello!
This code appears work fine and fast to me, like mysql or msaccess.
The server is working for an Intranet home page.
<?php
 $db = new COM("ADODB.Connection");
 $dsn = "Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=sa;Initial Catalog=tsos;Data Source=(local);Application Name=SellCar";
 $db->Open($dsn);
 $rs = $db->Execute("SELECT * FROM states order by name asc");
 while (!$rs->EOF)
 {
    echo $rs->Fields['name']->Value."
";
    $rs->MoveNext();
 }
?>
Diego Bandeira.


post

Having trouble connecting to a MS SQL Server from Windows server with Apache + PHP, or some other server-configuration?
As Tom at mazzotta dot com wrote further down on this page; too old MDAC in Windows may be your problem.
Here is a summary for those working on Windows-plattform:
1. Update your Microsoft MDAC (search for Microsoft Data Access Components on www.microsoft.com). Some older Microsoft servers (or workstations) contain old and crappy MDAC-installations. This solved our problem after two days of work..
2. Make sure ntwdblib.dll (version 8.00.194) is in the correct place(s). I only placed it in Apache bin directory and it worked fine, but apparently some Microsoft installations need it in several locations.. this is indeed very confusing!
3. You may have to set mssql.secure_connection = off in your php.ini
4. Make sure needed ports are configured in your firewall.
Hope this helps - now, back to coffee!


deyura

FreeTDS is work!!!
But after install you shoul add in config file
1. Add in freetds.conf client cahrset:
[TDS_NAME_TO_CONNECT]
host = 192.168.0.1
port = 1433
tds version = 8.0
client charset = CP1251
2. For datetime add in locales.conf in [default]:
date format = %Y-%m-%d %I:%M:%S.%z
3. restart apache
4. In your php-script you should connect to [TDS_NAME_TO_CONNECT]
mssql_connect('TDS_NAME_TO_CONNECT', 'php', '123');


08-aug-2004 11:11

For phpBB if you are having a problem with user cannot connect to database I found that gentiboard's comments were the answer.
You have to change sql secure connection to on in php.ini


swaldester

For all of you connecting to MS SQL Server using freeTDS, having trouble to log on with a domain login:
Add the line:
putenv('TDSVER=70');
just before calling mssql_connect()
This worked for me with a MS SQL Server 2K Ent.
Thank you elmer !


tom

FINNALLY got PHP to connect to MS SQL Server. Even though I read through the multitue of comments about ntwdblib.dll, etc., I still couldn't get it to work. The key was to load the Microsoft MDAC (2.8) on my IIS/PHP server. If your environement does not use the web server to host SQL as well, you will probably need to install the MDAC. My guess is that an installation of SQL Server (and/or just the client tools) on the webserver will automatically include the MDAC and you would not experience this problem.

be_misc_01

Couple of notes:
When setting this up, you might notice that the unixODBC isql command likes the password wrapped in single quotes:
isql -v MyDSN MyUserID 'MyPa$$W0rd'
Additionally, if you happen to have a dollar-sign in your password (or username, or DSN) -- you must avoid using double quotes.  This is a normal PHP gotcha, but worth mentioning.
Won't work:
$con = mssql_connect ("MyDSN", "MyUserID", "MyPa$$W0rd");
Will work (single quotes):
$con = mssql_connect ("MyDSN", "MyUserID", 'MyPa$$W0rd');


marc

Buried away in the mssql_field_length documentation is an important limitation that it is certainly worth knowing about *BEFORE* you do any database design:
Note to Win32 Users: Due to a limitation in the underlying API used by PHP (MS DbLib C API), the length of VARCHAR fields is limited to 255. If you need to store more data, use a TEXT field instead.
SQL Server natively supports VARCHAR up to 8000 characters.  Note that TEXT fields have substantially poorer performance (and are much more limited) than VARCHAR so you may want to design your databases accordingly...
You can also work around this limitation with the following:
  -- for example, with MyVarCharField VARCHAR(1000)
  SELECT CAST(MyVarCharField AS TEXT) FROM MyTable


bart

Another helpful hint in regards to SQL Server 2005 Express:
Make sure your SQL Server is set to  "SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode". By default it is NOT.
1) Open "SQL Server Management Studio Express"
2) Right-click server ("machinename\sqlexpress") and select "Properties".
3) Select "Security"
4) Select "SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode"
5) Restart SQL Server.


support

Actually, it's xtype, not type. So the the correct query would be something like:
SELECT name FROM sysobjects WHERE xtype = 'u' [ORDER BY whatever]


davinel_lu_linvega

About using the MSSQL XML field-type, for Win32 users,  :
1. The most simple way would be to
"SELECT [xmlfield] FROM [table]"
But this triggers the following error :
"Unicode data in a Unicode-only collation or ntext data cannot be sent to clients using DB-Library (such as ISQL) or ODBC version 3.7 or earlier. (severity 16)"
2. Well, let's just read [xmlfield] as a VARCHAR.
"SELECT CAST([xmlfield] AS VARCHAR(8000)) FROM [table]"
will truncate to the 255 first characters, due to the API limitation. (see the marc at NOSPAM dot durdin dot net note)
3. So woud not that be appropriate to use the TEXT field-type ?
"SELECT CAST([xmlfield] AS TEXT) FROM [table]"
triggers :
"Explicit conversion from data type xml to text is not allowed. (severity 16)"
4. So you cannot read the VARCHAR nor the XML, and you cannot transform the XML into TEXT. In order to finally read that XML field-type, you may use this trick :
"SELECT CAST(CAST([xmlfield] AS VARCHAR(8000)) AS TEXT) FROM [table]"


nmax

About the ntwdblib.dll, I can say that on Windows 2003 Server with Apache 2.2 and PHP 5.2.3 I have repalced the one present in PHP folder with the version 8.00.194 of the same.
Putting the dll only in PHP folder and configuring in php.ini the variable mssql.secure_connection = Off mssql_connect() works!


jimmy dot cartrette

"Note: DBLib is obsolete and only supports SQL Server 4.x, 6.5, 7.0 and 8.x. "
Well, ntwdblib.dll is not distributed with SQL Native Client 2005 versions anymore, but it is what you need to use the mssql family functions with php. The distributed 7.x version with php does not work, but if you download the 8.x version distributed with SQL 2000 versions and replace it in your php directory, you can suddenly use mssql functions with no problems.


antoinehurkmans

"if you are looking for the equivalent of  mysql_list_tables for mssql, try this..."
Please use the INFORMATION_SCHEMA views for this. Using the system tables for anything other than the occasional ad-hoc query is not recommended. See MSDN for more details.


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