Windows – How to install SQL Server Driver for PHP for use with WampServer 2.0i

PHPsql serverwindows

I am using WampServer 2.0i (PHP 5.3.0 and Apache 2.2.11) on Windows* and would like to connect to SQL Server 2008. I downloaded the SQL Server Driver for PHP 1.1 from Microsoft which provides an assortment of driver DLL's.

The chart I am provided with in the help files is:

Driver file                  PHP version    Thread safe?    Use with PHP .dll
===========                  ===========    ============    =================
php_sqlsrv_53_nts_vc6.dll    5.3            no              php5.dll
php_sqlsrv_53_nts_vc9.dll    5.3            no              php5.dll
php_sqlsrv_53_ts_vc6.dll     5.3            yes             php5ts.dll
php_sqlsrv_53_ts_vc9.dll     5.3            yes             php5ts.dll

Further instructions say:

If the name of the driver file contains "vc9", it should be used with a PHP version compiled with Visual C++ 9.0. If the name of the driver file contains "vc6", it should be used with a PHP version compiled with Visual C++ 6.0.

How am I supposed to know which version of Visual C++ was used to compile PHP? I realize on a Unix distro I'd have more intimate knowledge of this because I'd likely be installing PHP and Apache separately and compiling them (it's been ages since I've done so).

Should I even try to install this driver dll, or is there some better way to get PHP to talk to SQL Server?

*Windows 7 Professional 64-bit; SQL Server 2008; WampServer 2.0i

Best Answer

According to a forum post at wampserver.com:

php used in wamp is vc6

wamp 2.0 is not built in VC++ at all

Looking in the wamp\bin\php\php5.3.0\ folder, I found php5ts.dll so I will assume I need to use the thread safe version.

So, if I am right, the answer is to use the php_sqlsrv_53_ts_vc6.dll driver.

Also I'll be attempting to modify the wamp\wampmanager.ini file to have the dll show up in the extension list from the wampserver tray icon menu.

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