Docs: php.ini vs. parse_ini_file()

12 years ago by Kris Craig — view source

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I just noticed something that I hadn't really thought about before. I
couldn't remember the name of the function for parsing INI files so I did a
quick search. It took me straight to the page for php.ini directives. I
had to select "online documentation" from the dropdown and try again, this
time navigating down to the third result.

Not overly cumbersome, of course, but I started thinking that maybe this
could be more difficult for someone who might be newer to PHP. I also
tried a Google search for 'php ini' (no quotes) to see what I'd get, and
the first 15 results (all of the first page and the top half of the second)
were for php.ini stuff. The 16th result was finally the parse_ini_file()
function. A lot of newbies in particular use Google as their first stop
when trying to find PHP functions for doing stuff, so this could give some
people the impression that PHP doesn't even have an INI parsing function.

Of course, most of this we really have no control over, but I would like to
propose adding a link to parse_ini_file() on the php.ini man pages (perhaps
something along the lines of, "Are you looking for....?"). I can make the
edits myself but I'd like to see what y'all think first.

--Kris

12 years ago by Andrew Faulds — view source

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Sounds good, search engines aren't always super smart.

I just noticed something that I hadn't really thought about before. I
couldn't remember the name of the function for parsing INI files so I did a
quick search. It took me straight to the page for php.ini directives. I
had to select "online documentation" from the dropdown and try again, this
time navigating down to the third result.

Not overly cumbersome, of course, but I started thinking that maybe this
could be more difficult for someone who might be newer to PHP. I also
tried a Google search for 'php ini' (no quotes) to see what I'd get, and
the first 15 results (all of the first page and the top half of the second)
were for php.ini stuff. The 16th result was finally the parse_ini_file()
function. A lot of newbies in particular use Google as their first stop
when trying to find PHP functions for doing stuff, so this could give some
people the impression that PHP doesn't even have an INI parsing function.

Of course, most of this we really have no control over, but I would like to
propose adding a link to parse_ini_file() on the php.ini man pages (perhaps
something along the lines of, "Are you looking for....?"). I can make the
edits myself but I'd like to see what y'all think first.

--Kris

12 years ago by Hannes Magnusson — view source

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I just noticed something that I hadn't really thought about before. I
couldn't remember the name of the function for parsing INI files so I did a
quick search. It took me straight to the page for php.ini directives. I
had to select "online documentation" from the dropdown and try again, this
time navigating down to the third result.

Not overly cumbersome, of course, but I started thinking that maybe this
could be more difficult for someone who might be newer to PHP. I also
tried a Google search for 'php ini' (no quotes) to see what I'd get, and
the first 15 results (all of the first page and the top half of the second)
were for php.ini stuff. The 16th result was finally the parse_ini_file()
function. A lot of newbies in particular use Google as their first stop
when trying to find PHP functions for doing stuff, so this could give some
people the impression that PHP doesn't even have an INI parsing function.

Of course, most of this we really have no control over, but I would like to
propose adding a link to parse_ini_file() on the php.ini man pages (perhaps
something along the lines of, "Are you looking for....?"). I can make the
edits myself but I'd like to see what y'all think first.

I don't understand why on earth your are mailing the PHP internal
developer mailinglist with this matter?

If you have any improvement suggestions for the documentations:
https://edit.php.net

-Hannes

12 years ago by Hannes Magnusson — view source

unread

I just noticed something that I hadn't really thought about before. I
couldn't remember the name of the function for parsing INI files so I did a
quick search. It took me straight to the page for php.ini directives. I
had to select "online documentation" from the dropdown and try again, this
time navigating down to the third result.

Not overly cumbersome, of course, but I started thinking that maybe this
could be more difficult for someone who might be newer to PHP. I also
tried a Google search for 'php ini' (no quotes) to see what I'd get, and
the first 15 results (all of the first page and the top half of the second)
were for php.ini stuff. The 16th result was finally the parse_ini_file()
function. A lot of newbies in particular use Google as their first stop
when trying to find PHP functions for doing stuff, so this could give some
people the impression that PHP doesn't even have an INI parsing function.

Of course, most of this we really have no control over, but I would like to
propose adding a link to parse_ini_file() on the php.ini man pages (perhaps
something along the lines of, "Are you looking for....?"). I can make the
edits myself but I'd like to see what y'all think first.

I don't understand why on earth your are mailing the PHP internal
developer mailinglist with this matter?

If you have any improvement suggestions for the documentations:
https://edit.php.net

-Hannes

12 years ago by Kris Craig — view source

unread

I don't understand why on earth your are mailing the PHP internal
developer mailinglist with this matter?

If you have any improvement suggestions for the documentations:
https://edit.php.net

-Hannes

I've seen the docs discussed on this list plenty of times. We do maintain
those as well as the code, after all. Unless you're proposing changing the
name of this list to internal code developer mailinglist, then I really
don't think there's reason to get butthurt over it.

--Kris

12 years ago by Hannes Magnusson — view source

unread

I don't understand why on earth your are mailing the PHP internal
developer mailinglist with this matter?

If you have any improvement suggestions for the documentations:
https://edit.php.net

-Hannes

I've seen the docs discussed on this list plenty of times. We do maintain
those as well as the code, after all. Unless you're proposing changing the
name of this list to internal code developer mailinglist, then I really
don't think there's reason to get butthurt over it.

I cannot say I have seen a single patch from you to the documentations.
And every subproject of PHP.net has its own list, in this case
phpdoc@lists.php.net

And yes. That is exactly what this list is for; the internal code.

This list gets crapload of weird spam, and there are very few people
from phpdoc@ that have the time to read all threads here to spot doc
discussions.

Use the correct list.

-Hannes

12 years ago by Kris Craig — view source

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On Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Hannes Magnusson <
hannes.magnusson@gmail.com> wrote:

I don't understand why on earth your are mailing the PHP internal
developer mailinglist with this matter?

If you have any improvement suggestions for the documentations:
https://edit.php.net

-Hannes

I've seen the docs discussed on this list plenty of times. We do
maintain
those as well as the code, after all. Unless you're proposing changing
the
name of this list to internal code developer mailinglist, then I really
don't think there's reason to get butthurt over it.

I cannot say I have seen a single patch from you to the documentations.
And every subproject of PHP.net has its own list, in this case
phpdoc@lists.php.net

And yes. That is exactly what this list is for; the internal code.

This list gets crapload of weird spam, and there are very few people
from phpdoc@ that have the time to read all threads here to spot doc
discussions.

Use the correct list.

-Hannes

....And how much spam was added by your whining about my spam, hmm? If you
were so concerned about keeping traffic down, one would think you'd have
sent a private email instead of complaining to the entire list.

And yes, I have contributed to the man pages in the past. Not as
frequently as I'd like, but this is part of my effort to improve on that
record. Your hostility is hardly constructive in that regard.

There are topics that can be appropriate for multiple lists. This is one
of them. As I said, there is precedent for people discussing the website
on this list and, unless I'm mistaken, there's no documented policy
actually excluding internal development of the website from this list.

But anyway, I've been criticized for letting myself get dragged into public
pissing matches on this list before, so I'll bite my tongue and terminate
the conversation here if there's nothing new to add. You've expressed your
opinion and I've expressed mine; if you'd like to bicker with me some more,
please send me a private email so everybody else doesn't have to read it.

--Kris