Welcome to MLAM

Mlam main page

This document explains step by step how to test mlam (version 1.0). If these tests are successfull, you will be ready to use mlam in your projects, using the real documentation (see mlam homepage).

So what do you need to use mlam ?
You need to download the latest version first. Two versions are provided, .zip and .tar.gz archive. The content is the same, this is just to allow any user to decompress the archive. All the files must be decompressed in the directory of your choice.
You need also to have a web server running php4 and a mysql database. By the way, php4 must allow the use of session variables. Lastly, the web server must be able to write in the directory in which you decompressed your files, and the directory in which you decompress your files must be accessible by http request.

Ok, the files are decompressed, now what?
Open a navigator, and make a connection to mlam_init.php (http://your.server/your.mlam.directory/mlam_init.php). This screen is the introduction to all your projects working with mlam, so it is empty for the moment. You can choose your language, by default this is in english. You have to indicate a directory where you want to initialise your test. This directory must be present on your server. Then follow the instructions on screen, it will make the initial mlam configuration. If nothing goes wrong, you will soon be connected to your database, and a simple page will present a menu with all the tables in your database.

I'm not really impressed yet
Choose a table, and validate your choice. The next screen shows a table. Each row in this table matches a row in your database and show these informations :
- the name of the current field
- some informations if there's something special (like the primary key)
- a checkbox for edition (it means "I want to edit this row")
- a checkbox for "just show?" (it means "I just want to show the content of this row")
- an order input (numbers). It's used to know the order of the data edition (more information later)
- insertion and update checkboxes. You have the choice to save the data only when a data is created, updated or both
- options, depending of the type of the row

Not so bad, now what ?
Select one or more rows to edit, and select also "insert" and "update" checkboxes for these rows. Then validate the page. In the new page, your selected rows appear before the others. Now you can change the order of these rows (the order is maintained in library functions). Now you must provide the title for these rows (what you want) and a name for the structure (don't forget to validate the changes). If in the options you have the possibility to use the data as pictures, external keys or other strange things like that, don't use it for the moment. It works, but we're here to do simple and quick tests. The last two steps are : "add or update the current structure in your config" and "save the configuration file". If you don't have messages telling you that some things get wrong, you have now a file mlam_tables_def.php in your mlam installation directory.

Can we finish?
Now create a new file in the directory you provided when calling the first time mlam_init.php (new_file.php for instance), and write this :

<?session_start();?>
<html>
<head>
</head>

<body>

<form method=post action='your_file.php'>
<?
require("mlam_tables_def.php");
mlam_form("your_structure_name",$id);
?>
<input class=button type=submit value='Validate the changes'>
</form>

</body>

</html>

Save your file. And now call this file with a navigator like this :
http://your.server/your.project.directory/your_file.php?id=-1 or
http://your.server/your.project.directory/your_file.php?id=xx (xx being the key value of an existing data).
That's it, you can manage like this any data in your structure...

I'm interested or not
This is you choice. But you should know that you'll be also able to list the current data with the same file, deal with pictures, files, and many more options, without adding one line of php in the file you just created...
Not convinced ? See mlam details page for a complete listing of all the possibilities of mlam.