Quick Start

The following Quick Start page will help newcomers and (even) our veteran users familiarize themselves with this new version.

The Features covered in the Quick Start are:

Getting Started

Before launching, PDT will ask you to select a Workspace where all projects will be created and stored.

You can use the default Workspace suggested or click Browse to select a different Workspace.

See the Workbench User Guide for more on Workspaces.

The Workbench is a window displaying perspectives, views and menu bars through which different operations can be performed.

See the Workbench User Guide for more on how to customize your Workbench.

A project is a group of files and resources which will be displayed in a tree in the PHP Explorer view.

To create a new PHP project:

Go to the Menu Bar and select File | New | PHP Project.

-Or- In the PHP Explorer View, right-click and select New | PHP Project.

See Creating PHP Projects for more information.

To create a new PHP file:

Go to the Menu Bar and select File | New | PHP File.

-Or- In PHP Explorer view, right-click the folder in which you would like to create your file and select New | PHP File

-Or- Click the New PHP File icon on the toolbar . This will create a file outside of a project.

See Easy File Creation for more information.

The Zend Debugger detects and diagnoses errors in PHP code situated on local or remote servers:

To debug a PHP script situated on your workspace:

Set breakpoints at the relevant locations in your script by double-clicking the marker bar to the left of the relevant line. A blue ball will appear to indicate that a breakpoint has been set.
Go to the main menu and select Run | Open Debug Dialog -or- right-click the file in PHP Explorer view and select Debug As | Open Debug Dialog.
To create a new configuration, double-click the 'PHP Script' category.

To debug a PHP Web page situated on a server:

Go to the main menu and select Run | Open Debug Dialog -or- right-click the file in PHP Explorer view and select Debug As | Open Debug Dialog.
To create a new configuration, double-click the 'PHP Web Page' category.
Enter the required information and click Apply and Debug.

Debugging Preferences can be configured from the Debug Preferences page, which can be accessed from Window | Preferences | PHP | Debug.

See the Debugging topic for more on Debugging.

To open a perspective go to Window | Open Perspective, select "Other" to view a full list of perspectives.

PHP (default) - This is the perspective that will open by default in PDT. It allows you to manage and create PHP projects and files.
PHP Debug - Allows you to manage and track the debugging process.
CVS / SVN Repository Exploring - Allows you to manage and view your source control.