Installation

By using the --enable-dba=shared configuration option you can build a dynamic loadable module to enable PHP for basic support of dbm-style databases. You also have to add support for at least one of the following handlers by specifying the --with-XXXX configure switch to your PHP configure line.

Warning

After configuring and compiling PHP you must execute the following test from commandline: php run-tests.php ext/dba. This shows whether your combination of handlers works. Most problematic are dbm and ndbm which conflict with many installations. The reason for this is that on several systems these libraries are part of more than one other library. The configuration test only prevents you from configuring malfunctioning single handlers but not combinations.

Supported DBA handlers

Handler	Configure Switch
dbm	To enable support for dbm add --with-dbm[=DIR]. Note: dbm normally is a wrapper which often results in failures. This means you should only use dbm if you are sure it works and if you really need this format.
ndbm	To enable support for ndbm add --with-ndbm[=DIR]. Note: ndbm normally is a wrapper which often results in failures. This means you should only use ndbm if you are sure it works and if you really need this format.
gdbm	To enable support for gdbm add --with-gdbm[=DIR].
db2	To enable support for db2 add --with-db2[=DIR]. Note: db2 conflicts with db3 and db4.
db3	To enable support for db3 add --with-db3[=DIR]. Note: db3 conflicts with db2 and db4.
db4	To enable support for db4 add --with-db4[=DIR]. Note: db4 conflicts with db2 and db3. Note: This was added in PHP 4.3.2. In earlier versions of PHP you need to use --with-db3=DIR with DIR being the path to db4 library. It is not possible to use db versions starting from 4.1 with PHP prior to version 4.3.0. Also, the db libraries with versions 4.1 through 4.1.24 cannot be used in any PHP version.
cdb	To enable support for cdb add --with-cdb[=DIR]. Note: Since PHP 4.3.0 you can omit DIR to use the bundled cdb library that adds the cdb_make handler which allows creation of cdb files and allows to access cdb files on the network using PHP's streams.
flatfile	To enable support for flatfile add --with-flatfile. Note: This was added in PHP 4.3.0 to add compatibility with deprecated dbm extension. Use this handler only when you cannot install one of the libraries required by the other handlers and when you cannot use bundled cdb handler.
inifile	To enable support for inifile add --with-inifile. Note: This was added in PHP 5.0.0 and allows to read and set microsoft style .ini files (like the php.ini file).
qdbm	To enable support for qdbm add --with-qdbm[=DIR]. Note: qdbm conflicts with dbm and gdbm. Note: This was added in PHP 5.0.0. The qdbm library can be loaded from » http://qdbm.sourceforge.net.

Note: Up to PHP 4.3.0 you are able to add both db2 and db3 handler but only one of them can be used internally. That means that you cannot have both file formats. Starting with PHP 5.0.0 there is a configuration check avoid such misconfigurations.